What's with Jin-Roh? [SPOILERS]

[Falco53]

To anyone who has seen this: what's the point of this film? That humans are bad?

It had a pretty cool plot, but there's no one to root for. Every character is just trying to attain their selfish ends, and they don't care who they run over.

It supposedly had great character development. I had no idea what the moitivation was for the two main characters.

And why was the "Red-Riding Hood" theme supposed to be so great? I wasn't really seeing too many parallels to the story.

On the plus side, it had great art, animation, music, and voice-acting.

Someone please enlighten me, so I don't feel so stupid.

[Cap'n Nick]

The point of this movie is futility. In the story, the wolf is the enemy of Little Red Riding Hood, making the friendship between a member of the Wolf Brigade and a Riding Hood bomber strange and impossible. Everyone is caught in a war they don't understand and no matter what anyone does they end up with a crushed and beaten soul not one step closer to knowing anything about the nature of love, life, or what is right.

At least, that's how it was supposed to go. In my opinion the execution was bordering on inept and the pacing needed serious work. You're not stupid for not seeing anything in this. This anime just wasn't done right. And quite frankly, if they were aiming at what I thought they were, I still don't think I'd want to see it. Futility really isn't my idea of fun.

[Ichigo_89]

Ahhhh, it all makes sense now. Thanks Cap'm. Despite the dreary story, I found the underground Panzer Cop sequences to be hauntingly beautiful. *huggles teh panzer*

o_o

@_@

*Chigga Chigga Chigga*

x_x

[Falco53]

So, that's all it was? I pretty much got that, but I thought there had to be more, considering all of its critical acclaim.

[Mr. SmartyPants]

i havent seen it, but im assuming it reflect war and people... cause in real life... there is no good side to war i guess... everyones out to kill one another

[Cap'n Nick]

So, that's all it was? I pretty much got that, but I thought there had to be more, considering all of its critical acclaim.

In my opinion, Jin-Roh gets its critical acclaim not so much for what it is, but what it is not. From a medium that is stereotyped as flippant, unrealistic, and formulaic we get something gritty and existential with a plot that simply refuses to fall into a traditional resolution. This, coupled with the technicality of the artwork, are certainly critically acclaimable things.

However, "critically acclaimed" is not synonymous with "enjoyable." It's also important to keep in mind that our commonly acknowledged dispensers of acclaim often develop tastes and expectations vastly different from that of the average viewer through immersion in the craft and communion with similar minds.

[Yojimbo]

In my opinion, Jin-Roh gets its critical acclaim not so much for what it is, but what it is not. From a medium that is stereotyped as flippant, unrealistic, and formulaic we get something gritty and existential with a plot that simply refuses to fall into a traditional resolution. This, coupled with the technicality of the artwork, are certainly critically acclaimable things.

However, "critically acclaimed" is not synonymous with "enjoyable." It's also important to keep in mind that our commonly acknowledged dispensers of acclaim often develop tastes and expectations vastly different from that of the average viewer through immersion in the craft and communion with similar minds.

My thoughts almost exactly. In real life there are rarely happy endings and this is no exception. Jin-Roh is a favorite of mine because it's one of the only animes that you can honestly say is realistic. The characters look actually Japanese, the premise and story is believable, the violence feels real and not stylized (those .50 cal bullets really would rip your arm off)

[Falco53]

^ It wasn't the lack of a happy ending that I didn't like, it was the fact that I didn't care about the characters-- the sad ending didn't make me feel sad. It made me feel like I wasted my time.

Like I said, I loved the art, animation, voice-acting, and music. But the story felt kind of disjointed.