The Other Side of Animation 234: The Stranger by the Shore Review

(If you like what you see, you can go to camseyeview.biz to see more of my work on video game reviews, editorials, lists, Kickstarters, developer interviews, and review/talk about animated films. If you would like, consider contributing to my Patreon at patreon.com/camseyeview. It would help support my work, and keeps the website up. Thanks for checking out my work, and I hope you like this review!)

As much as I, a critic, do love watching foreign animation, reviewing it, talking about it, and making sure you all watch it, trying to watch them legally is a pain in the neck. I know some people will justify less legal means to watch everything, but I always want to make sure I tackle films that you can easily find. Unless I get a screener for a film not out in the US yet like Snotty Boy, a majority of animated films I have reviewed have some way to watch it. You can either buy it, rent it, stream it, and or it is coming out stateside. It’s a tedious job sometimes reviewing these films, but it makes it easier when companies in the US, no matter how big of an audience these films will have, give them a shot. This is why I was really happy to see a company like Funimation start to invest in bringing movies over again, and one of their first films this year that wasn’t based on a franchise was the gay romantic drama The Stranger by the Shore. 

Directed and written by Akiyo Ohashi, and produced by Studio Hibari and Blue Lynx, this film is based on the boys love L’estranger series of the same name. It’s about two young men. One is a gay novelist named Shun Hashimoto who works at a beachside inn, and Mio Chibana a lonely orphan who recently lost his mother. A few years pass after the first time they meet, and while Shun still works at the inn and goes through the struggle of becoming a novelist, a new employee ends up working at the inn, and it turns out to be Mio, who then confesses his love to Shun. Will the two respond healthfully back to one another with their true feelings, or will life throw a wrench into the situation? 

The biggest problem with this film is its run time. There seems to be this rule that anytime a gay love story is adapted into a film in anime, it can only be an hour long. This leads to the film really putting the pedal to the metal to get to every single gay love story drama point resulting in a film that is not 100% satisfying story-wise. When it was able to slow down and let the drama be between our two leads, this film had a very nice, intimate atmosphere to it. It didn’t feel so contrived, because the drama between the two felt grounded. 

When it had to go from Shun’s overarching narrative of commitment to dealing with his actions of the past, and the scorn of a woman he was supposed to have married but didn’t, it feels a bit much. It doesn’t help that Shun seems to get the boatload of development, while Mio gets the short end. Both characters are great, but a longer running time or better pacing would have absolutely helped make both leads feel fully fleshed out. It’s also a touch disappointing that the end goal for the two of them was to have sex. The sex scene itself is handled very tastefully and is intimate and loving, but the end goal of a romance shouldn’t be sex. Sure, that might not have been the intended goal, but that is what it seems like their end goal was. Apparently, the manga sequel to this story fleshes them out more, but we aren’t here talking about the manga sequel. We are here to judge this film and this film alone. 

One thing that is consistent about this film is the animation quality. It’s a gorgeous film with fluid movements, detailed backgrounds, and very expressive characters. The studios behind the animation, Studio Hibari and Blue Lynx made one of the best-looking films of 2020/2021. If you want some great visuals, then you will love this film’s look. 

The voice cast is also strong with some familiar names of the Funimation regulars, including Josh Grelle and Justin Briner of My Hero Academia fame playing our lead characters. They do a great job playing off one another, and they make the romance, when the film is able to focus on that, believable. The rest of the cast is impressive as well, with Amber Lee Conners, Morgan Garrett, Bryn Apprill, Jessica Cavanagh, Ciaran Strange, Brittney Karbowski, Monica Rial, David Wald, and the overall cast is a talented group for their respective parts big and small. 

The Stranger by the Shore is a flawed, but touching romance story, and is readily available to watch now on Funimation Now. There is something nice about seeing more companies bringing over films from overseas, because it seems like the anime industry is willing to give us everything no matter the end quality, but when it comes to films, US distributors have to jump through hoops to bring these films over, and then you get distributors like Aniplex that think most people can afford their super expensive releases. For now, this film doesn’t have a physical release in mind, but if you have Funimation NOW, you can stream it for free, and if you are looking for a good romance anime film, then I recommend checking this film out. Now then, we shall journey to Netflix for a German, Spain, and Belgium collaboration with Firedrake The Silver Dragon aka Dragon Rider. 

Thanks for reading the review! I hope you all enjoyed reading it! If you would like to support my work, make sure to share it out, and if you want to become a Patreon supporter, then you can go to patreon.com/camseyeview. I will see you all next time!

Rating: Go See It! 

The Other Side of Animation 105: The Empire of Corpses Review

(If you like what you see, you can go to camseyeview.biz to see more of my work on video game reviews, editorials, lists, Kickstarters, developer interviews, and review/talk about animated films. If you would like, consider contributing to my Patreon at patreon.com. It would help support my work, and keeps the website up. Thanks for checking out my work, and I hope you like this review!)

