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Jin-Roh: The Wolf Brigade AKA Jin-Roh AKA Jin-Rô
[Blu-ray]
Blu-ray A - America - Discotek Media Review written by and copyright: James-Masaki Ryan (28th March 2015). |
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The Film
 Set in an alternate post war 1950’s Tokyo in which Germany took control of Japan, the heavily armored Kerberos Panzer Cops are formed to fight against anti-government protest groups. During a violent demonstration in the streets, a young girl who is part of the anti-government group “The Sect” escapes into the sewers with a bomb in her bag. When a Kerberos soldier, Kazuki Fuse confronts her, instead of shooting her he tries to reason with her. She still decides to detonate the bomb which kills her and causes a blackout in the city. After the incident, Kazuki Fuse recovers from his injuries, but he is questioned about his decision to not follow protocol and not killing the terrorist immediately to prevent the detonation of the bomb. The reprimanded Kazuki keeps thinking about the girl, so he decides to visit where her remains are buried and sees a girl who looks very similar to the girl that was killed. She says her name is Kei, and she is the dead girl’s older sister. Kazuki and Kei talk about the violence in the streets, and Kazuki starts questioning his own stance as a member of the Kerberos. Kei gives Kazuki a gift, a copy of the book “Little Red Riding Hood”, which she was originally going to give to her sister. But what seems to be a story about one soldier’s moral breakdown and post-traumatic nightmares turns into something quite unexpected toward the second half. Who are exactly the villains of the story? Who is playing who? And whose morals are we to stand by? “Jin-Roh”, literally translated as “Human-Wolf” is part of Mamoru Oshii’s “Kerberos Saga”, which started in 1987 as a radio drama and a live action feature film, “The Red Spectacles” both directed by Oshii. Although neither were very successful, the series was continued in comic book form and was eventually followed by a prequel live action film “Stray Dog: Kerberos Panzer Cops” in 1991 again directed by Oshii. With the two feature films both doing poorly, the Kerberos comics were subsequently abandoned. Oshii’s anime works were much better received with his credits directing the "Patlabor" movies, and his major international breakthrough film “Ghost in the Shell” in 1995. With the sudden interest in his prior works, a continuation or a reboot of the Kerberos series was circulating in rumors for a few years. Finally in 1999, a continuation of the comic series and also a new film was announced as “Jin-Roh”, and for the first time in the Kerberos series, in animated form, something that Oshii fans had been clamoring for. But surprisingly to many, the film was announced to not be directed by Oshii, but by first time director Hiroyuki Okiura, whose prior credits included key animation on “Akira”, “Patlabor”, “Roujin Z”, and "Ghost in the Shell". Oshii took the duty as the writer of the screenplay. With the screenplay, one thing that cannot be missed since it is so explicitly part of the story is the theme and parallels with “Little Red Riding Hood”. Unlike the 1973 psychological horror film “Don’t Look Now”, in which the story of “Little Red Riding Hood” could possibly be interpreted in a more abstract sense and indirectly, the parallels and homages are in plain sight in "Jin-Roh". Kei gives Kazuki a German copy of the book, the wolves seen in Kazuki’s nightmares, lines from the story are said directly, and the red hood that Kei sometimes wears being examples. But who exactly is the big bad wolf in this particular story? It was a very interesting choice for Oshii to incorporate "Little Red Riding Hood" into the story. As most of the audience would have no knowledge of the previous Kerberos films or the comics, "Little Red Riding Hood" is obviously well known enough around the world for everyone to connect to. The film was met with very positive reviews and won the Mainichi Film Award for Best Animation of the Year, an award that Oshii’s 1993 “Patlabor 2” won, as well as “Roujin Z” which Okiura worked on. The film also won a few other awards both in Japan and internationally, but did not live up to the hype at the box office. Although it was moderately successful and did much better than the previous two live action Kerberos films. But with the talent involved in the film, it does seem strange that “Jin-Roh” is not as talked about compared to “Patlabor” or “Ghost in the Shell”. Was it due to the marketing of the film as “from the creators of Ghost in the Shell and Akira”, while neither directors actually directed “Jin-Roh”? Was it because the title and the marketing did not try to connect it with the Kerberos comics or previous films? Regardless of the box office numbers, it still sparked interest in the Kerberos series again, which was renamed officially as “The Kerberos Saga”, and the comics were continued through the 2000’s, although another film or TV series in which Oshii wanted has not happened as of yet. “Jin-Roh” has become a cult hit on its own, standing as one of the best anime movies of the 2000’s. (Yes, the official first release date was in 1999, but was not released theatrically widely until 2000.) Like many of Oshii’s other works, the world around “Jin-Roh” is incredibly detailed. What takes place in the film is only a small fragment of the entire Kerberos Saga, and is recommended to hunt down (like a wolf) the other works in the saga to see a more complete picture. I’m sure there are a lot of people who have seen “Jin-Roh” and might not be aware that there were two other films or an ongoing comic series. And although it may be a shame that they may be missing out, the film itself can stand on its own. Although it is not perfect by any means. The twists and turns of allegiance get so heavy toward the end that it seems the plot was squeezed just a little too much in too little time, in which the pacing is suddenly rushed. The buildup was great, but the emotional arc at the end lost some impact that it should have had. Note, this is a Region A-locked Blu-ray disc and can only be played on Region A or Region Free players
Video
“Jin-Roh” was first released on Blu-ray in Japan and the US in 2007 by Bandai Visual. The transfer like other Bandai releases were slightly windowboxed so there were black bars on all four sides of the frame. This was to compensate for overscanning of television sets in the pre-HD era. As Bandai Visual closed its North American doors, the rights to the film were picked up by Discotek Media, who released a DVD in 2014, with a promise to reissue the Blu-ray in the future. Discotek finally issued a Blu-ray edition in 2015. The 1:85:1 1080p 24fps MPEG-4 AVC picture is not the same as the older Bandai Visual release. This transfer of the 1.85:1 image is NOT windowboxed, presented with only thin black bars on the top and bottom of the screen, as it should be. The film itself is in a muted color palate, with browns and greys being the main unattractive colors, as how the fimmmakers wanted to express the bleak and faded looking alternate postwar world, and the bright red of the Kerberos soldiers’ goggles, the red hood of Kei, and the blood in the violent riots and shootouts to stand out from everything else. Besides the framing I don’t know how it compares to the picture quality of the previous Bandai Visual release. There is some telecine wobble so I assume this is not a newly created digital transfer but possibly a slightly dated HD master. Film grain is visible, with no signs of DNR or obtrusive edge enhancement. Fans should be quite pleased.
