Appleseed

Perhaps inevitably, Appleseed’s defining factor is its visual element. Opening in bleak landscape of ruined buildings and debris, the 3D computer animation looks suitably immense: the level of detail, the use of shadow and the low-key “photography” are all impressive. Populating this landscape, however, are characters of a more cartoon-ish design. They’re also 3D creations, but retain the simple character design of your standard anime, large eyes and all. Rather the photorealism has gone solely into creating pixel perfect renditions of explosions, gunshots, blood splatter and the like.

It’s an intriguing approach, yet also one which is problematic. Despite using motion capture technology in a similar manner to the Lord of the Rings film and their realisation of the Gollum character, it can’t help but all seem a little too fake. Indeed, go back to an earlier Lord of the Rings, Ralph Bakshi’s 1970s animated adaptation, and it even lacks the grit of that film’s more basic rotoscoping techniques. Though there are clear similarities, the makers have used their “live actors” as mere guides and as such we still arrive at the awkward movements and gestures which have blighted many a 3D CG venture.

Moreover, this mixture of the cartoon-ish and the photorealistic creates what is best described as the animated equivalent of back projection – the two simply don’t blend in together and therefore continually draw attention to themselves. As such we arrive at a style that is perhaps admirable in its pursuit of something a little different – and it does at the very least differentiate this Appleseed from the previous OAV adaptation – but ultimately fails to satisfy.

More worrying, however, is the fact that the visual side has clearly taken a precedent over the storytelling. And if the visuals feel somewhat compromised then you can guess what effect this has on the narrative. Indeed the pre-credits sequence is your typically soulless anime male fantasy: a girl, plenty of guns and some martial arts – naturally in slow motion – all to little discernible effect. It’s pretty to look at perhaps, but the fetishism which goes with the sequence is hard to stomach and the overall effect on the incoming storyline is decidedly negligible.

Things improve slightly with the actual titles. Surprisingly Basement Jaxx’s ‘Good Luck’ effectively serves as the film’s theme tune and it turns out to be a nicely humorous touch; the sardonic lyrics of “good luck in your new bed” offering a blackly comic comment on Appleseed supposed post-apocalyptic utopia. Yet any hopes are quickly dashed as things settle into the usual plea-for-a-better-world nonsense. There’s much talk of humans being “prone to aggression” and the difference between emotionless clones and the human race, yet it’s all dealt with so clumsily and in such rafts of unwieldy exposition (mostly the standard people talking in rooms setup – the only difference being that because this is the future, some of them float) that it’s hard to actually care. Soon enough the pieces fall into place, revealing the clear cut heroes and villains so simply spout gnomic dialogue (“man must not be a tool for the spirit”) in between bouts of gunfire. Indeed, it’s somewhat ironic that a film which professes to know so much about the “soul” and “emotion” should offer only the bare minimum of either.

The Disc

Appleseed’s presentation would no highly impressive were it not for one simple fact: this is, sadly, an NTSC to PAL conversion. Certainly, we get an anamorphic transfer, the original aspect ratio and fine colours, but there is ghosting and, of course, clear room for improvement. Indeed, there really is no need for the presentation to be the way it is. Rather, Optimum have simply gone for the easier option. As for the soundtrack, here we are offered the original Japanese and an English dub, the former coming in DD5.1 and DTS options. Admittedly, there’s little to separate the two, but then both are highly impressive so this really isn’t an issue. Appleseed is clearly a film which has received due care and attention in the sound department and this is reflected on the disc – from the grand explosions to the tiniest of raindrops, everything is crystal clear.

Encompassing two discs you’d expect Appleseed to be loaded with extras, yet this isn’t strictly true. The first disc houses a fine commentary by director Shinji Aramaki and producer Fumihoko Sori. In Japanese with optional English subs, this piece is understandably geared towards the technical side of things, but then the detail which the pair go into makes it never less than interesting. Moreover, the fact that they have so much technical ground to cover means that they go for a near scene specific approach and that the commentary never once runs out of steam.

The second disc is far flimsier, the only real piece of substance being the 36-minute featurette. Entitled ‘The Birth of 3D Live Anime’, this of course similarly concerned with the technical and therefore concentrates on the various design stages, the various animation stages and the motion capture techniques. It’s agreeable enough, though some may bemoan the lack of brevity. Elsewhere the disc offers numerous galleries which take us once more through the various stages, some notes on the characters and concepts found within the film, plus a trio of trailers, one from the US and two from Japan.

Please note that the featurette and Japanese trailers come with burnt-in English subtitles.