Manie-Manie: Meikyuu Monogatari

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After greatly enjoying the movie Memories I thought it a good idea to check out Neo Tokyo, a similar compilation movie that adapts three of Taku Mayumura's manga short stories. Though the author and directors are different I thought with three attempts I would at least have a chance of finding one of them particularly memorable, while admiring the variety of the movie as a whole. Sad to say, it wasn't that simple and Neo Tokyo paled in comparison to its spiritual successor.

Neo Tokyo opens with Rintaro's (Shigeyuki Hayashi) Labyrinth Labyrinthos. As of writing, I haven't seen anything else he's directed so I don't know ... what his usual style is, but this piece is a near dialogue-free psychedelic trip that stars a little girl who chases her cat into a grandfather clock that functions as a portal into a strange world. This entire short segment is simply the little girl running through the strange and morphing land. With the "young girl chasing her cat into a surreal magical world" set-up this is very obviously inspired by Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, but that book was carried by Lewis Carroll's acerbic wit as he justified all the eccentricities around Alice as natural. Labyrinth Labyrinthos is almost entirely a visual/auditory experience so it doesn't have that. What this means is the world loses its magic because there's no rhyme or reason holding all of its strange sights together. It's just a random display of sudden sights and transitions and is unimpressive because anyone could've come up with them. The skill comes in implying there actually is a direction behind the madness because it takes effort to find a pattern in something that's initially not recognizable. Perhaps another word for that is "inspiration". Labyrinth Labyrinthos looks magical but it doesn't feel magical. It's boring and not intriguing. The segment does feature some great character designs and coloring, but they end up amounting to almost nothing. The most clever thing about this segment is how it's set up as the framework for the other two.

Yoshiaki Kawajiri's Running Man follows. It suits his common serious "no humor" approach. In a bleak-looking futuristic world a reporter is hired to interview Zack Hugh, the continuous champion of a dangerous racing circuit known as the Death Circus. The reporter makes a shocking discovery about Hugh and bears witness to his bizarre final race that will never be forgotten. Running Man is the best of Neo Tokyo's segments, though it'd be more precise to say it's the one least lacking something. Again, almost no dialogue is here and the story is told visually yet is simple to infer. The high-speed racing thrills and technologically advanced backgrounds do the most justice to the movie's budget, and the western art style influence makes it a little more memorable as well. The race itself isn't very exciting to watch, but rather the strange things that happen during . Running Man has nothing mindblowing and it could be summed up in three sentences, but from a movie full of very simple stories it's the most satisfying to watch and suffers nothing from its brevity.

Last is Katsuhiro Otomo's Construction Cancellation Order. Otomo is the director of Akira, and it's very obvious through the art style. Though not set in a dystopian environment, the machinery and humans are clearly drawn by the same man who did Akira. Tsutomu Sugioka is an employee sent to the jungles of South America to order the halt of the company's construction project. Contact has been lost with the previous foreman, and upon arriving Sugioka realizes the lead robot is malfunctioning. The remaining running time is simply Sugioka's frustration with attempting to get the lead robot to listen to him. It's dull and makes Sugioka look like an idiot for not being able to fix his problem sooner in a number of possible ways. The segment has an ironic ending that feels completely out of place and undeserved. Though by far the most plot-heavy of the segments, Construction Cancellation Order's storyline has been done countless times before and there's nothing special about it in any way. The only reason it isn't the worst segment is because it at least has a hook and natural progression unlike Labyrinth Labyrinthos.

Neo Tokyo closes on the conclusion of Labyrinth Labyrinthos. A clown the little girl meets dances around and summons a bunch of friendly monsters. The girl, her cat, the clown, and the monsters all party while countless fireworks go off. This is by far better than the first half of this segment because it'll actually make you feel a tiny bit good. Then it's over.

And that last line kind of sums up Neo Tokyo as a whole. It's mildly weird and pretty enough to be worth 50 minutes, but it lacks the detailed storylines and superior animation of something like Memories. The most I'll take from the movie is its main theme song, which is actually kind of beautiful. Neo Tokyo actually feels like a compilation movie in a bad way. It's a set of three unfulfilling snacks that are supposed to amount to a whole meal, whereas Memories had three well-rounded meals that amounted to something more when had in progression. I've seen much more uninteresting anime but I don't think Neo Tokyo is something I'll recommend anyone.

Rate a 6
English dubbed

Story
If you enjoyed tales from the crypt(television show) and/or Alice in wonderland this anime would be their child if the shows could be parents. You have two stories told within a third story. The separate two stories only add to the original story by providing a message and show. The message is the loss of sanity from the brink of exhaustion. Layman's if you strain yourself you will hurt yourself.

Art
The introduction art had one flaw. For what ever reason the 'home' to this story set was drawn not in animation form but more of a painting. I get the idea having seen ... the movie that the director may have wanted this to illustrate that this anime is meant to be critiqued and pondered in relation to the stories mentioned. However, visually did not look good.

Sound
Introduction sound was uncalled for. I am unsure of what the orignal indent of the wet noises were, perhaps a cave; but it almost felt like a intro to a smut production. Also, a few animation sounds down the road in the film could have been changed for a more realistic approach. Then again this story's setting was in a fictitious environment. Allowing any abnormality to be normal.

Overall
This is like a roller coaster of amusement. From the very beginning to the very end. As for the word 'end' i don't thing there was one. For even the end seemed to almost reboot the ride again.

·'Labyrinth Labyrintos':
Cryptic short film with a fantastic animation, but a somewhat European character design that does not convince me too much. On the soundtrack, the song 'Gymnopedie nº1' by Erik Satie. 6/10

· 'The running man':
Fantastic. I love the style of Kawajiri, the setting is fabulous, the sound superb, that eternal silence that is only cut by the buzz of cars, lights, neon, those shadows, its desolate environment. 7/10

· 'Construction Cancellation Order':
The worst short of the three, i like Katsuhiro Ôtomo, how to forget 'Akira', but this time (his first time as director) we only have the usual design of buildings and those beautiful pastel colors ... so characteristic of the work of this author. Removing that we find a very repetitive piece. Nothing important happens but nevertheless it is the most narrative of the three. 4/10

Anime short films anthology from some of my favorite directors of the medium? I was more than excited. Unfortunately, I ended up being disappointed.

Labyrinth Labyrinthos: Nothing happens in this one. The art style is amazing and the same goes for sound design. I liked the low frame rate animation to really give this a nightmarish feeling. I loved the cat. But yeah, nothing happens. 3/5

Running Man: Things happen but ambiguously. I got some of it when I watched it, but couldn't add 2+2 to make a connection. Nevertheless, it is good. Have great art style and animation. 3//5

Construction Cancellation Order: Things happen but predictably. ... This one is quite straightforward. And I think that is its biggest negative. It uses one of my favorite musical pieces comically, which I loved. And I would say that this one is more comical in general. I liked it. 3/5