Cheap Jin-Roh - The Wolf Brigade (DVD) (Hiroyuki Okiura) Price

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Customer Reviews of Jin-Roh - The Wolf Brigade

A powerful, haunting, and teriffic anime movie.
Anime is best known for its sci-fi and fantasy-themed works. With the power of animation, creators can craft stories that are almost impossible to recreate in real-life without some kind of sacrifice. But anime is also used to craft stories based in reality, stories that can also work in real-life but are more powerfully told in animation. Some of the best examples of such stories include the heartbreaking "Grave of the Fireflies" and the psychologically disturbing "Perfect Blue", and now the profound movie "Jin-Roh" joins their ranks.

Contrary to what the front cover might indicate, "Jin-Roh" is not an action movie; it is actually a military drama. While there are scenes involving combat, the main focus of the movie is Constable Fuse and how he deals with the events around him. Set in an alternate history version of Tokyo, Fuse, a member of the Capital Police's Special Unit, is on a mission to eliminate members of an anti-government group known as the Sect. But when he fails to follow orders to shoot a young girl, who kills herself before his very eyes, he has to live with the emotional scars. And soon he is forced to face not only the girl's almost-identical sister but also an intricate plot involving the Special Unit, a plot of which he is unwittingly a part.

Truthfully, "Jin-Roh" cannot be summed up in a single paragraph. The underlying plot is so intricate and complex that it may take several viewings for it to make sense entirely. But even so, the plot is so wonderfully crafted that the viewer really won't mind a repeat viewing. The underlying tensions that Fuse goes through are presented exquisitely, and the movie's close tie-in with the original "Red Riding Hood" story is a stroke of genius in storytelling. And while the movie is quite short for a drama, it never bogs down with needless exposition and seems to present exactly what is necessary, nothing more nothing less.

Visually, "Jin-Roh" is a marvel. While it hardly can be said to possess visual flair, it still looks good enough to amaze. Everything is dark and moody, projecting the movie's atmosphere marvelously, and animation flows smoothly. Character designs are realistic and very well done; you won't find the typical big eyes and long hair of anime in this movie. "Jin-Roh" is most certainly a movie for those who demand quality eye candy.

Audio-wise, both the English track and the Japanese track are in Dolby 5.1, and sub fans also have the added bonus of the Japanese track in DTS, so audiophiles need not complain here. The music is also a breathtaking accomplishment, creating rich atmospheres of sound to emphasize the movie's emotional strong points. As for the dub, the Oceans Group ("Gundam Wing", "Inu-Yasha") have given "Jin-Roh" one of its best performances. With no melodrama or lag of any kind, all of the voice actors manage to get into their roles from the beginning and give solid performances. Anime fans that can't stand subtitles need not worry; "Jin-Roh" is an excellent example of how dubbing can be done well.

Overall, "Jin-Roh" is an excellent movie for those wanting quality and deep storytelling in their anime set in a realistic backdrop. However, this movie is certainly not for everyone; those who don't like psychological drama need not apply here. But for everyone else, "Jin-Roh" just might be the anime movie you're looking for.

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The Best Anime of the new millenium so far....
I just saw this film in theaters.It has got to be the most emotional film that got to me since perhaps Schindler's List. JIN-ROH, THE WOLF BRIGADE could maybe be described as a "politico-military love tragedy thriller". Produced by the renowned studio Production I.G., with a script by Mamoru Oshii (Ghost in the Shell), this is a very strong debut for young director Hiroyuki Okiura.

This film looks incredible from beginning to end. Unfortunately, this may be the last anime movie to be done using hardly any computer assistance. The anime employs over 80,000 hand-painted cells and has taken 3 years to make. The character designs are excellent and individualistic(characters actually look Japanese.No large eyes to be found). There is great attention to detail in the movements of the people and objects on screen. Everything moves realistically down to the last motion. I also liked the dark and muted color scheme. There were many instances where I could question if I was watching animation or not. In fact, I think this movie looks more realistic than the real world.

The sound is excellent. There is sound everywhere in this film from the murky and creepy sounds of the tunnels to the chirping birds flying through the town. The guns used by the Panzers sound *powerful*, the cars cough, and the trees rustle. Like the animation, everything is done down to the last detail.

The music is written by Hajime Mizuguchi (Please Save My Earth/Vision of Escaflowne) which is melancholic, eerie and beautiful. It fits the film perfectly. I only wish that there was more of it since the film doesn't have much music in it. Everything is well composed and creates the perfect atmosphere for the scene it's in. I own the OST myself and listen to it almost everyday. The one track that I know will stick in your head is the ending theme which was composed by Yoko Kanno (Macross Plus/Vision of Excaflowne). The ending theme brought me to tears the first time I heard it in the movie (which I'd like to note is sung by Gabrielle Robin). I highly recommend that you buy the soundtrack.

All of the Japanese voice actors voices fit perfectly and every voice expresses the character's emotions. From the cold and serious voice of Fuse to the quiet and sincere voice of Kei, this film delivers some great voice acting.

The version of the film I saw in theaters was English dubbed but it was done carefully and each of the voices fit the characters excellently.

Jin-roh tells a dark tale, of the tragedy of the failure of the human spirit. The way out seems to be there, but is it? The fairy tale must reach its ending. A wolf is still a wolf even if for a while he can masquerade as a man. Hopefully this movie will be released soon in the US so more people can experience it strange and dark beauty.

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I truly love this movie
This is one of the best (anime) movie I have seen for a long time. I was lucky to receive this movie. The plot confused me alot, and though I watched it 100 times I still don't get it some of it : who the heck is who? Why are they enemys? Who shot **** at the ending (I was amazed when i figured out ( a bit of "sixth sense"-ending, how I could miss that)...

While you are loughing at my low IQ, I take the time to say that I just can't get enough of this movie.

A word of advice ( if you want to listen to my advice, that is ):
**You have to see it for yourselve**