Audio
There are three audio tracks available: Japanese DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 Japanese LPCM 2.0 stereo English Dolby Digital 5.1 The Japanese 5.1 track sounds fantastic. The dialogue is mostly center channel based, while music and effects are frequently used in the surround channels. The ending theme sounds absolutely gorgeous in the lossless surround track. The Japanese LPCM 2.0 stereo track sounds fine, but pales in comparison to the 5.1. The English dub track comes in Dolby Digital 5.1. It lacks the depth of the Japanese 5.1 track, but still sounds pretty good. This is the original dub track that was on the previous DVD and Blu-ray editions and not a newly created one. For some reason in the English dub, the end credits theme song is completely silent. I'm not sure if the Bandai release was the same, but this is an unusual omission. There are optional white English subtitles that translate the Japanese dialogue track. I noticed no errors in the subtitles. There is also a separate English subtitle track that translates only the text, signs, and credits for the English dub track.
Extras
The Bandai Visual Blu-ray had no extras on disc besides trailers, but came with a 200-page storyboards book. The extras that were on the previous DVD editions were not carried over. Discotek has included the older Bandai Visual DVD extras on their Blu-ray edition, which includes: "Speculate About Jin-Roh Interviews" documentary (38:39) (480i NTSC, 1.33:1) The interviews were conducted in 2000 for the Japanese DVD release, and features writer Mamoru Oshii, director Hiroyuki Okiura, composer Hajime Mizoguchi, art director Hiromasa Ogura. Oshii expresses about his original desire to have the Kerberos Saga as an ongoing direct to video series, and the commercial disappointments with the previous Kerberos films as well as having a younger person who was born after the time period of the events in the film to helm the director’s chair. Okura talks about the pressures of directing for the first time, and the international recognition of the film. Mizoguchi expresses his thoughts on how he approached the music with the dual nature of good and evil, man and wolf, and bringing in the female vocals for the gorgeous ending theme. Ogura talks about the color palate used in the film, talking about the different methods thought about to achieve the nostalgic look of the film. In Japanese with optional English subtitles. English Credits Sequence (5:16) (1080p) The English credit sequence is ending credit sequence of the film in the windowboxed 1.85:1 ratio. If you want to see how the film was framed on the Bandai Visual release, you can see it here. Curiously the sound is in LPCM 5.1, with the full ending theme song, which is for some reason missing from the English dub track on the main feature. There are also trailers and TV spots included: Theatrical Trailer (1:50) (1080p) This is the original Japanese trailer, in full 1.85:1. In Japanese LPCM 2.0 stereo with optional English subtitles. TV Spot: Coming in June (0:16) TV Spot: Theatre Shinjuku (0:16) TV Spot: Now Playing (0:16) The three Japanese TV spots are in standard definition 480i, windowboxed 1.85:1 in a 4:3 frame. In Japanese Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo with optional English subtitles. US Release Trailer (1:55) The US trailer is also from a standard definition 480i source, windowboxed 1.85:1 in a 4:3 frame. In English Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo So what is not part of this package? The storyboards book from the Bandai Blu-ray is not included. Neither is the original soundtrack CD from the Bandai DVD from 2003. Also, there were no new extras curated for this release. No retrospective interviews or featurettes, no new commentary track, and also surprising for a Discotek release, no text essays. Although I am glad that the older extras have been made available, it is disappointing that there isn't anything else.
Packaging
Although the Bandai DVD and Blu-ray editions came in special packages, the Discotek release is in a standard issued keepcase.
Overall
Discotek Media's reissue of "Jin-Roh: The Wolf Brigade" is one that deserves more attention. It features a better non-windowboxed transfer, excellent audio, and reinstated vintage extras missing from the previous Blu-ray. Although the release would have benefited with newer extras or more information about the Kerberos Saga, it still comes recommended for fans and newcomers alike. In addition, the other films of the Kerberos Saga that were issued on DVD by Bandai have no US distributor anymore as I know of. If Discotek could get their hands on those films, and add the extras from the Japanese DVDs, I know I'd be very excited for that.
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