SOS! Tokyo Metro Explorers: The Next Blu-ray

SOS! Tokyo Metro Explorers: The Next

 (2006)

SOS! Tokyo Metro Explorers: The Next Blu-ray delivers stunning video and great audio in this excellent Blu-ray release
In the summer of 2006, 5th grader Ryuhei Ozaki discovers a journal, "Tokyo Exploring Records", which was written by his father Shohei when he was young. Ryuhei forms his own exploration team with his online friends, Shun and Yoshio. One day during summer vacation, the three boys along with Ryuhei's brother, who happens to sneak along, go down a manhole into the sewers looking for a hidden treasure indicated on their father's map. Not imagining anyone would be down there, they make surprise encounters with many odd, yet friendly grown-ups living underground, including a man called Matakichi. Just as they begin to enjoy the adventure, the underground turns into a combat zone involving an old, self-proclaimed Japanese soldier and even Yoshio's cousin Momoyo. Will the kids be able to discover the "Treasure of Japan" hidden underground?

For more about SOS! Tokyo Metro Explorers: The Next and the SOS! Tokyo Metro Explorers: The Next Blu-ray release, see SOS! Tokyo Metro Explorers: The Next Blu-ray Review published by Lindsay Mayer on August 13, 2008 where this Blu-ray release scored 4.0 out of 5.

SOS! Tokyo Metro Explorers: The Next Blu-ray Review

Quirky animation, characters, and story in high definition!

Reviewed by Lindsay Mayer, August 13, 2008

The quantity of animated output from Japan is so utterly prolific that much of it, gems and duds alike, come and go with the mundane regularity of an ocean tide. It is especially apparent when one attempts to gather further details on a particular title from that perpetual wellspring of information - the world wide web. When even a site such as the Internet Movie Database fails to turn up results on a specific search, it demonstrates quite clearly how many animé tv series or films are produced without a great deal of fanfare, or even awareness; especially when it comes to markets overseas.

SOS! Tokyo Metro Explorers: The Next seems to be one of those types of films. A modest piece in its own right, the film tells an abridged tale of boyhood camaraderie, even in a technology-obsessed world as we live in today. In it, three 11-year-old pals, with one tenacious little brother tacked on, decide to explore the little-known underground pathways of Tokyo, using 30-year-old notes that main character Ryuhei found in his father's files. Based off of a short manga published in 1980, the original writer and artist Katsuhiro Otomo was inspired to update the story and characters to a 2006 setting. The Next in the film's title refers to the new group of adventurers into the same series of tunnels the four boys from the manga explored. Essentially, SOS! The Next is an animé sequel to Otomo's manga short story.

Our Fearless Leader Ryuhei is joined by former classmate Yoshio, Yoshio's friend Shun, and his own little brother, the 8-year-old Satoshi, most often called by his nickname of Sasuke. Ryuhei and Sasuke are having a tough go at the time the film takes place; their mother left their father because of his obsession with building and displaying model figures, which has consumed him. It may explain why Ryuhei is so curious about the notes and underground "treasure map" he has found - it is a means of escape from the upheaval of his own life.

Yoshio, Ryuhei and Shun deliberate on their quest's next turn.

Gathering a troop of like-minded adventurers from a favorite online community of his, Ryuhei begins the trek into the unknown from Hibiya in central Tokyo. Sasuke thrusts himself into the fray, despite his brother wishing otherwise. The quartet then clamber down into the dank confines of the metro underground, which - as with the rest of Japan - is a blend of old and new. Filled with abandoned passageways - remnants of a bygone imperial age - the explorers are lucky enough to find chinks in the walls of modern steel and pipelines. They set out to look for the vague promise of "treasure," though what they find is an entire world, isolated from the frenzy above ground and populated by eccentric characters. They unintentionally cross paths with Sojiro Yamashita, a geriatric soldier left over from World War II, and highly devoted to his cause of protecting, and eventually extracting, the "Treasure of Japan." They are also followed by Yoshio's precocious cousin Momoyo, who is much more readily equipped for the underground than the boys. The friendly resident Matakichi, a man in his thirties who acquires food and other resources for the community, is one of the few sane individuals to call the dark, forgotten spaces his home.

When Sasuke is taken from the group, a simmering, uneasy truce between the old soldier Yamashita and Matakichi's motley crew comes to an end, resulting in a rather humorous face-off. In the process, the kids are reunited and brought back above ground via a most unexpected method. Yamashita has become something of a friend to the group, but remains loyal to his mission - despite having likely understood that the war is long over, and the world has changed much since. Experiencing quite enough adventure to last a lifetime, the kids begin their journeys back home. Matakichi bids them farewell and encourages them to never grow up to become the kind of adult that wishes to escape the world - literally or metaphorically.

At just over 40 minutes, the film moves along at a brisk pace, though it never feels too tightly cut, nor as if it is trying to cater to an audience with a short attention span. All the same, SOS! The Next feels like it could benefit from a slightly longer runtime to flesh things out a bit. Some subplots, like Ryuhei's family troubles, don't have much in the way of proper development or closure. To its benefit, the lack of a "full circle" approach, in addition to its hectic pace and fly-on-the-wall plot style, does make the film less clichéd and more unique.

