The craziest prison break in the world or I have watched "Dead Leaves"...

...and liked it. But let's start from the beginning.

There are different types of movies. There are normal movies – actually, most of them. There are movies that are more or less weird, for example "Ich seh, ich seh". There are also movies that are pure mindfuck.

And there is "Dead Leaves".

If you can't stand the chaos on this poster, don't worry – the movie itself is way worse.

"Dead Leaves'" plot... Well... Exists. Whole story starts when two strangers, Pandy (amazingly voiced by Takako Honda, but I will talk about it later) and Retro (Kappei Yamaguchi) wake up in the middle of the desert completely naked and with erased memories. They quickly decide they need to get clothes and food. How? By ruining half of the nearby city, of course. (Un)fortunately, shortly after they start, the police arrives and, after a very intense battle (loads of bullets and deadly robots included), Pandy and Retro get arrested and sent to Dead Leaves – maximum security prison on Moon.

And this everything happens before opening credits.

As you have probably noticed, "Dead Leaves" definitely isn't an ordinary action SF anime. Primo: it has very interesting, non-anime visual style, which brings to mind western works, especially comics. Actually, the connotation with this particular medium is very blatant – some scenes are stylised as comic pages by dividing screen into several panels...

And damn, it looks great in motion!

...or adding written sound effects.

Sometimes in Roman alphabet, sometimes in katakana, because who the hell needs consistency?

Comic-like stylization isn't only interesting thing about the art style. The colours are intense and vibrant. Everything is so detailed the screen sometimes gets cluttered. But what stands out the most is character's design. While all human characters look the same, the Dead Leaves' prisoners are amazingly diverse. Their bodies are more or less deformed with exaggerated proportions and unusual skin colours, you actually can't find two similar inmates. Of course, Pandy and Retro look more like ordinary people (except for the fact Retro has a TV for head), but they still maintain their originality.

Secundo: this anime was made to look cool and sweet Arceus, it shows. From the very beginning the viewer practically gets swept with action. There are big guns, there are bigger guns, there are loads and loads of ammo for these guns, there are pursuits, robots, gigantic blades and even a tank (personally, my favourite scene). Actually, most of this movie is made of very dynamic fights. And explosions. Everything explodes: cars, motors, robots, tanks, buildings, just every-fucking-thing. Lipsticks too. Especially lipsticks.

Actually, I adore Pandy's lipstick bombs. Is there anything cooler than blowing stuff up with a beauty product?

And tertio: everything in "Dead Leaves" is so batshit insane it's hard to take this anime seriously. While the plot makes sense (probably), the execution makes it feel like an excuse to try pushing the boundaries of what is acceptable in a movie. Fights are filled with grotesque violence and ridiculous splashes of blood. Humour consists of shitty jokes (in a literal way), sex jokes (however, the infamous character with a drill for penis is in fact a clever nod to a classic of Japanese cyberpunk) and black humour (deaths are sometimes so over the top they become funny). Generally, the film itself is so goddamn intense, filled with loud noises and flashy images, it's sometimes hard to catch what's going on.

On top of that, almost nothing of the general weirdness of the anime's world is explained. Why Retro has a TV for a head? What exactly happened to him and Pandy (I mean, it is somehow explained, but during the explanation Pandy starts talking over it and, in the end, we don't hear the whole story)? What was this fucking caterpillar meant to be (except of tying a story with a sinister fairy tale... Or something)?! CAN ANYONE EXPLAIN TO ME WHAT THE FUCK I HAVE JUST WATCHED?!

Of course, such crazy movie wouldn't do without equally crazy characters. As I mentioned, character design here is just brilliant in general, but Pandy and Retro stand out and I don't talk only about their appearances.

Let's start with Retro. From the very beginning it's clear he's an absolute lunatic. He's a violent (he even says himself he likes it) psycho, who enjoys spreading chaos and killing everyone around. He's also a sex-obsessed jerk. During his first dialogue with Pandy he spends whole scene staring into her and drooling. Later, he talks Pandy into intercourse with him (while she isn't very enthusiastic about it) only because he's bored. On the other hand, he's a pretty good fighter and a charismatic leader (however, given the fact the prisoners are as mad as him, it's nothing surprising they wanted him to lead the prison break). It's also showed, that he actually cares for Pandy – his concern when she felt unwell is genuine.

