Special Edition

Released by Manga Video

Directed by the revered Hayao Miyazaki in 1979, Lupin III stands up as a masterpiece of stylized action. As Aeon Flux and Ultra Violet proved, while technology has bridged the effects capabilities of animation and live action, live action is still largely restricted in how well it can convincingly carry radically stylized action.

At one point, Mamoru Oshii was going to follow-up Castle of Cagliostro with a movie in which Lupin III appears as a discussed presence rather than a visibly physical participant. Obliviously this met with great reluctance and the idea was shelved, later working its way into the first Patlabor movie. But, it wasn't a bad idea for addressing the problem of following up Hayao Miyazaki's kinetic wonder, Castle of Cagliostro. After seeing the character move as his does in Castle of Cagliostro presenting the character as an intangible force of rumor might have made for a nice counterbalance in the progression of the franchise.

As animation director Yasuo Otsuka suggests in an interview included as a bonus feature on the disc, the movie is a product of a system that no longer exists. Similar to what Peter Bogdanovich suggests of modern American movie directors, animators are not given the depth of experience that they once were, and as a result, their mastery of the craft is to a less degree than those that built the tradition being inherited. Beyond the experience criticism, the economics of the production studios have meant that those looking to make a solid living have gone elsewhere (into video games) and that those still willing to work in the field are given far less freedom. That Castle of Cagliostro exhibits the strengths of cell based animation (as opposed to digital), that it was made by talented, vetran creators and that those people where given the space to create the work that they envisioned adds up to the unfortunate condition that another work as captivating as Cagliostro will likely be a long time coming.

Lupin III was initially a Mad Magazine take on pop-literature characters crossed with James Bond globe trotting adventures. In the interview with Otsuka, Mort Drucker is credited as the influence for Lupin III creator Monkey Punch's style. Lupin III himself is the grandson of French gentleman thief Arsène Lupin, except Lupin III is almost a genetic throwback, a hairy, animalistic man with little control over his lust or adverice. For fans of the manga's half feral rogue the representation of Lupin III in Castle of Cagliostro thief with a heart of gold rather than an id driven antihero might present at something of a betrayal of the characters' fundamental. Still, the character has been around four decades and like any long running franchise, presentations evolve. The periodically changing color of Lupin III's jacket is often used to tie creators and personality shifts to the characters.

Four characters (or some subset of the four) accompany Lupin in his capers: Daisuke Jigen, a scruffy, gun toting gangster, Goemon Ishikawa XIII, descendant of the legendary swordman/bandit, Fujiko Mine a freelance thief/spy and feme fatale (whose name is a Bond style pun for her large chest) and Inspector Zenigata,the Interpol agent, perpetually and unsuccessfully chasing Lupin based of fictional, coin throwing lawman Zenigata Heiji.

Castle of Cagliostro is more about set pieces than plot. The simplistic story launches from Lupin and his cohorts (including Zenigata) thwarting the villainous Count from marrying and stealing the inheritance of Clarisse, a young woman with the look and heart of a Miyazaki heroine.

Miyazaki's pre-Ghibli work, Puss in Boots in particular built up an idea that was fully realized in Castle of Cagliostro: to take a building, a castle, and utilize the full structure for a host of highly physical sequences. The results are grand leaps from the turrets, huge melees in the halls, processions through cathedral arcs, Modern Times comedy in the machinary of the water works and descents into the dungeons.

Lupin's associates are drawn into the scuffles, but for the most part it is his show. Monkey Punch's Lupin III design emphasized a character whose motions were an outgrowth of his appetites. Almost monkeyish with his spindly limbs, he seemed always ready to leap on a woman or climb a wall in search of loot. Standing still, slouched, with his hands in his pockets, he still seemed poise to swing from a rope or start running. The anime incarnation latched on to this with the characters and gave his movements a contradictory mix of grace and jerkiness, taking the motion using it to capture the essence an emotion of the action rather than natural movement. When Lupin is fleeing Zenigata, his high kneed bolts don't look like a real sprinter running, they look like the idea of a tuned flight mechanism sprung into action.