Another factor that sets SOS! The Next apart is its animation technique. Instead of hand-drawn characters, director Shinji Takaji and writer Katsuhiro Otomo opted to experiment with fully CG models, which have been colored using a technique called cel shading. This method allows CG characters to be colored and textured in such a way as to mimic the painted look of traditional cel animation. SOS! The Next was produced as a sort of "proof of concept" of that method; something on a higher level than rapidly produced TV series, which has seen the majority of cel shading use thus far. As such, the results aren't quite perfect, and at times can be a bit jarring. The characters move in odd manners that are too stiff, or conversely, too fluid. The facial expressions too walk an odd line between realistic and caricatured. As one step in the process of new animation techniques, however, the film is a success. On a technical level, the main characters - rendered with CG - blend seamlessly with the tertiary cast, who have been hand-drawn in their fleeting scenes. For all their CG awkwardness, the adventurous group of curious boys are engaging, and the story on a whole is quirky and memorable.

SOS! Tokyo Metro Explorers: The Next Blu-ray, Video Quality

 

SOS! The Next may have an unusual animation technique, but the video quality on this Blu-ray Disc release sports a clarity that is quite typical of the high definition format. Encoded in AVC and averaging an impressive 35 Mbps, no video artifacts or significant flaws are present in this picture. The wide-ranging color palette is depicted nicely, from sunny outdoor sequences to the muted tones of the dim underground tunnels. Extreme blacks or whites are generally avoided, and in turn, no crush or blooming was ever apparent. Fidelity to the source material can certainly be seen in the detail of the hand-drawn backgrounds, or the fluidity of the CG characters. In fact, one wonders whether the "high fidelity" rendering of the CG animation contributes to the slightly odd look of it; one can see the characters warts and all. Shading gradients seem less blended than they ought to look, for example.

In all, one would be hard pressed to find a complaint with the film's picture. As a CG animated film, SOS! The Next provides a visual quality that is becoming characteristic of this medium; stellar, highly detailed, and vibrantly depicted.

SOS! Tokyo Metro Explorers: The Next Blu-ray, Audio Quality

 

Taking full advantage of Blu-ray's capabilities, SOS! The Next features its original Japanese track in Dolby TrueHD 5.1, with subtitles in English. Much of the film isn't exciting enough to give your system a workout, but the eerie ambiance of underground tunnels and sewer systems is captured well, with nice echoing effects in the rear channels. Dialogue is clear and unfettered from any compression issues, and the climactic action sequence is engulfing, with a suitably booming LFE level.

On a somewhat related note, the only minor complaint I noted was the pacing of the subtitles. At times, whole sentences were displayed no more than two seconds, and in-scene sign or title translations would perch themselves precariously on the top of the screen at the same instant. Proper subtitle timing needs to be utilized and improved on future releases, in my humble opinion.

SOS! Tokyo Metro Explorers: The Next Blu-ray, Special Features and Extras

 

Supplements on SOS! The Next are fairly simple and straightforward, consisting of two featurettes - "Making" and "Interview," an audio commentary, and one trailer. In a pleasant change from the usual expectations, all supplements are provided in high definition with lossless sound.

Making, a 17 minute venture, is divided into seven parts - in order, Design, Modeling, Texture, Color, Facial, Animation, and Lighting. While each segment is made interesting with little touches like creative title cards, the narrator is admittedly a bit difficult to understand at times, being a native Japanese speaker informing the audience in English. The overall process of cel shading and other technical aspects and challenges of the film is well covered, and the enthusiasm of the filmmakers for their work is quite apparent.
Interview is a 9 minute feature that sits down with writer Katsuhiro Otomo, director Shinji Takaji, and character design/animation director Hidekazu Ohara, each of whom discuss their thoughts and experiences on the film's origins and its novel animation technique. Trailer is a short one-minute trailer for the film, presented in AVC with Dolby TrueHD 5.1 sound. The previously mentioned featurettes are both presented in AVC with linear PCM 2.0 - not too shabby for a small animé Blu-ray release!
Lastly, the audio commentary with director Shinji Takaji, CGI director Masashi Kokubo, and chief animator Tomonari Nakajima is basically an extension of subjects covered in the "Making" segment; much dissertation of the film's CG character animation occurs, and the crew makes note of relevant animation quirks during certain sequences. Also of note is a 12 page booklet included with the disc. It contains succinct and interesting information on the film's story origins, production, facts and trivia on the film's characters and settings.

SOS! Tokyo Metro Explorers: The Next Blu-ray, Overall Score and Recommendation

 

Short and sweet (unlike its title!), SOS! Tokyo Metro Explorers: The Next is a fine little film. The cel shaded CGI characters give the movie a unique bent, and for all its technical awkwardness, help it to stand out from the usual contemporary stories told in animé. Never feeling rushed, the world of SOS! The Next is still so curious that it seems worthy of a longer runtime. Quite obviously the proud effort of its filmmakers, it should be noted for its attempts at storytelling with new animation techniques. I quite recommend this film for animé fans, animation tech junkies, and simply as a fine example of a modest Blu-ray Disc release!

Did you find this review helpful?

• Tokyo Story (The Criterion Collection) - November 19, 2013 ...

38

Dec 07, 2014

• Seijun Suzuki's Tokyo Drifter & Branded To Kill 12/13/2011!...

23

Dec 21, 2011