Roujin Z

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sean l An odd feature-length anime which haphazardly mashes genres and ideas that, while curious, aren't completely successful together. I'm not sure if it was meant to be a comedy or a straight sci-fi nightmare, but it tries mixing elements of both and their clash hurts the whole. The plot is out-there and interesting, a concerned rumination on the looming near-future in which young are outnumbered by old, their careers hampered by the need to care for aging family. To address this worry, and liberate the fresher generation, a major metro hospital has developed (what else) a fully self-contained cybernetic bed, complete with built-in exercise routines, bathing capabilities and self-defense mechanisms. Katsuhiro Otomo handles the screenplay and many of the mechanical designs, and boy, does it feel a whole lot like Akira in places. Particularly the last hour, when the bed inevitably gains sentience, staggers through the city with a test subject strapped to its chest and swallows up machines in a gale of techno-organic vines and limbs. The crazier bits are nice to look at, detailed and smooth in motion (if not quite to the intricate level of Otomo's masterwork), but the flat character designs and overly simplistic storytelling leave a lot to be desired. Also, not entirely a knock on the film itself, but my copy randomly swapped subtitles for dubs around the halfway mark and the English voice acting is downright unbearable. Rated 2.5/5 Stars •  Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 03/30/23 Full Review Audience Member A satirical anime which entertains on many levels. Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 01/23/23 Full Review Audience Member Hilarante, divertida, llena de accion y gags que es una delicia verla. Roujin Z plantea el problema del cuidado de los mayores en un pais cada vez mas obsesionado con la idea de quien cuida de ellos y donde la robotica es una opcion para nada descabellada. Rated 3/5 Stars •  Rated 3 out of 5 stars 02/07/23 Full Review Audience Member I had my doubts when I saw this but it's actually a really lovable piece of work. Written by the same mind behind Akira, once again, you are witness to his pure originality. Rated 4/5 Stars •  Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/15/23 Full Review Audience Member This is a crazy japanimation anime about mad robot nurse beds. No, reeally it funny and entertaining. Not Akira by light years. Rated 2.5/5 Stars •  Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 02/25/23 Full Review Audience Member An invalid is strapped into a high tech bed which tends to his every need. The bed is essentially a futuristic tomb, but designed for someone still alive. This movie, written by Katsuhiro Otomo, is the high comic-satirical mirror image of Otomo's masterpiece Akira. This movie is not as gruesome or apocalyptic as Akira, but it is deadly on target in its satire of how a late stage capitalist society leans on technology to solve problems of basic humanity and care-giving to an absurd degree. It's not a Luddite film by any means, and the ending is surprisingly bracing, exhilarating, and moving all at the same time. See it. Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 01/24/23 Full Review Read all reviews

Roujin Z

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