DVDpedia : Anime : Title : S

Theatrical: 2005

Studio: Geneon [Pioneer]

Genre: Anime / Action / Adventure

Duration: 23

Summary: Director Shinichiro Watanabe brings his picaresque adventure-comedy "Samurai Champloo" to its conclusion as Fuu, Mugen, and Jin reach Nagasaki. The final episodes showcase Watanabe's skill as a storyteller: earlier moments that seemed to be digressions turn out to hold more significance than viewers suspected. The mystery of the "samurai who smells of sunflowers" is revealed, although Americans may not understand the significance of his ties to the Shimabara Rebellion, an uprising of Christians and peasants in the 17th century. But Watanabe doesn't resort to Morris-the-explainer scenes: the revelations and back stories of the main characters are integrated into the narrative. Mugen and Jin battle foes in duels that recall the confrontation between Spike Spiegel and Vicious in "Cowboy Bebop". Watanabe said, "I actually like to travel, but, now that I'm finished with his project, I feel like I do when I come to the end of a really long trip." Fans of "Samurai Champloo" can only hope that after a rest, he'll create new adventures for his outrageously mismatched trio. (Rated 16 and older: violence, violence against women, profanity, alcohol and tobacco use) "--Charles Solomon"

Theatrical: 1998

Studio: Pioneer Video

Genre: Anime / Sci-Fi

Duration: 24

Summary: Disturbing, perplexing, sometimes infuriating, Ryutaro Nakamura's "serial experiments lain" covers some of the same themes as "The X-Files" and the films of David Lynch. When introverted 13-year-old Lain receives an e-mail from a dead classmate, she gains access to "the Wired," a virtual world that promises unlimited power to those who can exploit it. Gradually the borders between the real and the virtual blur, and Lain's own identity begins to fade and fragment. Her parents tell her that she is not really their child, her online self grows in power and independence, and shadowy organizations pursue her in both worlds. Finally she begins to realize that she is either reality's only hope, or its worst enemy.
Nakamura keeps the pace of "serial experiments lain" deliberately slow, imbuing the early episodes with a sense of mounting dread that pays off as the plot develops. The anime technique of panning across static images creates a meditative stillness that works perfectly, and the repetition of certain key images gives them a dreamlike significance. Viewers will either love or hate the complex plot, which seems intent on incorporating every possible paranoid conspiracy, from sinister nanotechnology to alien plots. However--unlike many other anime--it somehow hangs together, and frankly "not" understanding everything is part of the pleasure of this kind of story. Fans of action-heavy anime and people who like every loose end tied up should steer clear, but those who surrender themselves to the slowly unfolding mysteries of the plot will be amply rewarded. "--Simon Leake"

Theatrical: 2001

Studio: Walt Disney Home Video

Genre: Anime / Adventure

Duration: 125

Summary: The highest grossing film in Japanese box-office history (more than $234 million), Hayao Miyazaki's Spirited Away (Sen To Chihiro Kamikakushi) is a dazzling film that reasserts the power of drawn animation to create fantasy worlds. Like Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz and Lewis Carroll's Alice, Chihiro (voice by Daveigh Chase--Lilo in Disney's Lilo & Stitch) plunges into an alternate reality. On the way to their new home, the petulant adolescent and her parents find what they think is a deserted amusement park. Her parents stuff themselves until they turn into pigs, and Chihiro discovers they're trapped in a resort for traditional Japanese gods and spirits. An oddly familiar boy named Haku (Jason Marsden) instructs Chihiro to request a job from Yubaba (Suzanne Pleshette), the greedy witch who rules the spa. As she works, Chihiro's untapped qualities keep her from being corrupted by the greed that pervades Yubaba's mini-empire. In a series of fantastic adventures, she purges a river god suffering from human pollution, rescues the mysterious No-Face, and befriends Yubaba's kindly twin, Zeniba (Pleshette again). The resolve, bravery, and love Chihiro discovers within herself enable her to aid Haku and save her parents. The result is a moving and magical journey, told with consummate skill by one of the masters of contemporary animation. MPAA Rated: PG ("Some scary moments") --Charles Solomon

Theatrical: 2005

Studio: Sony Pictures

Genre: Anime / Adventure

Duration: 126

Summary: The first feature Katsuhiro Otomo has written and directed since his watershed "Akira" (1988), "Steamboy" offers a fantastic, sepia-toned vision of the past-as-future. In place of the dystopic Neo-Tokyo of "Akira", "Steamboy" is set in England in 1866. Young Ray Steam receives a Steam Ball, a mysterious, powerful device, from his inventor grandfather. Governments and businesses covet the Steam Ball, and Ray finds himself in a murderous conflict over its possession. He's also caught between his father, a 19th century Darth Vader who builds terrible weapons for an American arms merchant, and his grandfather, who believes science should improve people's lives. Otomo uses computer graphics to create dazzling visuals that few recent films--animated or live action--can match: monumental systems of gears and pistons; machines that dwarf the Tower of London; antique weapons of mass destruction. But the dazzling imagery can't disguise the lack of a coherent plot and the flimsiness of the characters.

"Steamboy" is being released in a dubbed version that's been shortened by 20 minutes, and a more satisfying subtitled version that preserves Otomo's original pacing. Both versions suggest that "Steamboy" is the work of an important filmmaker who can't quite shape his awesome visions into a effective narrative. (Rated PG-13 for action violence.) "--Charles Solomon"