Pandy, while similarly brutal, is much more rational. She also is an awesome example of a strong action heroine, independent and very skilled in fighting. Damn, her taking down a gigantic battle robot bare handed (while driving at the same time) is one of the most badass things in the cinematography. Also, she manages to fight with 666 while being... Well, I don't wan to spoil anything, so I'll just say that her state wasn't very battle-appropriate at that time.

Also, I find her rather cute.

Technical side of "Dead Leaves" is just brilliant. Once the viewer gets used to peculiarity of the art style, watching the movie is quite pleasant. The animation is polished up and very, very, VERY detailed. Fighting scenes are dynamic, flashy and simply epic. The "effect of epicness" is additionally ramped up by music. Soundtrack consists of electronic beats and catchy guitar melodies, which combine with the action very well.

The voice acting is marvellous. I have to admit, I'm a purist who watches movies almost only with original audio. Of course, I heard many positive opinions about English dub and even thought about choosing this version, but I ended with the Japanese one and it was great. It's easy to hear that actors understand the crazy atmosphere of the story very well and their over the top performance completes it. Of course, Retro's shrieking is horribly annoying, but not because Kappei Yamaguchi couldn't do it well, but because it was MEANT to be annoying. Also, I absolutely adore how Takako Honda played Pandy. Her voice is so sexy and full of confidence, they couldn't find better actress for this character.

As I said in the beginning, I enjoyed "Dead Leaves". Nevertheless, I'm not sure if I can recommend it to anyone. While the movie itself is an audiovisual gem, the general mindfuck and obscenity may be unappealing for most of audience. However, if you can stomach crude humour and not overthink the plot, then give it a try. "Dead Leaves" isn't good when it comes to watching it "normally", but if you just want to experience something mad and unusual, then it's awesome.

So awesome.

Image sources:
"Dead Leaves" poster: https://www.jposter.net/posters/view.asp?partid=34597
Movie frames were screenshotted by me from the version uploaded on YouTube.

Fear is like onions: what are we afraid of?

Being scared is definitely horrible thing. Breath gets faster, pulse rises, hands start to sweat, sometimes you are on the verge of fainting... On the other side, many people like horrors. Some of them (like me) like the dark atmosphere usual horror works have. But probably most horror fans like the adrenaline rush being scared gives. Reading horror books, watching movies or playing games let us enjoy the experience without getting into actual danger. But why are horrors scary? What are we afraid of? Why are we afraid of it? I'll try to peel all the layers and see what's underneath fear.

Old? Yes. Relatable? As hell.

But first thing: why do we even need fear? Well, the answer is pretty easy and logical. Fear is quite important from evolutional point of view. Many things we are afraid of are, in fact, quite dangerous, which leads to avoiding them. Also, feeling of fear usually causes fight or flight response, very important while confronting extreme situations. This all let our ancestors survive. And, if something is useful for evolution, then it is preserved. Of course, there is a thing called "irrational fear", which means being afraid of things and situations that shouldn't scare us, but it's much more complex and dependant on psyche to talk about it now.

Okay, we know now fear is important part of our lives. So, ad rem: why are horrors so scary?

Let's start with a thing that appears in almost all horror works (and, to no one's surprise, is also connected to evolution!): darkness. Actually, it's one of the most basic things our ancestors were scared of and, though I'm not an evolution specialist, nor a psychologist, I think it's easy to explain why. Opposing to most predators, human is really shitty when it comes to functioning in the darkness, which made prehistoric people an easy prey for animals. Nowadays we don't have to worry about getting eaten, but we still are vulnerable without any source of light. Our vision, probably the most important sense, is weak and other senses don't compensate for it. Even fully armed, most people wouldn't be able to defend themselves in pitch darkness – they would end waving a weapon chaotically. Damn, we don't even need to be attacked to get harmed in the dark. Remember all these moments you tripped or bumped into something while going to the bathroom at night? Then you know what I mean.

