Neo Tokyo

From the distant boundaries of the impossible to the deepest depths of the unknown, three of Anime’s most prolific Directors unite for a voyage unlike any seen before.  Three stories traverse the endless possibilities of the imagination from the bizarre and wicked to the deadly and dangerous.  Otomo.  Kawajiri.  Rintaro.  Join them as they guide you on a journey into the new world of Neo Tokyo

Neo Tokyo is another one of those titles I used to see in the Anime Section of Suncoast or Blockbuster and had no clue what it was about, I just knew I wanted to see it.  What I definitely didn’t know was that the anthology had not one but three big name Anime Directors whose resumes I’m quite familiar with.  Of course I knew Katsuhiro Otomo (Akira, Steamboy) had a hand in it but there’s also Rintaro (Galaxy Express 999, X) and Yoshiyaki Kawajiri (Ninja Scroll, Wicked City).  These three power houses of the craft together on the same project, it’s gotta be amazing right?  Well yes, yes it is and then some.  Neo Tokyo is a deep dive into the surreal and freaky side of Anime, not the Hentai kind but the kind of stuff that makes you wonder what exactly each Director was dreaming when they came up with these ideas.
 
Naturally when I do these kinds of reviews, let’s break down the three offerings firstly.  Bookending the film is Rintaro’s Labyrinth Labyrinthos, which follows a young girl and her cat whose game of Hide and Seek leads them to a world of dreams and horrors.  Secondly is Yoshiyaki Kawajiri’s The Running Man (not to be confused with the Arnold Schwarzenegger film of the same name), a tale about a futuristic death race and the unkillable driver who meets his match.  And last we have Construction Cancellation Order from Katushiro Otomo, about a Construction Foreman’s mission to stop a construction project run by rampant robots by any means necessary.
 
Much like Katsuhiro Otomo’s Memories, all three of these mini tales are unrelated and are just an excuse for the directors to show off their Anime powers.  It’s hard to find flaws in any of them.  Even with Labyrinth Labyrinthos, the most bizarrely animated of the trio, you’re lost in the imagery and wondering just what the heck is going on, but in a good way.  In fact I’m sure it’s this kind of direction and surreal imagery that got Rintaro to direct the equally trippy X Feature Film.  Of the three, Kawajiri’s The Running Man might be my favorite.  Dark, edgy, dripping in excessive violence and bloody imagery, this is nothing short of a nightmare on wheels, complete with a lead character design Kawajiri used in Demon City Shinjuku (and arguably better).  It gives off pure Blade Runner cyberpunk vibes and despite its brevity, The Running Man might just be one of my favorite films from Kawajiri, that’s saying a lot.
 
Given that he’s known for one of the most ultraviolent Anime of all time, it’s a little weird to see Katsuhiro Otomo’s darkly lighter side with Construction Cancellation Order. The short works as both a dark comedy and a psychological thriller with Poor Foreman Sugioka is trapped in a decrepit robot Hell he cant seem to escape.  The audience is left on the edge of their seats waiting to see who breaks first, Sugioka or the lead Robot who looks like he’s either ready to break down or kill the poor human out of some weird sense of spite.  The broken city and sense of dread are nice primers for Otomo’s future magnum opus, Akira, which he’d work on after Neo Tokyo’s release.  My only issue is the lack of closure on the film.  I guess it’s left to be a bit ambiguous but given the build up to the finale, I wanted a little more. 
 
In a way, I can say that about all of Neo Tokyo’s offerings.  Each director is in their zone from Rintaro’s otherworldly visuals to the brutal dark violence of Kawajiri to Otomo’s dirty cyberpunk setting.  It’s strange how much this anthology accomplishes in 50 minutes and yet it doesn’t feel nearly long enough.  My gripes with the end of Otomo’s short aside, there is no weak link in this trio and it’s a nearly perfect showcase of Anime in the late 80’s that can still serve as a nice appetizer to show newcomers to the genre just what Anime is capable of, from the wonderous to the extreme and then some.
 
9.5/10