|
|
|
Brave Story "Collector's Box"
R2 - Japan - Warner Home Video Review written by and copyright: James-Masaki Ryan (2nd February 2016). |
|
The Film
 “Brave Story” (2006) 5th grader Wataru Mitani (voiced by Takako Matsu) and his best friend Katchan (voiced by Mihoko Abukawa) go to a supposedly haunted building late at night for a game of dare. The boys get scared of a cat rummaging around and get separated. Though there was no ghost, Wataru is suddenly confronted by a mysterious boy with blonde hair, who then walks up a magical set of stairs to enter a large gate. When Katchan finds Wataru again, the stairs, the gate, and the blonde haired boy are gone, leading Wataru to believe it might have been a mirage or a dream. The next morning at school, a newly transferred student comes who Wataru recognizes as the blonde haired boy from the night before. His name is Mitsuru Ashikawa (voiced by Eiji Wentz) and he is immediately picked on and bullied by the older 6th graders led by Ishioka (voiced by Akira Ishida) who claim that the haunted building is their hangout and not for anyone else. But Ashikawa has no fear over the bigger kids and returns to the building anyway after school. Wataru passes by and realizes that Ashikawa is being beaten and bullied by Ishioka and his two minions, and even though he is smaller and weaker, makes his way to the building to help Ashikawa. Little do they know that Ashikawa possesses magical powers, summoning a demon to scare off the bullies. Wataru and Ashikawa strike a friendship, but it is not exactly mutual admiration. Wataru is fascinated by the mysterious boy by asking questions about the magical abilities and also who “Aya” is, a name that Ashikawa was calling when they first encountered. Ashikawa says he is envious of Wataru having a good family life, which immediately upsets Wataru. Earlier in the day, Wataru learns that his mother and father are divorcing breaking Wataru’s heart, and on top of that, Wataru returns home to find his mother collapsed in the kitchen, which sends her to the emergency room. Within the span of a day, Wataru is completely lost, but there is some hope, as he learns from Ashikawa that the great gate at the top of the haunted building would lead him into another world called “Vision”. In that world if one is to gather the mystical 5 gems, their destiny could be altered with a wish being granted. But if one fails, the person can never return to their own world. As Wataru is losing his family and he wishes his family to get back together, he decides to enter the gate to Vision, where he meets mythical creatures that would both help him and some creatures that are out to kill him. It is time for Wataru to man up and take on this physically and mentally strenuous journey in a vast world unknown to him… “Brave Story” was originally a serialized novel written by Miyuki Miyabe published in various newspapers between 1999 and 2001. The collected stories were published in 20 volume novels, then as 1000 page hardcover books, softcover books, and even an easy-type book for younger readers. With the success eventually led to other media, including a 199 episode comic series (2003-2008) that changes much of the novel’s points such as Wataru being slightly older, and an alternate comic series that paralleled the movie’s storyline. To say the animated adaptation of the novel does have differences as well, considering there was no way that 1000 pages of story could fit into a 2 hour film. “Brave Story” has similarities to western fantasy stories such as “Harry Potter”, “The Neverending Story”, “Star Wars” - the story of a young boy finding an alternate world that changes his destiny. The environment of Vision is filled with vast forests, never-ending deserts, enormous castles, colorful villages, and mysterious caverns. The world of Vision has much in common with the worlds in Japanese RPGs such as the “Dragon Quest” or “Final Fantasy” series. The world that Wataru must journey through is everything that a fantasy world has to offer, which for a novel, comics, and video games is wondrously entertaining and intriguing for exploration. But for a 2 hour standalone movie, it is absolute overkill. With the series of movies mentioned above, they had multiple films to reveal how vast the world and universe was through subsequent sequels. “Brave Story” tries to cram too much into a single film that if you blink you may miss where the characters are and what they are doing. One minute Wataru is running away from monsters, the next he is in the large plains, the suddenly in a large tree where a circus is taking place, etc. Once in the land of Vision, pay attention because things happen at a