Reviews [Anime Review] Darkside Blues

Title - Darkside Blues
Available From - U.S. Manga Corps
Length - 83 minutes
Genre - Drama/Scifi

Plot - In the future, 90% of the world is owned by a giant, world-wide corporation called Persona Century. The corporation is attacked by anti-persona terrorists, and only one of these terrorists escapes. He finds his way into one of the few areas left in Shinjuku, Japan that's free of the Companys control called the Dark Side of Tokyo. There he finds an vast amount of anarchy, dilenquency, crime, misfits and such.

Main Characters-
The focus is on the terrorist, Tatsuya, and you follow him in his meetings with a street punk named Mai, her muscle-bound companion Kenzo and a young and troubled woman named Selia.Then comes Darkside. I came into the belief early on, that even though the movie was named for him, he plays a small and strange part in the overall plot. Call him a spectator of sorts, but at least he is interesting, and somewhat mysterous. Given that he seems to have come from some alternate dimension and possesses some freaky psychic powers, I would hope he would have some background in the movie, but I was sadly mistaken. He stays a mystery up until the end of the film.

And though Persona Century is the real enemy, it is basically represented by a show of hired guns, and mutants.
Guren is a high-ranking member of Persona and a figure in the pasts of one of the main characters, Tamaki is a sadistic woman with a taste for torture, and my personal favorite Enji has spent much time in Africa and possesses some deadly powers.(even faces off against Darkside) Yet for all his charisma, he ends up like the others who work for Persona Century.

HighLights - Darkside Blues is a beautifully designed anime, and is styled in a industrial ghetto meets Futuristic Japan meets deep jazz country New Orleans look. The mood is a downtrodden one and the characters play their parts well, whatever they may be.

LowPoints - Darkside Blues has a far too many characters in it, so getting information on the main characters means watching for scraps of info. So, by the end of the film, there are several unanswered questions hanging around. Histories and origins, as well as the time period, mean little or anything to the plot, and thats somewhat sad to know. Infact, other then a terrorist on the run, I couldn't begin to tell you the rest of the plot to the movie.


but, for what its worth, a movie like this is very hard to execute under most circumstances, yet Darkside Blues does just that.

So, with interesting characters, a Martin Scorsese-esque plot that any fan of his would like, and a great style, Darkside Blues gets a
81% (fairly decent)

 

It's on my list. xD

Great review BTW.