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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!
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.
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! 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.
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.
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.