rapid pace compared to the “real world”. Also sharing a similarity with Japanese RPGs is the recruitment of “friends”, as Wataru befriends Master Guru Lau (voiced by Shiro Ito) who provides him the sword for his journey and his class as “hero apprentice”, the green lizard-like water tribesman Kee Keema (voiced by Yo Oizumi), the catwoman Meena (voiced by Chiwa Saito), the baby dragon Jozo, and the Highlander leader Kattsu (voiced by Takako Tokiwa) are all such characters that help along the journey. In addition there are other elements familiar to video games such as powering up of the sword with each gem found, the characters battling their shadow selves, and the heartbreak of seeing one of the supposed friends betraying the main group of characters. The characters and plot points of “Brave Story” are quite fun and fascinating to watch, with each character having specific traits and quirks, and an engaging main plot with additional subplots coming unexpectedly. But again with so much information, so many characters and subplots being introduced, it is almost a headache to keep all the details together. It’s like you need a map to figure out who everyone is and where everything is. (Though the “Collector’s Box” does offer a guide map. Please see the “Packaging” section of the review.) On the surface it is a children’s fantasy film, but there are also darker adult themes such as divorce, suicide, murder, and war, with some elements possibly going clear over young children’s heads but hitting heavier for older audiences. Although mentioned that the middle fantasy section does have its shortcomings with the overstuffing of information, the ending is a great emotionally satisfying finale that makes up for the middle act. At least there is the option to rewatch the film on DVD or Blu-ray and it is one that is never boring. There is so much going on that the second or third viewing will have elements viewers may have missed on first viewing. The film of “Brave Story” was animated by Gonzo, the animation studio famous for the series “Hellsing”, “Samurai 7”, “Full Metal Panic!”, and “Afro Samurai” among others. Known for their mix of traditional 2D animation mixed with 3D, “Brave Story” is one they highly experimented with occasional 3D environments and effects while characters and most environments were animated with traditional cell animation. The studio debuted in feature length animation in 2006 with 2 films: “Origin: Spirits of the Past” and “Brave Story”. “Origin: Spirits of the Past” was released theatrically by Shochiku in Japan (and also happened to be the very first Japanese anime film to be theatrically screened in China) and “Brave Story” was distributed by Warner Brothers in Japan. With a major international studio behind the marketing and releasing, “Brave Story” was given a huge marketing push as well as a larger scale budget than “Origin: Spirits of the Past". The sound was mixed at Skywalker Sound, the film was scored by English electronic artist Juno Reactor (AKA Ben Watkins), and the orchestral score was recorded in Slovakia, utilizing international resources which are things rarely done for Japanese productions. Marketing for the film was heavy in Japan, with dozens of tie-in advertisements, product placements, TV specials, video games, reissues of the books, international screenings at festivals, and a large summer holiday scheduled opening theatrically in Japan. But even with a huge marketing budget, the film only grossed approximately US$20 million at the Japanese box office ranking 15th in the top grossing Japanese films of 2006. A far cry from the largest grossing Japanese film of the year, Studio Ghibli’s lone critically panned “Tales From Earthsea” which grossed US$76 million, while far ahead of the highly acclaimed animated film “The Girl Who Leapt Through Time” which only grossed US$2.5 million due to the independent distribution at very few theaters. Although “Brave Story” was nominated at the Japanese Academy Awards for Best Animated Film, the award surprisingly went to “The Girl Who Leapt Through Time”, the lowest grossing yet most acclaimed animated film of the year. “Brave Story” was sadly quickly forgotten about in the anime world with no sequel films to be made, no more video game sequels, and the comics ending 2 years later. Internationally, Warner Brothers sold off the rights to various distributors including Optimum/Studio Canal in the UK, Madman in Australia, Kaze in France, etc. but unfortunately never had a distribution deal in the United States, losing a huge potential audience. Note this is a region 2 NTSC DVD which can be played back on region 2 or region ALL compatible DVD or Blu-ray players.
