Gyo

this was one of the weirder animes i've seen in a while...and i've seen some weird ones...

fish decide they've had enough of living in the sea and grow mechanical legs and invade the land in huge numbers, killing or worse, infecting people with a strange virus that make them bloat up, turn green and expel noxious gases...

i haven't read the manga (if there is one), but i've heard the creator or director was into weird stuff and i heard right...the animation is good and the characters interesting...good story, but kinda bleak...i wont spoil it, but say its definitely different and more than a little gross, but i didn't mind it...

An animated movie that does take environment very seriously. Japan is an island and therefor isolated. It also seems to heighten their fears and how they portray them. Another case in point is this movie. Just because it is animated though, doesn't mean it is child friendly. There is nudity, there is violence and there is body horror that Croneberg would be jealous of.

Apart from things (machines) sticking things in human body parts (where they shouldn't be) and other out there ideas, you have to be pretty open minded to watch this movie. It's not great, but it has a message. Is that enough/sufficient for your viewing pleasure?

...and it ain't just the walking fish!

Granted, I haven't read the Manga upon which this 2012 Anime movie titled "Gyo" (aka "Gyo: Tokyo Fish Attack") is based upon. And after having sat through this 2012 Anime, then I can honestly say that I have zero intentions of reading the Manga.

Writers Junji Ito, Takayuki Hirao and Akihiro Yoshida put together a very bizarre storyline here. Sure, as I sat down to watch this Anime in 2023, I thought that zombie fish was a strange concept, but I opted to watch it regardless, giving the Anime the benefit of the doubt.

And I have to say that "Gyo" was no my cup of tea. Sure, there were parts of the story that were good, but the overall picture was a swing and a miss. I just couldn't get into the vibe here that director Takayuki Hirao was trying to portray on the screen, and it was just difficult to take the whole thing serious.

The art style in "Gyo" was adequate. Not the best of art seen in an Anime, for sure, but it was adequate enough. Despite the fact that the creature concepts made zero sense. The animation in "Gyo" was good, though.

I am sure that there is an audience out there for something such as "Gyo", I just happened not to be a part of that particular target audience.

My rating of "Gyo" lands on a four out of ten stars.

This is a rather bizarre horror film based on Junji Ito's manga, where fish with mechanical legs invade Tokyo, creating chaos. It's a weird, unsettling mix of body horror and absurdity that some will love for its strangeness, while others might find it too much. The animation is decent but not spectacular, focusing more on gross-out moments than scares. The pacing can feel jumpy, and the characters are forgettable, offering little beyond reacting to the madness. It's a film that sticks with you-either for its odd charm or its overwhelming weirdness. Definitely didn't have me bored, however not something I'll probably watch a second time.

As someone that has read the manga that this movie is based of, I can saffely say that booth are enjoyable in their own way. Some things have been changed within the story, but it does follow the same plot and at times re-enacts the same exact scenes from the manga. The fish were creepy and gave me a very strange feeling of dread in booth versions. I will however complain about two things: The first one is a particular octopus-scene that was not in the source-material and felt completely unnecessary and forced. The second thing is that the movie didnt end as in the manga. That is not a complete dealbreaker but I enjoyed the ending in the manga better. Wouldnt recommend watching this if you havent read the manga. It might be to much for some...