Transplanting this brand of motion to the surface of a gothic castle yields some of anime's most memorable action sequences. Lupin meticulously making his way to a high point, planning to use a gadget to secure a line to the right tower. When the trajectory goes wrong, mid action being forced to run for his life. In near-fall, the character seems to decide to defy physics, and his animal side takes over.

That this character is not going to fall to his death is known. That this character routinely moves in impossible fashion is known. Still, the viewer is invited to loose themselves in the velocity of the sequence. Miyazaki composes the scenes in such as way as to establish the height to which castle rises above its surrounding lake. He sets that layout of turrets. And then, bang, the music kicks up and the characters start moving, and exhilaration lock in. There is an in the moment glee captured in the danger and the ability to rise above sane limitations. The strength of the feeling conveyed in these moments is so strong that Castle of Cagliostro clicks as an instant classic for anyone who sees it.

Leading up to the movie's legendary clock tower climax, there is a fight between Lupin and the Count in the gear house of the tower. The sheer quantity and range of motion, with all the moving parts of the machinery and Lupin and Count moving all the parts is an amazing accomplishment in animation. Putting aside its influences of near-contemporary work (Great Mouse Detective) and homages, there have been scenes that recall this, and in that, the similar constructs offer an interesting point of comparison to other high profile anime works. Compared to the CGI clock work in Rintaro's adaptation of Osamu Tezuka's Metropolis, the limitations of Rintaro's scene become starkly apparent. Rintaro's textures and colors where more naturalistic, but Rintaro gained nothing in scale and lost plenty in freedom. Where Metropolis had to stage its composure around the animated backdrop, Miyazaki uses angle as a launching point for propelling the characters dynamics though the complex pattern of the machinery.

While Castle of Cagliostro is established in these grand strokes, it is almost a culmination of more subtle things done well. These establish the characters, such as the detail of an overflowing ash tray in Lupin's car or contrast Clarisse's gown against the night sky. The music by Yuji Ohno, whose primary contribution to anime was the soundtracks of many Lupin III works (and the Captain Future anime) adapts his jazzy style to the needs of the movie. There are up-tempo pieces that set the rhythm for frantic moments, but Ohno also offers more melodic tones to capture the feel of a grand castle that imposes its own mood despite the madness in and around its walls. Miyazaki also displays the confidence to halt the music and let the moment completely speak for itself.

The movie is rewatchable in the sense that it is such an enjoyable experience that it will leave a desire to revisit the work from time to time. Beyond recapturing the feel of seeing the movie, for a classic, it is somewhat surprising how little discovery subsequent viewings offer. There may be small things to pick up in its presentation, such as where it has edges: Zenigata's troops editing ramen while the aristocracy feast or irony worked into the ending: seeing the INTERPOL troops parashoot in, looking like petals falling on the castle or Lupin, a thief and occasional killer describing those pursing him as "bad men". And the animation is interesting to dissection, such as noting its occasional use of panning still shots. By in large, it's possible to keep a fairly complete picture of Castle of Cagliostro in your memory. It is work that calls to be included in an anime collection, but unlike Ghibli Miyazaki works, perception of the movie and what is taken from it is likely to remain static over the long term.

The most serious flaw with the DVD release is that the opening credits use still images with English text. Manga has stated that this was done by licensor TMS, which is certainly credible since TMS has been known this of making this sort of change to their content. What isn't credible is that TMS honestly thinks this is the best way to represent the artists who worked on the project. The background to the credits is a dusk toned view of Lupin and Jigen movie through the European continent and it offers a melancholy bucolic beauty. Motion is minimal, but present.
Lack of animation does not ruin the sequence especially in that it is possible to see it and not know that it was originally animated, but it does lessen it.
That the classic was preserved in an otherwise admirable edition marred by what is hard to classify as anything other than a short cut is unfortunate, even if it doesn't invalidate the release