Video
Warner Brothers Japan presents the film in anamorphic widescreen in the 1.78:1 aspect ratio in the NTSC standard. As with most animation from the 2000’s forward, the transfer comes directly from the digital source so it looks pristine with vibrant colors, detailed sharpness, and no worries of film damage or film grain. The only problem with the DVD transfer is that they have tried to make it a little sharper than it actually was. There are slight edge enhancement halos around characters in closeups which can be distracting on large screens. The simultaneously released Blu-ray does not have any edge enhancement. The runtime of the film is (111:56).
Audio
There are 2 audio options on the DVD: Japanese DTS-ES 6.1 Japanese Dolby Digital 5.1 EX As the film was mixed at Skywalker Sound, the sound mix is extremely lively. Minor details such as rain, wind, school bell chimes are clear, while explosions and music take full use of the surround speakers. Dialogue is always clear and easy to hear. There are no anomalies to report of in the audio track. The DTS-ES 6.1 track is the way to go with a much deeper and fuller sound than the Dolby Digital EX track. There are optional English and Japanese subtitles for the film. The subtitles are both in a white font, and the English ones are translated very well with no examples of grammar or spelling errors to speak of.
Extras
“Brave Story” has been released in Japan in 4 editions: a standard single disc edition DVD, a 2-disc Special Edition DVD, a 4-disc “Collector’s Box” DVD, and a Blu-ray disc (which is reviewed separately here). The standard edition is just the first disc of the 4-disc set, and the Special Edition is the first and second disc of the 4-disc set. Unfortunately for non-Japanese speakers, all extras are in Japanese without subtitles. Here is the breakdown of extras on the 4-disc “Collector’s Box”: DISC ONE * The Film (111:56) Cast Profiles (text) - Takako Matsu - Yo Oizumi - Takako Tokiwa - Eiji Wentz - Miki Imai - Yoshiko Tanaka - Katsumi Takahashi - Rie Shibata - Taro Ishida - Impulse (Atsushi Tsutsumida / Toshiyuki Itakura - Hokuyo (Mihoko Abukawa / Saori Ito) - Shiro Ito - Kirin Kiki - Chiwa Saito - Ayako Kawasumi Staff Profiles - Miyuki Miyabe (novelist) - Chihiro Kameyama (executive producer) - Kôichi Chigira (director) - Juno Reactor (music) - Hiroyoshi Koiwai (producer) - Koji Kajita (producer) - Daisuke Sekiguchi (producer) - Ichirô Ôkôchi (screenwriter) - Hiroshi Shirai (3D director) - Takuhito Kusanagi (character planner) - Yuriko Senba (character designer) - Yoshio Hirooka (cinematography) - Takeshi Seyama (editor) - Yota Tsuruoka (music director) - Aqua Timez (theme performer) in Japanese Teasers (0:52) Trailers (5:28) TV CMs - Characters (2:13) - TV Spots (1:56) in non-anamorphic 1.78:1, in Japanese Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo THX Start-up ad The start-up ad runs before the movie starts. THX Optimizer THX video and audio tests. DISC TWO "Making" documentaries - "Brave Story: The Five Jewels" documentary (41:56) This documentary originally broadcast on Fuji TV while the film was in theaters. The documentary pretty much covers everything from the background of Gonzo studios, the animation production behind the scenes, the recording at Skywalker Studios, Oizumi and Wentz at Cannes, the voice recording, and clips from the film along with trailers and TV spots. This is more of a basic overview of the story and production rather than something in depth. Most of the clips in the documentary are from the various “Brave Reports” featurettes featured on DISC THREE. in 1.33:1 and 1.78:1 windowboxed, in Japanese Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo - "We Are Not a Pair!" documentary (24:19) This promotional short documentary created before the Japanese premiere starts as a focus on two of the voice actors Eiji Wentz and Yo Oizumi, but later reveals to be much more, showcasing all the voice actors in the film. Footage includes the voice actors in the recording booth and the actors on stage at promotional events including Cannes speaking unintelligible French. in 1.33:1 and 1.78:1 windowboxed, in Japanese Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo Promotion - Who Wants to Be a Millionaire spots (2:39) - Merit Shampoo (0:33) - "You'll Be a Brave Person" (0:50) - Fuji TV (0:11) “Brave Story” was heavily promoted on television not only