Le Roi des ronces

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.

This is a good adventure mystery movie. The plot progresses well, the characters are interesting and the conclusion, while unusual, is acceptable. While I would not class this as a classic or a movie you can re-watch, its certainly worth a single viewing. It deals with adult themes, so its no Disney movie, so children may find it a bit scary.

It seems, that last generation of Japanese writers are obliged to create story around school-girls and huge bodybuilders. They got great ideas and smash em at the dumbest characters. After interesting prelude outline and impressive visual you had to watch talking patterns until you eventually start scrolling timeline.

Compare to this decade King of Thorn not that bad. Good visual, multicultural characters, lots of fanservice, but with zero art ambitions. I understand why.. but still is a shame.

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

Somehow this show ended up on the free movies section on Xfinity several years ago and I probably would not have seen it even now had it not randomly appeared on there back in the day.

I first saw the movie and then bought the manga. Some reviewers who had read the manga first were upset because it completely changes the final act which is an understandable criticism. Had I read the manga first as well, I probably would've had some sourness too. I usually despise when animes do this because I know the only reason they do it is because the anime is not long enough to cover the whole story so they make up their own ending. It drives me nuts.

However, this is one of the rare times where after looking at both versions, I am ok with both endings though I do prefer manga version more. The movie still managed do get the fundamentals of the manga and prevent the story from falling apart.

The movie creates some new explanations from why certain things happen in the movie compared to manga in order to stitch up loose ends that the manga covered but the movie had to work without it.

Also, this is one of the rare times where I actually prefer the english dub on an anime that isn't done by Studio Ghibli. The voice actors did a pretty good job and added life and personality into their roles.

The big part of the movie revolves around twists and turns that are revealed in the final act that I cannot spoil. However, that is what makes the anime rise above many others in terms of story telling. Just like Perfect Blue, it makes you want to rewatch the movie instantly in order to see the story again but with the revelations in mind. You pick up on several details and moments you miss that make a lot more sense upon rewatch. Its part of the reason why I haven't forgotten it even after several years.

I would show anime blu rays back when I was in college and this movie by far got the most watches and positive reactions from folks who didn't even watch anime.

As for negatives, the CGI elements of the animation really stick out like a sore thumb since a lot of characters and setting do have very nice hand drawn detail in them. It feels lazy and tired. Still don't understand why studios think we won't notice it.

Also, the story is not for everyone. People who prefer more structured stories, endings wrapped up in a nice little bow, and happily ever afters will leave disappointed.

I recommend this anime to most anime fans and people looking to get into anime despite its flaws.