Roujin Z
1991 ‘Rôjin Z’ Directed by Hiroyuki Kitakubo
Synopsis
An old man is being treated specially by the Department of Health under the so-called Project Z, a special nursing bed with a 6th generation computer on board. When the pain and loneliness of the old man reaches his ex-private nurse, she decides to rescue him from the government's experiment. Thus begins a wild chase through the busy streets of Tokyo as the 6th generation computer begins to have the personality of the old man's ex-wife and as the government's secret project unfolds.
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The beginning was very interesting. However the end was a little bit too long and weird.
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Interesting premise but not enough to carry a full movie through. Frustrating that it starts to explore some interesting themes and then turns into smashing things.
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Recently released on Blu-Ray, this 1991 anime's pedigree made it a pretty irresistible purchase. Directed by Akira’s key animator Hiroyuki Kitakuboi, Akira’s creator Katsuhiro Otomo contributing the story and the mecha designs, with art direction by Satoshi Kon who went on to make such anime classics as Perfect Blue, Millennium Actress and Paprika. However, it's clear early on that while Roujin Z shared a lot of Akira's talent it certainly didn't have a similar budget to work with. In a strange way this stopped me from dwelling too long on that genre defining classic, letting me enjoy Roujin Z as an, albeit simpler, film in its own right.
The problem of what to do with a near-future Japan's growing population…
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A really silly science fiction story about an experimental electronic bed that's designed to help the elderly, by monitoring their vital signs, and helping to wash, excercise and entertain them. The silliness of the story quickly escalates when an old man manages to send a plea for a young nurse to help him.
I don't want to spoil anything, but the film borrows concepts from many famous science fiction stories before coming to a ridiculous conclusion. It's not really played out as a comedy, but it's a really silly, funny film that's worth looking for if you like nonsense.
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Roujin Z is an absolutely hilarious film, the kind of movie that could only come out of Japan during the early 90s. It tells the story of an old man, Kiyuro Takazawa, who is used as a guinea pig to trial a ‘6th-generation computer’ hospital bed—some time in the early twenty-first century. Inevitably, this computerised bed with robotic features ends up malfunctioning terribly, somehow adopting the personality of the man's dead wife and terrorising everything in its path as it makes its way to the beach. Elements of its destructive rampage remind me of the third act of Akira, especially when the robot starts to absorb other vehicles around it, which is no small surprise as much of the same…
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The beginning was very interesting. However the end was a little bit too long and weird.
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Interesting premise but not enough to carry a full movie through. Frustrating that it starts to explore some interesting themes and then turns into smashing things.
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great anime gem.
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Whilst the movie isn't perfect it does serve as a good reminder of why I got in to anime in the first place. The film is made before the anime scene became insular and more in favor of fan service. Although you get plenty of robots hitting each other the film is really about the loneliness of being old.
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Recently released on Blu-Ray, this 1991 anime's pedigree made it a pretty irresistible purchase. Directed by Akira’s key animator Hiroyuki Kitakuboi, Akira’s creator Katsuhiro Otomo contributing the story and the mecha designs, with art direction by Satoshi Kon who went on to make such anime classics as Perfect Blue, Millennium Actress and Paprika. However, it's clear early on that while Roujin Z shared a lot of Akira's talent it certainly didn't have a similar budget to work with. In a strange way this stopped me from dwelling too long on that genre defining classic, letting me enjoy Roujin Z as an, albeit simpler, film in its own right.
The problem of what to do with a near-future Japan's growing population…
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Funny, weird and wacky, but still leaves you with some interesting points regarding our care of the elderly and how machines aren't the best for every job.
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A really silly science fiction story about an experimental electronic bed that's designed to help the elderly, by monitoring their vital signs, and helping to wash, excercise and entertain them. The silliness of the story quickly escalates when an old man manages to send a plea for a young nurse to help him.
I don't want to spoil anything, but the film borrows concepts from many famous science fiction stories before coming to a ridiculous conclusion. It's not really played out as a comedy, but it's a really silly, funny film that's worth looking for if you like nonsense.