This is a movie about visuals.. and absurd, over the top fun. An enjoyable ~60 minutes for your mind to take a rest. Let the mind take a break, seat it comfortably and allow the colorful animation splash a bucket of weird Japanese imagination to your face. I must say that this movie is best viewed without the subtitles. When I first was watching it without them I decided to turn the subtitles on so I could follow the story, but right after that I missed half of the anime's lively visuals. So if you really are interested in getting the full experience and don't know Japanese I would recommend to watch this one twice, once to get the story, and second time to actually enjoy the amazing animation.
... View MoreI'm not an anime fan. I started to go in to why, but deleted it and decided to write about why I like Dead Leaves. How I am going to do that is by saying that even though I am not a fan of the genre, FLCL is one of my all time favorite viewing experiences. I fell in love with it the moment I saw it, and have owned various DVD releases of it and watched them many times, each viewing finding something new. Until tonight, I was disconsolate that no other anime would ever make me sit up and take notice.Now, Dead Leaves is not quite to FLCL's level, IMO; however, they are kindred spirits. First of all, it's a short, just over 3/4 of an hour, so it didn't have the time to develop its characters or plot as well, neither does it have the bittersweet, weird love story of FLCL, nor the coming of age subtext rife with adolescent realizations that makes FLCL so special, but then again, it doesn't want or need any of these. What it does have are tons of LOL, WTF and "AWESOME!" moments, packed in so tightly, this is something that will need to be watched again and again. It also shares FLCL's humor, twisted sensibility and style.Another comment indicates that the director of Dead Leaves also worked on FLCL, but I can't find confirmation of that here on IMDb; however, I would not be surprised in the slightest that that was the case.This short has given me hope that Japan hasn't only made one anime that I can appreciate. It is confirmed that it has now made at least two.
... View MoreI saw this one night on a whim. I had no idea what this was going to be. On animidnight I catch the occasional anime and this was something different. This is Dead Leaves.This totally blew away my expectations!! We start with our two heroes who for some reason are sitting alone naked and have amnesia. After a small introduction to our heroes, the mayhem begins. The animation alone is the first thing I noticed and it's so stunningly original and fun to look at and fits the story well. The characters our heroes meet along the way are far too funny and silly. This is also packed with some memorable one liners as well. The action is aggressive, funny, original(there's that word again), and extremely violent. Our heroes are very likable(especially Retro), and totally own the screen. Also watch for lots of crude and vulgar humor and language. This is not for kids at all. One of the many characters is Chinco Doll, a mutant with a drill. Once we meet him, let the crude begin. I'll just leave it at that. The voice acting is fantastic, the story is pretty good too. After all of this, why give this a nine and not a ten? Because this is only 45 minutes long. After this ended, I wanted more. 45 minutes does this no justice.The Last Word: Fantastic. This is an original work of art. I can watch this over and over and this will not get old. From the humor to the action, Dead Leaves delivers all. Only drawback, too short. Dead Leaves will leave you wanting more.
... View MoreWhen I first heard of this anime, I was a bit apprehensive about it. But the premise intrigued me. That and the fact that the director worked on "FLCL." The animation sort of reminds me of the style used in "INVADER ZIM" and "WORLD RECORD" from the ANIMATRIX. Rregardless, I am glad I decided to pick this up. The premise is: Pandy and Retro (a guy with a TV for a head) wake up naked with no memory. They proceed to then get some clothes, steal a car and lead the police on a wild, gun-blazing, high-speed chase which ends in their arrests. They are then sent to DEAD LEAVES, a prison on the moon. After engineering an escape, they have to contend with the twisted Triple 6, his hulkish brother Triple 7 and the enigmatic Warden. This anime is all over the place! There's guns, explosions, BIGGER guns, sex, penis drills (you have to watch to see)! If you like your anime no-hold's barred and just light years above regular orbit check this out!
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