Shisha No Teikoku (The Empire of the Corpses)
By: Ryoutarou Makihara
Dated: February 26, 2019
Overall: 6
Plot: 5/10
"This one looks great, I'm going to watch it." That's the first thing I uttered when I saw this movie. It looks interesting, and magnificent. It looks like a whole new idea that comes to life. But nah, not all expectations come true and it is reaLly disappointing. I don't know if I'm just stupid not to understand what this movie is trying to say. Watching this movie, I can't count the number of times I hope that all the questions will be answered in the end. All the disturbing, confusing statements will be explained, but it left me hanging. Well, there is the fact that the story tackles an economy where the main source of manpower is zombies. Interesting, isn't it? The dead came back to life, it's moving but there's no soul in it. Now the protagonists of the story go to an adventure, finding a way on how the soul of a human go back to its body after dying. It's cool, the idea is kind of unique and at the same time, exciting. How the creator used different famous names on this movie is also something. However, the whole scenarios of the movie, in my opinion, will fail the expectation of the audience. It will left them speechless of how confusing it is.
Characters: 6/10
I'm really feeling bad rating an anime low. I love anime but maybe, maybe there's really stories that won't fit my taste. Characters supposed this grow, to justify their actions, to learn, even if a litte. The main character of this movie is cool. A doctor of the dead, someone who know how to bring dead people back to life.But how he focused on a one dead person, who's relationship with him is unknown and never been explained, is unsatisfying. If I were to decide, maybe he's a gay lover of the main character. The other girl did have a purpose all along the movie, additional point on that. Lastly, the one guy who tagged and help him on his journey did not really have an explanation on his actions. Why was he helping him? What does he wanted? What was his goal? It was never explained and will never be.
Sound and Animation: 10/10
In line with sound and animation, it's perfect. It's clean and great. The voices of the characters are strong, steady and will full grasp of the characters they're portraying. The animation is one of the best. Adding the fact that it was filmed in the old era, where the backgrounds are something like historical places are fascinating. There's no doubt since its a newly created movie. Though it is kind of rude, this will save the entire movie.
Enjoyment: 5/10
Do you experience watching a movie or series that you enjoyed yourself by thinking that what you're watching is enjoyable. Something like because you are expecting huge bomb in the end, all the answers to your questions, it excites you. But yeah, it dropped down real flat after watching the whole movie. What I think I've enjoyed on this series is the animation of it when it comes to action part and the way the sci-fi thingy was explained.
Ending: 4/10
Most of the sci-fi stories success really depends on how it ends. How they manipulate the audience thinking and how they'll drop the explanation that will shocked them because of the unexpected outcome. That is what most great stories are. That's what I waited on the whole story. The fact that it failed on this aspect is really disappointing. Though the main characters successfully win against the bad people, what I care the most are the loopholes that need to be taken care of.