Manga's new Special Edition DVD features a B side of bonus material. In addition to storyboards timed to the movie an played with its soundtrack this includes an interview with animation director Yasuo Otsuka, which is and isn't a great interview.
There are many thing, particularly pertaining to the movie, its production and the Lupin III franchise that Otsuka had absolutely no interest in discussing, and for which, when feeling talkative, mentioned a superficial or obvious point. He reveals it wasn't a grand production. It was a four month concerted effort, and one that seemed to be considered unexceptional in his long career. Yet, the interview is essential for an audience with an interest in the state of anime in that it is a holistic indictment of the current Japanese environment. While the impulse to write off what is said as the as the dissatisfaction of a 70 year old man who isn't fond of the current state of the industry, Otsuka was a veteran by the time he started working on Castle (he was an animator on 1960's Alakazam the Great) and knows the industry and its history. What he says about the economic and creative constrictions at work have been iterated elsewhere. While he does not touch on the technical side of the changes in the industry, what he says about the studio environment an buisness model does explain the character of the anime being produced.

One comment that Otsuka does make, and repeats about Lupin III is that he likes the ensemble nature of the cast. Which is odd, because while Lupin III features only 5 re-occurring characters, calling them an "ensemble" seems very imprecise.

The group is hard to classify as a real esamble due to its limitation mixing the five. Lupin can freely put into scenes with the others, except for Goemon. Goemon as a visual gag can appear almost anywhere, but due to his laconic, stand-offish nature, plot machinations are needed to work Goemon into a scene as a character. In Castle of Cagliostro, Goemon's implausibly quick arrival is treated almost as a meta-joke. He just seems to turn up. The characters note the quickness and he responds "what's the job." He's treated to one personality shift moment at the movie's conclusion. Usually the point of these scenes if for him to momentary break his stone face. Mixed of Fujiko, Jigen and Zenigata are possible, but limited. Jigen tends to be less useful to Fujiko than Lupin and at the same time, he doesn't trust her or let his hormones guide his dealing with her. Zenigata is after Fujiko and Jigen, but they are lower priorities than Lupin. Consequently, scenes between pairs from this trio, are likely to be comprised mostly of hard looks, threats or slander. Inspired follow-ups, such as Cowboy Bebop have generally been more successful in figuring out ways to make their characters act more freely in conjunction with each other.

Resource Spotlight:
Making Comics: Storytelling Secrets of Comics, Manga and Graphic Novels
by Scott McCloud

Released by Harper Paperbacks

Long before the manga boom, when the material was present in the North American comics market on the periphery, Scott McCloud's Understanding Comics was the work that went beneath the stylistic differences. It gave a substantive explanation of how managa's approaches to the mechanisms of storytelling different from those prevalent in North American works. Over a decade later, after the radical increase to how much manga exposure readers have received, Understanding Comics still shapes how the form is discussed.

McCloud's ability to take a subject as large as the medium, break it down into processable components and insightfully speak to those components was what made Understanding Comics such a significant work. In Making Comics, McCloud applies this approach to the topic on telling stories through the medium. While the audience is those who do indeed want to make comics, the book is invaluable to anyone with an appreciations for the medium, regardless of their creative aspirations. It is an eye opening dissection of how ideas can be effectively conveyed through the medium that has much to offer those looking to move deeper into Understanding Comics.

As with any medium, there are aspects to a given work of comics that can be appreciated to a greater depth when approached with an understanding of the considerations effecting the creation process. Obviously, you don't need to understand music theory to enjoy and appreciate music, and you don't need to know the workings of film to understand movies. In fact, it is sometimes the works of the greatest creators that are most approachable. Osamu Tezuka is the God o Manga. While he was given to experimentation, many of his works are sublimely easy to pick up and read. They seem to be comic that those with difficult reading the medium and could manage. Yet, look at a work like Phoenix: Karma in light of what McCloud lays out in Making Comics. The completeness to which Tezuka applies the tools of the medium becomes staggering, rudimentary from the layout of pages, to the subject of panels, to the posture of characters to the esoteric in how he radically departs for expected stylization metaphors.