in TV specials but commercial tie-ins with other TV shows (Who Wants to Be a Millionaire) and Merit Shampoo, in which near the beginning of the movie when Wataru follows his father, a bus with a Merit Shampoo ad is seen. ”Millionaire” and “You’ll Be a Brave Person” are in 1.33:1, “Merit” and “Fuji TV” spots are in non-anamorphic 1.78:1, in Japanese Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo "JakaJakaJanken" spot (0:46) One TV spot of “JakaJakaJanken” in which Kee Keema and Kattsu play rock scissors paper with the TV audience. The clip has 3 random versions that play. in non-anamorphic 1.78:1, in Japanese Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo Game CMs - PS2 (1:55) - PSP (1:48) - Nintendo DS (0:48) The “Brave Story” game TV commercials are presented here. in 1.33:1, in Japanese Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo Theme Song - "Ketsui no Asa ni" Music Video by Aqua Timez (3:06) - TV CM (0:16) The theme song by Aqua Timez which plays in the movie during the montage sequence and at the end of the film is presented here, featuring the band performing along with footage from the film. Also presented is a commercial for the song. A big problem I have here and with most anime theme songs in general that they generally don’t fit with the movie at all. They sound like generic idol pop songs or in this case of Aqua Timez, an average pop rock song. With the fantasy world sequences, the electronic elements of Juno Reactor throughout, it seems like an odd choice of a bland rock song to fit the tone of the film, but then again it is almost always a commercial tie-in decision rather than an artistic one. Studio Ghibli is the only animation studio I can think of that does not conform to placing “the-in” pop group or pop song as a theme. But then again even major live action movies in Japan do the same thing very often. in non-anamorphic 1.78:1, in Japanese Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo DISC THREE "Brave Report" featurettes - File 1: "Film Announcement Press Conference" (10:56) - File 2: "Tokyo International Anime Fair 2006" (18:32) - File 3: "Voice Recording Vol. 1" (17:32) - File 4: "Voice Recording Vol. 2" (18:38) - File 5: "Encountering Brave Story" (7:15) - File 6: "Making of the Other World" (12:28) - File 7: "Slovakia Recording" (11:33) - File 8: "Skywalker Sound Vol. 1" (8:49) - File 9: "Skywalker Sound Vol. 2" (15:31) - File 10: "Cannes Film Festival Vol. 1" (15:36) - File 11: "Cannes Film Festival Vol. 2" (18:45) - File 12: "Slave Story" (13:48) - File 13: "The Novel and the Movie" (6:02) - File 14: "Opening Day Documentary" (9:34) The documentaries on DISC TWO are like a “greatest hits” compilation of the 14 featurettes presented here. Each featurette is on a specific topic which is self-explanatory with the titles. There is a lot of fun and interesting footage such as the Anime Fair footage with Yo Oizumi getting picked on, the recording process at Skywalker Sound, and Eiji Wentz and Yo Oizumi being geeky and silly at the Cannes Film Festival. Although must of the best footage was already featured in the DISC TWO documentaries, there is still a lot of information additionally presented to keep things fresh. Portions in English are dubbed with voice over in Japanese, while French segments have burned-in Japanese subtitles. in non-anamorphic 1.78:1, in Japanese Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo DISC FOUR "Making: Behind the Scenes of Anime Production" featurette (29:59) Originally broadcast on Fuji TV before the release of the film, it chronicles the 550 days of animation production in a small office in Tokyo, specifically for “Brave Story”. It includes footage of storyboard meetings, the process of animation, webcam meetings, and the busy workflow including footage of staff sleeping in the office due to overworking. in 1.33:1, in Japanese Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo Archives (with text introductions) - Pilot Film (3:37) - Spectacle Machine Group's Circus (Full) (3:06) - Fire Dragon - 3DCG version (3:30) - Image Boards (stills and text) - Character Designs (stills and text) - 5 Deleted Scenes Storyboards (stills and text) The “Pilot Film” is like a long trailer with clips from the finished film. The “Circus” footage is the full length version fully animated. The “Fire Dragon” scene is also fully animated with alternate 3D CG animation