Horror works usually use human's fear of darkness to build unsettling atmosphere. Because we associate dark places with danger, we know, we can expect epic shit when lights go out. We don't know when something will attack or, sometimes, what exactly will attack. This uncertainty is the worst. Also, human's mind often fills the blanks, so, when we can't see something, our imagination compensates for it and starts producing scenarios that are even worse than the reality. Sometimes even the most harmless things seem scary. Drowning everything in the darkness is probably the easiest way of invoking this.

Video games often utilise complete darkness in perfect way. You want to proceed, but are to scared to do so...

Another really popular thing used in horror works is uncanny valley. The term itself isn't related to horror, at least not only. The concept is quite simple: the more something (robot, doll, animated character etc.) resembles human, the more positively people react to it, but once it reaches the point it's almost perfectly human-like, but doesn't imitate it ideally, then this something becomes creepy. There are many explanations, what exactly causes this feeling, and my favourite one (and, I think, the most appropriate when it comes to perceiving horror works) is the one about clash of our expectations and reality. I mean, when something behaves more human, than it is expected to behave, then it causes uneasiness. It also works other way: if something looks like human, but doesn't behave like one, then it's uncanny.

Horror authors use uncanny valley in many creative ways. Sometimes only slightly deforming a creature, that otherwise is perfectly human, can give creeps. Audience will feel from the very beginning that something is off. Actually, I think that's why zombies are so scary: they look like people, they were once people... But they aren't. They don't think (mostly), can't communicate, move in very peculiar way... Horrible, isn't it?

Zombies link to other thing people often are scared of: death. We have no idea, what happens, after we die. Okay, human body decomposes, but what else? Is there any life after death? What about ghosts? Do they really exist? We don't know. And people are afraid of things they don't understand. On the other side, death is certain. Everyone dies, it's a law of nature. When this law is defied, then something is definitely wrong.

Horror works use death related motives in many different ways. Firstly, already mentioned zombies – dangerous, almost animal-like creatures, that used to be human. The more hideous the walking dead is, the better. Rotting corpse itself can give creeps, walking rotting corpse is terrifying. The situation can get even worse: walking rotting corpse of a person we used to know. Watching someone dear to us turn into disgusting, brain-eating monster is truly heartbreaking.

One-shot "Survival of the Dead" by Katsuhisa Kigitsu deals with this topic quite well, especially with psychological aspects.

Ghosts are even worse. I think everyone has heard at least once theory that ghosts come to world of living when they have an unfinished business. Said business is usually revenge. Now, let's think: death is something permanent and unavoidable. How much determined must a person be to bend it and come back from the dead? How much hate must they have? Isn't it scary?

Also, ghosts don't have mortal body, so they are much more difficult to get rid of. They can get everywhere. If they only roam around – it's unsettling, but pretty harmless. But if they have any powers, then they are nearly unstoppable. Remember Stephen King's "The Shining"? Personally, I think it's one of the best horror stories in the world. The fact characters can't fight their spiritual opponents only adds to already nightmarish situation they are in.

Actually, that's how we got to most effective way of invoking fear in audience: helplessness. When characters face dangerous situation, but can somehow deal with it, we are nervous, but hope for the best. Depriving us of the luxury of hope is the most cruel thing creators can do. Of course, there are people, who just shrug and wait with resignation for the worst, but they are minority. Let's be honest: it's hard to observe someone's demise while knowing nothing can be done, especially, when we are not sure how bad can everything get.

However, shoving characters in too many hopeless situations, instead of "Oh shit, I'm scared" reaction, produces "Shit, here we go again" one.

