Inu-oh, 2022.
Directed by Masaaki Yuasa.
Featuring the voice talents of Avu-chan, Mirai Moriyama, Tasuku Emoto, Kenjiro Tsuda, and Yutaka Matsushige.
SYNOPSIS:
A cursed dancer and a musician stun society with electrifying concerts in this animated rock opera.
Inu-oh is a work of such unfettered madness that it’s challenging to figure out where to begin talking about it. That’s a good thing for director Masaaki Yuasa (working from a screenplay by Akiko Nogi that’s based on Hideo Furukawa’s, which draws inspiration from characters in ancient times), who has taken the power of music to craft a marvellously vibrant anime rock opera (many of the songs sound like something Queen would have put out back in the day) that takes a disfigured and gourd-masked breakdancer (the eponymous Inu-oh, voiced by Avu-chan) and a blind biwa player (Mirai Moriyama’s Tomona) becoming an unlikely superstar crowd-drawing duo that base their song lyrics on tales of the slain Heike clan.
Aside from the moving purpose of bringing these forgotten stories back to life, the songs effectively prove how important it is for the truth to be dictated by the storytellers themselves instead of corrupt political regimes. It’s also beautiful that the heart of the story comes from two disabled characters finding one another and developing this friendship that skyrockets the shunned outcasts into 14th-century anachronistic Japanese rock stars.
As the performances get more colorful, elaborate, and distinct, the powers that be conspire to shut things down, reminiscent of overreactions from shock rockers throughout the 80s and 90s, making for another exciting throughline.
The downside is that while all these songs and shows are uniquely and unforgettably constructed, Inu-oh feels like too much of a concert film that is abandoning its narrative. Characterization also takes a backseat, which means that there isn’t much in the third act that registers strongly emotionally. It also doesn’t help that the first 25 minutes are puzzling in screenwriting and editing; the film doesn’t find its rhythm until the central characters come together.
Then again, Inu-oh is a beguiling film because of its rich ideas and themes. It’s not hyperbole to say there is no movie, let alone no anime, like it. And even when the narrative begins to falter slightly and suffer, the film is never anything but visually dazzling, making use of first-person perspectives and impressionable artistic design (the mask Inu-oh is forced to wear will hopefully become a popular cosplay item in the anime scene), and dynamic light shows/imagery accompanying the concert performances.
Not all of it makes sense (which is partially by design), but it is transfixing; imagine if Queen teamed up with the Trans-Siberian Orchestra, except the resulting concert was an anime set in 14th-century feudal Japan with politics determined to smash apart the fun.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★ ★
Robert Kojder is a member of the Chicago Film Critics Association and the Critics Choice Association. He is also the Flickering Myth Reviews Editor. Check here for new reviews, follow my Twitter or Letterboxd, or email me at MetalGearSolid719@gmail.com
