Daishizen no Majuu: Bagi

I actually enjoyed this movie pretty much, the story is strong, as you would expect from Tezuka. It deals with genetic manipulation at a time where it wasn't so common to hear the issue and it's well constructed, except some plot holes here and there. What pushes down the film is its horrible animation, yeah, even for 1984, you would think that it was taken from early seventies not '84. The first series of Lupin in 71 are better animated that this movie. And the voices are often out of synch with the characters mouths.

Well, to be able to enjoy this one, you'll have to ... forget the terrible animation and the whole production and be able to focus yourself on the story. Unfortunately, Tezuka, the Grandfather of anime, didn't got a good budget for this, otherwise it would be a total classic in this day.

Rate: 7.0/10

Unique has to be one of the of the words to describe "Daishizen no Majuu : Bagi", made by the father of anime, Osamu Tezuka, it tackles a subject that it was the center plot of one of the most famous movie of all time "Jurassic Park", that it would come out 9 years later, genetic engeniring is the main theme of this movie from 1984, as for the animation is standart good for the time and for the style of the animation of Tezuka, it looks way better animated than the original anime "Kimba the White Lion", this movie "Bagi" was a surprise to ... me more for the message, and yes it is a really old and nowadays has being told to death, human can not play the part of god, and the movie tries to talk a lot about that, even showing us some disturbing imagery, the characters are simple and enjoyable, true that the character Bagi is a little too sexualise, but it was on a time were this tipe of characters were rare, the enviroment is kind of bland for the most time, is not bad but is not really good too, the sond is decent for a really old movie, and the voice actors (seyuu's) make a good job, this movie was only dub in Japan, as a final notes on this movie, the supposed twist was, in my opinion, bad for a lot of reasons, but overal it was a good view, i'm glad i saw, and i recomend all to see, this nice work of Osamu Tezuka.

As the godfather of manga and anime, Osamu Tezuka is held in such reverence and awe over his decades-long contributions to the country. But let's not forget that for all of his famous works like Astro Boy or Kimba or Black Jack, he also worked on dozens of other shorts and specials that have faded into obscurity over time. Bagi is one of them. And, like most of those faded, forgotten stories, they are best left in obscurity.

Let's get the "elephant in the room" out of the way first: furries. Yes, I know, the red-headed stepchild ... fandom to anime in America (they had the same C/FO roots) where fans want to, you know, get "better acquainted" with their animal side. And at the start, this movie seemed to veer in that direction, as delinquent Ryo is visited by the kitten he raised as a child, only now she's all grown up, and, you know, sexy. Hoo-boy.

But, let's put that to rest, because the story veers away from that pretty soon after, and it does NOT go in that uncomfortable direction. Instead, we learn of Bagi's true origins, about the evil horrors of gene manipulation, and we're off! There are all sorts of improbable twists and turns along the way, that make this far from a straightforward story.

Character designs are more or less standard Tezuka (no surprise). The animation quality is a little sub-par, but not distractingly so. The weak point is the overall story itself, and Tezuka's tendency to mix in little unnecessary humorous bits into non-humorous situations. And, of course, the heavy-handed moralizing that is a strain throughout many of his works.

Given the wide range of stories that Tezuka worked on over the years, you're better off going elsewhere to get your Tezuka kicks, and leave this one alone.