McCloud effectively creates a framework of the considerations that should go into telling a story in the medium, from what needs to be committed to the panel of a comic in order to clearly capture the desired stream of events (a sort of image grammar) to concerns relating to the genre context of a work. It's less an explicit "how too..." than it is a discussion of the tools available to the comic creator and how those tools work to translate the ideas to the comic's reader.
Nuts and bolts topics in the process, such as a collaborations between writers and artists, and creations tools: pens, digital image work are discussed at an overview level. These topics are approached thoughtfully, and McCloud does raise the considerations involved, but the focus is decidedly on how these tools work as a vehicle of impressions on the comic's reader. The instruction is more concerns with the impression lend by styles of line work, than how to create the lines.

The topic of manga is covered as part of the discussions of traditions within which a comic may be situated. The treatment is an impressive feat. McCloud is able to meaningfully condense the scale of the subject down in a quick sub-chapter. The discussion manages explains the paradox of how manga can be both open enough to encompass everything from business guides to shoujo and at the same time be a distinctive form. He also adeptly establishes the creative context for original English language manga in a manner that addresses the thought at goes into the work, in a manner going to upset the sensibilities of purists.

McCloud's gift is that he is able to open his reader's eyes by clearly stating what they should be able pick up from a careful study of the comics medium. It is possible to look at comics for decades and McCloud will still either point out a missed facet or express that idea in a revealing new light. Anyone who has aspiration to be a comics creator or adjust, improve or refine their craft will find a wealth of topics to consider in Making Comics. Those who aren't call to the creative arena will find the book equally enlightening. Perhaps even to a greater degree than Understanding Comics, reading Making Comics will change the way you read comics. Choices made by the creator become far more apparent. When it's by Ken Akamatsu, Osamu Tezuka or Robert Kirkman, reading a comic will be a different experience after Making Comics.

Resource Spotlight
The Manga Start-Up Guide: Pen & Ink

Released by Digital Manga Publishing

The title is exact. "Pen & Ink" is a stepping stone guide, and at that and it is more of a guide than a how-to.
The volume is constructed to take a degree of technical aptitude closer to a professional level. If you can draw and have a sense of how to tell a story in the comic medium, the book will guide you in learning how to refine your work by inking the images.

It's set up to inspire a creator, by pointing them to the physical tools they need; directing the reader to the path that will allow them to build there abilities. The answers it suggests are far from perfect, for example what section has a column responses to "Q - I want to dry silky, straight hair!" that amounts to literally telling the reader that it is a difficult effect to create and suggests that they practice and study the work of a few talented manga creators.

The value is that it examines the process of proven professionals and offers insight into their methods. Suggestions are offered for how to form the images and the page layout of manga, but those topics are generally beyond the scope of the volume, except when they intersect the topic of inking the work. Because this is the focus, the volume offer less of a value to those looking to understand rather than create.

The book collects four subsections each of which could almost stand on their own. The first part, "Close up on How a Manga Is Born." Presented with glossy, full color picture, it is an examination of process that looks at how Yasuhiro Nightow, Oh!great, and Satoshi Shiki ink their images.

At first Nightow might seem like an odd choice as a purveyor of manga knowledge. While he has a strong sense of style, his storytelling is labored and often difficult to follow. Fortunately, that is a moot point for the topic he covers. The section gives a strong tools and techniques over-view of how he, and the other examined creators produce the images that they are known for.

The remaining sections shift to a more tutorial rather than examination format, meant to transition pencil artists into inked world of manga. "I Want to Draw Manga!" has hints to aid the learning process moving from "doodles" to inked pages. "There Is A Lot I Don't Get When I'm Starting Out..." coverage a barrage of issues and topics in a Q&A format. "Four-Week, Professional-Level Pen Training!" presents a set of exercises for working with inked images.

An appendix features an the results of an extensive polling of manga creators as to the tools they use for illustrating. This covers a large range from the creator of Eden to the creator of Vampire Princess Miyu.

The text is plagued issues with funky translations. Not just spelling and insider terms, but lines that require multiple readings to parse. "A well-done manga should read smoothly. On the other hand, if an amateur rushes through their manga it is difficult to read. This is often the fault of the name (the dialog and drawing)...." To make this morning confuse, once you get to the next chapter, there is footnote explaining the "name" concept: "The word has two meanings in this book. One is "the dialog," and the other is "picture layout." Which meaning is being used should be drawn from context".

Illumitoon News

1/9/07

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