Horror video games are perfect medium when it comes to using helplessness (and, to be honest, scaring in general). Here the player is the helpless one. Of course, some of them give us some weapons, means of hiding and similar, but let's be honest: defending ourselves needs skill and, sometimes, almost impossible luck. If we lack this skill, we are doomed, if game doesn't like us, we are also doomed, if we lack skill and game doesn't like us... Well, you know. What I try to say is in video games we not only need a lot of courage to proceed through scary things, but also have at the back of our minds that the situation doesn't depend on us. Player is just a prey hunted by an unholy monster/vengeful ghost/eldritch abomination/put there whatever you are afraid of. Just a little. Helpless. Prey. Who wouldn't be scared shitless in a situation like that?

Of course, these aren't all methods of scaring the audience, I chose only the most basic and therefore common ones. Also, I'm aware they don't have to work on everyone. Some people are afraid of dying, others aren't bothered by it etc. There is also one thing we shouldn't forget: even the most effective scare gets completely useless when overused. At one point the viewer gets used to it. That's why the best horror creators don't show their all cards in the very beginning, but dose the dread.

Okay, I know throwing someone a jumpscare in the face is also effective and doesn't need any talent, but damn, where's the fun then?!






Image sources:
Meaning of fear: https://www.memecenter.com/fun/2381807/real-meaning-of-fear
"Layers of Fear 2" screenshot: https://steamcdn-a.akamaihd.net/steam/apps/1029890/ss_057ee487a8b109529925ff80f4a8e3c3c721405b.jpg?t=1560523840
"Survival of the Dead": http://fanfox.net/manga/survival_of_the_dead/c000/3.html
Stretchy Pennywise: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1396484/mediaviewer/rm2094943488 

New Year, same old shit?

First day of year 2020. While I'm writing these words, I'm still a little bit sleepy (nothing surprising, I got up just before noon, which is strange even for me). Music is playing in the background and a peach-scented candle is burning in my room. To be honest, nothing special.

Since yesterday, the internet has been going crazy. Everyone is summing up the year 2019, posting New Year's resolutions, making wishes, trying to predict how the future will look like... The cynic side of me keeps saying I shouldn't be very optimistic. The political situation isn't very promising, Earth is facing a climate apocalypse, patriarchy still exists, generally: 2019 was shitty and 2020 won't be better.

But global problems aside, personally I don't think 2019 was very bad. If I had to describe it with only one world, I would choose "crazy".

2019 started in a really horrible way: I fell sick on New Year's Eve and was on antibiotics for next several days (fun fact: I still have no bloody idea what sickness it actually was, neither know my doctors). Some time later, in February, my girlfriend broke up with me. However, after all this time I don't think it was that bad. We remained friends: my ex-girlfriend is an absolutely kind and adorable person and it's hard not to like her.

But the more into 2019, the better it get. I finally found the courage to quit studies I hated (bye, bye medical chemistry, I won't miss you!) and enrol to something else. Since October I've been officially studying history of art and, even if I sometimes complain about the shitload of work I have to do (the fact I tend to procrastinate while complaining about the shitload of work and then procrastinate while complaining about both the shitload of work and lack of time to do it doesn't help), I still love every single moment of it.

Also, 2019 is my first year as a Pokemon trainer and I have to say I'm doing greatly. I've already hit 36th level, caught many amazing Pokemon (including whole Eevee army – I don't joke, I have over one hundred of them) and discovered several interesting places in my city. To be honest, I've never thought playing "Pokemon GO" would give me so much joy.

2019 was also a year of discovering new music (according to Spotify, I started to listen to 160 artists. Pretty impressive, isn't it?), movies and manga (I've read whole "Franken Fran", "Deadman Wonderland", a lot of Junji Ito's stories and more). I've also got back to drawing, learnt epic pole dance figures, made progress in learning Japanese and, of course, became more active on web. In general, it was very busy year.

2019's end was great. When the clock stroke midnight, I was with my best friend. Marilyn Manson's "This Is The New Shit" was blasting in the background and we were having a lot of fun. We spent whole New Year's Eve watching movies, laughing at silly YouTubers and doing dumb personality tests like "How did your previous incarnation died?" (mine got killed in Chernobyl's catastrophe. I have to say, it's oddly appropriate). I loved it.

First day of year 2020. I want to wish you everything the best. May the beginning year be full of hope and love.
Happy New Year, sweethearts!