Taimu surippu 10000-nen: Puraimu Rôzu

What appears to be a giant orbiting robot-head splits in half and the impact of the falling segments transports the cities of Dallas and Kujukuri 10,000 years into a desolate future in which (as discovered by time-patrol agent Gai and his bratty little brother Bunretsu) the survivors of the temporal jump struggle to survive in a world of warring cities and vast slave labour camps tasked with constructing colossal statues of demons and monsters. As loopy as that all that sounds, now add monstrous insects, dragons with giant distensible tongues that can turn people into stone, some kind of malevolent space-Satan, a sexy warrior-princess (Emiya) who dresses like a heroine from a 'Heavy Metal' comic (although with a somewhat less buxom physique), and what appears to be a clone of Mr. Spock. Little of this sci-fi book-ended 'sword and sorcery' tale makes much sense, especially the bathing scene: in the midst of the cartoonish adventures, juvenile humour, and silly imagery, Emiya suddenly takes a bath in a huge puddle, giving both young Bunretsu and we the viewers long, lingering looks at her breasts and backside. The scene seems jarringly out-of-place in what was to that point a kid's show (plus, Emiya's naked body seems a lot more voluptuous than would be predicted given her lack of pronounced curves when wearing her skimpy warrior outfit). The character of Rose Prime originated in a manga by Osamu Tezuka, creator of Astroboy and the film's animation resembles the old cartoon (which I loved back in the early 1960s). I am insufficiently familiar with the history of manga or anime to know whether this film was a significant contribution to the genre. Watched on Tubi with subtitles.

Whenever a sci-fi story builds a world in which the story takes place, the viewer expects that world to remain relatively consistent. This is not what happens in "Prime Rose" aka "A Time Slip of 10,000 years: Prime Rose." It'll make you wonder things like "Where did those giant cockroaches come from?" and "Why in the heck is he leaving?" There are plenty of things in this anime movie that don't make sense. On the other hand, the bad guy is interesting. It's a demon who's sole purpose is to get the only two groups in the world to war with each other but he only shows up halfway into the film.

The animated illustrations are typical for that time period. Despite its faults and plot holes, Prime Rose is an OK time-killer. Not every film has to be a classic.