Review of The Red Spectacles (1987) by Brooks C — 28 Sep 2012

The Red Spectacles is a 1987 Japanese film directed by Mamoru Oshii (Ghost in the Shell, Patalabor, The Sky Crawlers). The plot takes place after the events of Jin-Roh: The Wolf Brigade. The Kerberos disbanded and society begins to decay under the new authority. Three of the Kerberos elite: Midori, Ao, and Soichiro go AWOL amidst the rebellion. Returning home after escaping to freedom, a detective named Koichi Tadome becomes fascinated by the changes and begins to unravel what happened during his absence. Although, his fascination leads him into a chaotic, twisted nightmare in determining who is friend and who is foe. While on his journey, Koichi becomes constantly haunted by pictures of a woman in red who becomes somewhat of a ray of hope in determining the realities of what was forgotten by the main character in his search for truth.

The plot is a darkly comic, poignant, psychological, and surreal character study that explores tyranny and reconciliation with present changes. Going many paces in terms of content and subject matter, it never ceases to be intriguing. It still maintains the political plot structure that was present in Jin-Roh, but the execution differs. In Jin-Roh, there was no good vs. evil and the line between the two was blurred, therefore, forcing the viewer to look at everything from both sides of the political spectrum. In this movie, illusion and reality are blurred and much more is revealed about the motivations of both organizations that were presented in the previous film. All that being revealed, it still has the viewer think very deeply about what is presented and the relations between the characters.

Shigeru Chiba (Dragonball, Fist of the North Star Bleach) plays Koichi. Mako Hyodo (Ranma 1/2, Outlaw Star, Macross Plus) plays the woman in red. Machiko Washio (Urusei Yatsura, Laputa, Totoro) and Hideyuki Tanaka (Saint Seiya, Captain Tsubasa, Cardcaptor Sakura) play Midori and Soichiro. Tescho Genda (City Hunter, Mobile Suit Gundam, Wolf's Rain) plays Bunmei-the head of the authoritative organization that constantly haunts Koichi. The tragi- comic performances in this movie are very well done and do a lot to contribute to the anime atmosphere that is encompassed. Considering the fact that most, if not all of the actors are seiyu- voice actors in Japan. They do great job at portraying their live-action anime renditions of their characters. Kenji Kawai (Ip Man, Seven Swords, Vampire Princess Miyu) did the music. The music is very well timed, paced, and does a great job at setting the mood and atmosphere of the scenes it is used.

The only two negatives of this film are that while its direction is good, it progresses slowly and it may be too cartoonish for people who are fans of Jin-Roh. The cinematography can be pretty good in certain areas, but it looks very dull and uninspired in the majority of the film.

As a whole, The Red Spectacles is a solid movie for fans of Mamoru Oshii and people who can't get enough of the Jin-Roh universe. The movie is a very complex, deep film about a man's journey in discovering his inner truth and what he had forgotten. Mamoru Oshii is a very complex director for some people. This movie may be either too strange, or cartoonish for some viewers. But if taken for what it's worth, The Red Spectacles delivers a great experience that would be worth sharing.