Mind Game (2004)

Director:

Masaaki Yuasa

Writers:

Robin Nishi (comic)
Robin Nishi (story)

Release Date:

7 August 2004 (Japan)

Genre:

Animation | Adventure | Comedy

Plot:

The film follows Nishi, a loser who has a crush on his childhood girlfriend. After an encounter with the Japanese mafia...

Plot Keywords:

Suspension Bridge | Nudity | Stunt Driving | Tsunami | Female Nudity

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Koji Imada	...	Nishi (voice)
Sayaka Maeda	...	Myon (voice)
Takashi Fujii	...	Jiisan (voice)
Seiko Takuma	...	Yan (voice)
Tomomitsu Yamaguchi	...	Ryou (voice)
Toshio Sakata	...	Father of Myon and Yan (voice)
Joji Shimaki	...	Yakuza boss (voice)
Rintarou Nishi	...	Yakuza (voice)
Kenichi Chujou	...	Atsu (voice)

Runtime:

103 min

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Color:

Black and White | Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Company:

Studio 4°C

Trivia:

The movie's main character Nishi is based on Robin Nishi, the man who wrote the underground cult comic on which Mind Game was based. Some elements of the story are said to be autobiographical.

Quotes:

Nishi: Fear takes the shape we're willing to give it.

Touching the limits of imagination

I saw this piece on local Animefest and I tell you what. I honestly thought my head will blow. Such seemingly never-ending torrent of originality and imagination is truly unprecedented. There are numerous animation techniques mixed together, loads of standard anime exaggeration (no manga though), psychedelic trips, serious issues and silly sarcastic humor. There's no way an intelligent non-shallow adult would not like this masterpiece. Consider yourself as unprepared for what you will see but be ready to be surprised when you do and mentally exhausted once you did.

By the way, describing the plot of Mind Game would be utterly stupid. It's a mind game alright, you will get the message one way or another.

Straight 10/10