King of Thorn

I knew nothing about King of Thorn going in, except that it is a horror anime. Its story begins to unfold with a sense of dread that is very palpable and unique. Nothing violent or apocalyptic occurs within the first 30 minutes or so but, without spoiling the story, those 30 minutes are very dreadful in terms of what looms on the horizon for a set of characters that have a mysterious disease. I remember feeling as emotionally frightened when I read the first third of The Stand, at a younger age, but King of Thorn managed a similar emotional tone without a story of massive, apocalyptic outbreak. The world of King of Thorn manages keep a tentative handle on the disease that plagues it and the dread comes from the sacrifice that the main characters decide on to find a cure, placing their well being in the care of a questionable corporation and tossing away their lives as they've know them.

That is the feeling I had in the first act of this movie. By the second act things become a bit more conventional. The second and some of the third act become survival horror in the vein of similar Japanese stories like Resident Evil. This does not take from the compelling nature of the story and its mystery, but did not feel as rare a story experience as the first act.

The third act however, is filled with exposition that is difficult to follow and otherwise loses interest for me. At one point things become more "anime sci-fi" (a concept I simply cannot explain well), which is not a problem; expect that I didn't feel the story up to that point was building toward it. It felt less creditable for me.

The last 20 minutes, things become very muddled and subplots for the remaining survivors and their true motivations get tangled up in a more and more nonsensical plot. Things become more fanciful for the sake of animation visuals and sci-fi explanations for such events, if not ignored, seem to be quickly served out. More interesting, if you can trudge through these problems, is the ultimate twist ending involving the young female protagonist.

And my major complaint with King of Thorn, however, is that many action scenes switch from the otherwise traditional 2D anime style, to a cell shaded CGI animation process. It's 3D computer animation that is processed to look flat and try to mesh with the majority of the rest of the movie's hand drawn style. No doubt this was a cheaper way for the animation team to create complex action scenes and have more control, but the two styles do not mesh well. The cell-shaded CGI is not as glossy in color as the 2D animation and also misses many drawing details, like grime and dirt on the characters faces. Inexperienced anime viewers might not pick up on the switch all the time, but may still feel the action scenes have an odd movement and don't quite sit right.

A mysterious virus, nicknamed Medusa, is spreading around Japan, turning its victims into stone. Given the impossibility of finding an immediate cure, the government opts for cryopreserving a select group of patients until they come up with a solution. Kasumi, one of the chosen ones, has been asleep for years and her awakening, more than a bed of roses, is a bed of thorns, and happens in the midst of total chaos where monstrous creatures lie in wait all around. Based on Yuji Iwahara's manga by the same name, King of Thorn puts animated images to a sensational cross between Aliens and the series Lost. Enigmatic and highly explosive.

I quite liked this film.

King of Thorn is a new anime movie based on a short manga series about a new plague called Medusa that infects most of the planet. It's 100% fatal once you're infected and it turns people to a somewhat fragile stone-like state in its last stage. In this cataclysmic scenario, a company proposes to put in cryogenic sleep a few hundred people at a Scotland castle facility until a cure is found. After some preparations and farewells, the chosen (I'm still not sure how they were selected) start hibernating. One girl wakes up after who knows how long, in the dark with no one else awake and with giant thorn vines everywhere. I'm not revealing anything that isn't in the trailer, in fact, I say less. A big part of the appeal of this movie is the gripping suspenseful story about a bunch of people trying to survive in an unknown and hostile closed-in environment (the castle) while trying to discover what happened not only to them but outside. It might seem like just a chase for a while (albeit a good one) but it turns out to be more complex and metaphysical. The grand mystery is even more fun because the nature of their reality is uncertain. The survivors were well characterized and I enjoyed them. I was afraid 2 characters looked too much the same at the start but it turns out they were identical twins (not a spoiler : I just didn't catch that early enough).

"King of Thorn" combines traditional animation for characters and 3d computer graphics for vehicles, most moving objects and certain creatures. They mix very well and seem to add depth to the proceedings. I think what helps is that the 3d objects seem to be drawn over or cell shaded most of the time so it's really not too jarring (far from Final Fantasy quality though). The characters are nicely drawn (yet traditional in style) and the action sequences are particularly exciting and dynamic with amazing direction. The decors are picturesque and/or sinister with of course lots of thorn vines everywhere. There's also a nice contrast between medieval castle (almost fantasy) look and sci-fi trappings. I would like to point out one of the last creatures seen (a gigantic green one) that was quite grandiose yet weirdly beautiful (perhaps more so because I did see this in a theater). This film has a nightmarish Sleeping Beauty castle aesthetic and that fairy tale is important story-wise. It also has a strong video-game influence in terms of structure and creatures as the young boy accompanying the group keeps reminding us. His enthusiasm is also responsible for the few smiles in an otherwise dark adventure. I haven't watched a ton of animes (especially the recent ones) but considering my elated reaction, it might deserve to become a new classic.

Rating : 8.5 out of 10

December 2012 . Starting mass panic in the world. People in all the cities of the world are dying of unexplained illness , turning into stone statues . The virus affects all humanity scientists call the term " Medusa " or the abbreviation AC I. D. - Acquired hardened cells. UN declares state of emergency .

At the same time a leading corporation in the field of chemistry «Venus Gate» offers its residents a panacea Earth. Their project " cryogenic sleep ," the essence of which is to put a few dozen people in the capsule for long-term sleep - can save humanity . Venue experiment underground laboratory hidden under the old castle . Among the elected girl Kasumi and arrived with her in order to hold it before a long sleep , her sister Sadzuki . They lost their parents during World disease , but because they are given a parting hard. Their personal nobody knows the history of relations largely affect the further course of events . The experiment takes place and after some time the participants wake up to find himself surrounded by monsters.

In the animated anime film " King of Thorn " the authors with amazing fantasy story beat tale " Sleeping Beauty" in the scenery postapocaliptic horror. In the center of the story a few survivors of the experiment. Once alone in the battle with the monstrous creatures , they try to find a way out of the past and find out the reasons of the accident. All laboratory facilities , including an ancient castle itself , orgy spiny tentacles plants , and someone upstairs in the castle tower , watching them , controlling their every move .

The gloomy atmosphere and a dizzying events well keep the viewer in suspense . The film did not reduce the pace , throwing up new heroes of this anime encounters with monsters and unexpected plot twists . Bored while watching you just do not have .

Characters from the authors went out interesting and memorable . Boy Tim, who constantly compares all monsters and all that happens to a computer game . Catherine Tan experiencing maternal feelings for him . Mysterious and picturesque ( not only his character , but also tattooed body ) male Marco Owen .

Do not hesitate , if you should watch the movie "King of Thorn " or not. This is a good intense mystical horror , dynamic fighter and touching drama , imaginatively something in common citations and happening on the screen with many favorite fairy tale. It is unusual , original, witty and not boring.

I found the story to be pretty interesting the whole way through the film. Everything else was kinda inconsistent. Sometimes the audio was incredible and then another random time I'd notice a stock sound effect being used or a sound effect peaking. Visually there are some amazing shots but then there are the weird CGI visuals that don't quite work. This is definitely a film I enjoyed despite its pretty obvious flaws. Its definitely worth checking out and it seems like something I would watch Again despite my mixed feelings.