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AniMania: ICHI Review – We Are Movie Geeks

Ani-Mania

AniMania: ICHI Review

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It’s 2010, and while there will be plenty of great anime in the coming weeks and months, AniMania is starting the new year with something a little different by taking a look at the live action sword drama, “Ichi”.

“Ichi” is the latest in the long line of works to draw on the Zatoichi blind swordsman mythos, but with a twist. Ichi, the title character, is a beautiful swords-WOMAN, who travels from village to village in search of the only man to ever show her kindness. Along the way, she meets Toma, who at first comes across as a hopeless bungler, dependent on Ichi to get him out of one sticky situation after another. But as time goes on, we learn that he is hiding a tragic past. There just might be more to this clumsy, would-be samurai than his humorous antics let on.

Live action is nothing new, of course. Whether you think of Bruce Lee’s kung fu classics, or Kurosawa’s masterpiece, “The Seven Samurai”, Asian cinema has long held a formidable niche in the US film market. While anime fans might seem hopelessly bound to the 2-D world, you’d be hard pressed to find a serious Otaku who wasn’t familiar with titles like “Azumi” or “Shinobi”. And in recent years, big productions like “Hero” and “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” have brought this former niche more and more into a main stream spotlight. This is a great development because it has helped to pave the way for more titles to come to our shores.

Live action, as represented in the US, spans as wide a range as our own, native cinema. At one end there are fabulous, high end productions like “The Hidden Blade” — a highly awarded samurai tale that is more about romance and drama than hacking or slashing — or the lavish settings of “The Banquet”, which is a Chinese re-telling of Hamlet. At the other end, there are somewhat lower budget, yet wonderfully quirky films like “The Bride With White Hair” or the cult classic, “Mr. Vampire.” And then there’s that live action of DOA, but we won’t go there. So where does “Ichi” fit into all of this?

Somewhere in the middle. Clearly, the story takes itself seriously at least part of the time. The themes of warmth and loneliness are striking, as is the irony of Ichi’s life as a goze, or blind, wandering minstrel. She makes her living by entertaining men, but if she were to ever consummate her love for anyone, she would be severely punished. But some of the scenes are downright campy. When I watched Toma trying over and over again to draw his sword, I got the impression that surely the cast and crew had to know how silly this looked. The action was pretty slick, albeit unrealistic, and one of the villains sported such wild hair, it made me want to cue up “Afro Gunsou” and watch the frogs disco dance. The verdict? If you like flicks like “Azumi” or “Shinobi”, you’ll probably enjoy this film as well.

Haruka Ayase, the actress who portrays Ichi, won the 2008 Nikan Sports Film Award for Best Actress. She has appeared in a number movies, including “Happy Flight” and “Oppai Volleyball”, as well as J-Dramas (Jin, MR. BRAIN), and has the requisite forays into music with her singles, “Period”, “Kosaten Days” and “Hikokigumo”. She also has the requisite insane fan following, that dubious badge of honor that goes along with being a star in Japan, or anywhere else in the world.

You might recognize Shidou Nakamura, who plays the head villain, Banki, from his role in Clint Eastwood’s “Letters From Iwo Jima”, or from his role as the sword expert who faced off against Jet Li in “Once Upon A Time In China”. He has also appeared in Red Cliff I and II, and is the voice of Ryuk in the original Japanese version of Death Note.

Ichi’s director, Fumihiko Sori, also directed the sci-fi anime, Vexille, and the comedy film, “Ping Pong.” Sori was also the producer for the 2004 release of Appleseed.

But what really steals the show is the music. Lisa Gerrard has long had an underground following for her work in the eclectic duo, Dead Can Dance, and that haunting, otherworldly sound comes through in the score for this film. From the moment you hear the first strains of the opening, you know you’re in for something special. Considering Ichi’s life as a wandering minstrel, this emphasis on the music is entirely in keeping with the rest of the story.

“Ichi” seems poised to take its place in the venerable canon of cool live action movies any self respecting Otaku should be aware of, so if you’re needing a break from animation, give this film a try.