I have come to realize that I may have played my winning hand too early with picking out a “scary” or “horror”-themed animated film to review last year with Extraordinary Tales. It made me realize that there are not many dark or scary animated films. A lot of Halloween-themed specials are usually family friendly, and not really all that scary. It’s a shame, since animation breaks those chains that hold back horror in live-action movies, because you can do what you want with no limitations. That’s why I had to ask around a bit to see what I could review that was creepy or unsettling and not entirely made for a family audience. This is where The Empire of Corpses comes into play. This is part of a trilogy of films based on stories by late author Project Itoh or as he is known as, Satoshi Ito. It was followed up by Harmony and Genocidal Organ. It got a lot of hype behind it, because it was being animated by Wit Studio, the animation studio behind Attack on Titan. It was directed by Ryoutarou Makihara, and was brought over by Funimation. Once it was seen by more of the world, I didn’t really hear anyone talk about it. I think it’s honestly a cool little product, and that’s why I’m reviewing it here. Let’s get started.

The film takes place in an alternate 19^th century. In this world, back in the 18^th century, England scientist Victor Frankenstein found a way to bring back dead corpses, and make them live again. After some shenanigans with the doctor ending up dead, and his one true prototype going missing, the technology he used called Necroware is now used in mass production, where the Government is using dead bodies and making them grunts, soldiers, workers, and so on. Jump to current day, and the technology has spread across the entire world. So, enter our lead, a promising Necroware engineer named John Watson, voiced by Jason Liebrecht. He has been working under the radar to bring his friend Friday, voiced by Todd Haberkorn, back to life after his passing. The good news is that Watson brings his friend Friday back to life! The bad news is that due to the current technology, Friday can’t talk or really do much besides a few simple actions. Oh, and I guess getting caught and almost getting a bullet through Watson’s head by the England Government is bad as well. Watson is then sent on a journey to find this book that had all of Frankenstein’s notes and blue prints on reanimating corpses. Along the way he meets his and Friday’s bodyguard Captain Frederick Gustavus Burnaby, voiced by J. Michael Tatum, a Russian guide named Nikolai Krasotkin, voiced by Micah Solusod, a Russian corpse engineer voiced by Mike McFarland, and a mysterious woman named Hadaly Lilith, voiced by Morgan Garrett. Together they try to find this book, and maybe find The One, voiced by R. Bruce Elliott.

So, what is good about this film? Well, I love the idea. While not scream yourself silly scary, the idea of what the entire plot is based around is scary. I mean, people are able to bring back dead people to use for mindless tasks, and sending them to war, while the rich get fat and pampered. It gets even more disturbing when you realize that they can make zombies for different purposes, and give them back intelligence to a degree. I feel like there should, or would, be some kind of moral dilemma with this technology. I also enjoyed the chemistry between Watson and Friday. You really wanted to see Watson obtain his goal, and bring Friday back to 100% living. I also enjoyed their bodyguard, who was simply a fun character to watch fight, act snarky, and bring a good energy to the group of protagonists.

Since this was animated by the studio that did Attack on Titan, Wit Studio, you can tell that you are going to get some high-grade animation. Everything moves fluidly, and the color pallet has a good mixture of drab colors and a vibrant color scheme when needed.  The action flows well with the movements, and they get really creative with the zombie types. I know some people complain that when you give zombies more to do than just stumble around, it makes them less interesting, but I think it helps the movie. You see different types of zombies, like the regular zombies, suicide bomb zombies, zombies that wear heavy armor and know how to fight, and you get the idea. It helps make the action more interesting, and kept me engaged when our merry group of heroes was under attack. The voice acting was pretty solid. I think some of the voice actors trying British or Russian voices are distracting, but everyone puts in a good performance.

If I had to complain about something with the film, I think it would be the pacing. Now, as a movie, it’s a fun action romp with an interesting setting. On the other hand, I constantly felt this would have been better as a miniseries. Even at two hours, the pacing of the story feels weird. Like, I was really getting into the Russian guide and his comradery with our lead, the bodyguard, and Friday, but he then stops being in the film before the halfway point. It’s shocking what happens, but still. They also introduce elements to certain characters, and the twist feels forced. Not that they weren’t building up the twist in some way, but since the film is too long for its own good, I lost interest a couple of times, and had to take a break  of watching the film before getting back on the saddle. The final climax is intense, but so much goes on at once with the lead and the main villain, that it’s overload. I think everything would have been better if they made this a four to six episode miniseries, so they could have time to flesh out everything. It loses its steam by the end of the first hour, and that’s a real shame. You have a cool world, but not the best execution or intrigue of said world.

In the end, The Empire of Corpses was a solid movie. I had fun watching it, and I am glad I watched it, but I don’t know if I would watch it again. I would recommend seeing if you can rent it, or see if a friend has it and watch it with them. When I’m usually on the fence about a film, a rental or free viewing helps me not waste $20+ buying a copy of the film. If you like zombie films, anime, or anime with zombies, then you will probably enjoy this movie. It might go off the rails at times, but for a non-family-friendly “spooky” animated feature, I think I did a good job finding this film. Well, I have had my fill of spooky ghosts, ghouls, and anime tropes, so how about we play a little catch-up with the year with Loving Vincent. Thanks for reading, I hope you all enjoyed the review, and I will see you next time!

Rating: Rent It!