used. For the “Image Boards” and “Character Designs”, they contain a huge gallery of stills of each and every character and various backgrounds. All extras here come with explanatory text screens in Japanese. video footage in non-anamorphic 1.78:1, in Japanese Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo, stills and text in 1.33:1 Campaign - Premium Stage Opening Visuals (0:16) - Charity Campaign CM (0:31) - IQ Supli - Find 7 Mistakes (3:36) - Poster Design History (stills and text) -- Presentation -- First Poster -- Second Poster -- Theatrical Poster - Campaign Photographs (stills and text) -- Tokyo International Anime Fair 2006 -- Odaiba Boken-O "Brave Land" -- Others Various non-trailer promotion footage is included here, such as a campaign to help children in Africa and a fun game to catch 7 mistakes to test your IQ. The photo galleries are extensive here with posters, photographs, and more to scroll through. in 1.33:1, in Japanese Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo "Ki Kiima no soresaemo heion na hibi" short (4:23) This short film shows what an unlucky day Kee Keema was having before encountering Wataru in the desert in the film. in non-anamorphic 1.78:1, in Japanese Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo Event Report - Completion Press Conference (14:13) - Osaka Surprise Stage Greeting (12:19) - Premiere Stage Greeting 1 (15:34) - Premiere Stage Greeting 2 (10:48) - Smash Hit Appreciation Stage Greeting (7:44) - Odaiba Eiga-O 2006 (12:13) A collection of all the Japan stage greetings by the voice cast and crew at various events. in non-anamorphic 1.78:1, in Japanese Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo Easter Egg: "DVD Staff List" - On DISC FOUR highlight the archive area in the upper right, press up, press enter. Well, that’s 6.5 hours of extras altogether. It seems they have everything you could possibly want for a “Collector’s Box” with a wealth of footage and information. With so much of the content being in widescreen, it is disappointing that besides the movie, none of the content is anamorphic. For a 2006 DVD release, it is troublesome since widescreen TVs were becoming the norm. Surprisingly there isn’t an audio commentary, which many feature length anime films often have. It would have been nice to hear from the director or other staff members about the film in hindsight since almost all the extras are from before the film’s completion, and the ones that are after the completion like the Cannes screening and premieres are dominated by the voice actors thoughts rather than the director’s or producer’s. Another person that is seen far too little in the extras is the original author Miyuki Miyabe. Her thoughts on the adaptation or even an interview about how the original stories started are nowhere to be found. She is featured saying a few words in the extras showing the announcement of the film, but nothing else after that. What happened? Maybe she didn’t like it? We’d love to know…
Packaging
The packaging is quite nice for this Collector’s Box set. The DVDs are packaged in a 4 panel digipak case housed in a hard slipbox. The artwork on the digipak case is great, with artwork of the characters on one side and the corresponding voice actors on the other side. Within the case is a full color booklet with an introduction, story synopsis, cast profiles, characters, keyword guide map, notes about the sword, production notes, and staff profiles, all in Japanese. The foldout inner guide map and character guide makes things very easy to follow with details on who is who and where is where. Also in the case is a 6-frame film strip.
Overall
“Brave Story” is an epic adventure that is just too much for its own good. Possibly if they had divided the film into 2 parts (like other Japanese novel/manga adaptations such as “Death Note” or “Parasyte”) or had taken out some of the subplots and added more depth to the remaining portions, it could have made a much better paced film. Maybe even a television series it could have had a much better run than a single film. Regardless of the negative points there are a huge amount of positives such as its first rate animation, fun characters, a great ending, and a rewatchability factor. The Japanese DVD offers English subtitles for English-speaking fans, and the “Collector’s Box” offers a huge wealth of supplements for Japanese fans.
|
|||||
|