Roujin Z

It was a cynical comedy that was depicted serious problem of an aging society and care for them. A nursery experiment by robots was done in the name of Ministry of Health and Welfare. They said that pushing to nurse them was just exhausting time of youger people, so the robots would solve all of them. Recently I watched a TV program. It showed the possibility of AI would serve as someone to talk to them. That's why I couldn't laugh over it as just a fiction.

Of coure, the thoughtfulness is a vital to care them. If you would take for own parents and elderly parter, I don't think all of them have love with the care completely. That's just an another thing.

I felt a prototype robot acted like Tachikoma from Ghost in the Shell. Just it had one of parts like a brain, so was it Otomo's design type? It seemed to be influenced by Kubrick, Ghost in the Shell and other works about robots. But it was convincing as much as it won them!

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.

Roujin Z is a film that is entertaining, but if you have the English dubbed version of the film, there will be some inconsistencies in the dialogue. Example: The movie takes place in Japan, with obvious visual references and talk about the beach at Kamakura, but the English dialogue also talks about various American things.

The film is basically a hilarious take on the robot gone insane story, where an experimental bed for elderly patients become simply a mental bed. The characters are especially enjoyable, including the old guys at the nursing home who often have a "Grumpy Old Men" style of insulting.

Can mankind advance without losing their humanity? Conservatives throughout history have fought our gradual change, but ultimately lost, only tarnishing their legacy. Yet even rational, progressive individuals worry about our increasingly wired world, where face-to-face conversation is replaced by text on electronic screens. Thus, Roujin Z's premise is more relevant than ever, over two decades after its release - should technology replace human interaction?

In this near future, Japan is not in mid-Apocalypse, but is a modernized metropolis. People may live longer and enjoy more comforts, but old customs are struggling to survive. The frail, demented eldery aren't always treated with reverence, but as burdens, families ignoring traditional roles by hiring nursing homes or caretakers to provide their needs. With new technology from a mysterious source, the Ministry of Public Welfare reveals the ultimate caretaker for any fading senior citizen: the Z-001, a mechanical bed that functions as a perfect life support system and entertainment center. When one of her patients is forced into the machine through his family's permission, Haruko attempts to free him, objecting to, in her mind, a cold practice.

Little do they know that the Z-001 is more than an advanced medical suite...

The social satire in the film is well-done - slightly outrageous, but not unbelievable. Both sides are portrayed, yet neither are vilified. The film is much more mature than most of the crude, violent sci-fi anime of the 80s/90s. But that's just the starting point for an adventure involving a renegade machine, spiraling out of control as it incorporates whatever touches its wires! A good portion sets up the plot, character, and tone, but at the end of the day, the ridiculous action is the headliner of the movie.

Which isn't to say Roujin Z is a mediocre film. In fact, it mixes many elements to its benefit. Its enjoyable, but not empty of character nor theme. Characters may have comedic reactions to events, but its never out of place, nor overused. The machine's chaotic wake may be impressive, but its serves more purpose than action alone. Its a balanced movie, that doesn't rely on tired, lowest-common-denominator tropes.

I suppose there's minor complaints. Hanako's college friends aren't particularly useful or interesting. The animation is alright, but only that. The main focus is loosened up once the action begins, but it never drops out from the film entirely. Besides, I was enjoying myself regardless.

Roujin Z is a very solid, unfortunately forgotten anime. Its probably too balanced to make your best-of list, but I don't see much to dislike about it. Its perfectly paced, entertaining, a little emotional, and may even make you reflect on life. I'd recommend it to most people, and say its a high pick for sci-fi/retro anime fans.

A great manga film with a somewhat unusual storyline about a young nurse and her patient, an old near-vegetative man who is chosen to test drive 'project z', a government funded initiative to care for the old; using state of the art computer controlled care beds but of course this being manga, this guys bed turns out to be more than they bargained for. The animation is a little lazy in places but this is a great little film with lots of subtle comedy, satire and enjoyable over-the-top manga moments. Comedic but with good dialogue and some serious ideas, so one to watch with subtitles and not dubbed.