Sengoku Basara: The Last Party Blu-ray Review
Party like it's 1499.
Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman, November 6, 2012
A recent issue of
The Hollywood Reporter had a really interesting and perhaps surprisingly thoughtful little piece
by Nicole Kidman where she recounted working with the legendary Stanley Kubrick on
Eyes Wide Shut. In
assessing Kubrick's literate (and literary) side, Kidman remarked quite rightly that no one seems to read anymore and
people tend to get their information from mass media, whether that be motion pictures or television. Kidman actually
lauded Kubrick therefore for being able to translate philosophical and even mythological tropes into a purely visual
medium that was instantly accessible, if not consciously understood, by a large audience (I am massively paraphrasing
here, so for those of you who may have read this Kidman piece, forgive me for generalizing). If we take some of the
creative staff of
Sengoku Basara: Samurai Kings at their word, the anime (based on a popular Playstation 2
game) has sparked a whole new wave of interest in historical matters throughout Japan, though if one also pays
attention to a brief shot of a premiere night audience that is being amped up by one of the film's crew, one may also
come to the conclusion that the bulk of
Sengoku Basara's audience is twelve year old (and younger) boys who
are there for nothing other than the "fight, fight, fight" they are being urged to get excited about. For us chauvinistic
Westerners who often think that history started with 1776 and never penetrated beyond either the Pacific or Atlantic
beaches, there actually
was a Sengoku period in Japan, an era which spanned about a century and a half
between roughly 1450 and 1600. This was an era of warring feudal city-states, each with its own warrior class and its
own "samurai king", so to speak, and
Sengoku Basara: Samurai Kings dealt with a number of fierce battles
whereby one vicious potential dictator was overthrown only to be replaced by someone just as nefarious. By the time
this feature film has opened, we are supposedly in a time of relative peace, but it is a peace filled with the scars and
traumas caused by literally generations of people having lived (and died) by the sword.
For those who didn't catch any of
Sengoku Basara - Samurai Kings (the link is for the first season; the second season
can
be found
here),
Sengoku Basara The Last Party starts out with one of those "previously on. .
."
recaps that is both helpful but actually ultimately funny in its attempts to sum up one of the more complex (and
sometimes
frankly hugely populated) anime of the past couple of years. If
you can keep track of everything (and
everyone) that is covered in this brief
prelude, you're a better samurai lover than I am, and I've
watched the two seasons of the television series!
But
the fact is, you don't actually need an overweening familiarity with the
Sengoku Basara universe to make
general sense
out of
The Last Party, with one of the main reasons being the feature film has more of what seems to be an
intentionally funny take on its material than the actual series did.
Truth be told, the television series was never really a model of historical solemnity, and virtually every episode had the
combatants simply screaming each other's names between them in escalating volume as they sliced and diced their way
to victory. So much for
Sengoku Basara inspiring a serious examination of history. But of course that's missing
the point. The videogame was, as many videogames are, built around the battles, and the series and this film as well
follow suit, as
should be expected. But
The Last Party is often much funnier than the series, and unlike the series, more
consistently intentionally so. There are certainly dramatic elements at play throughout the film—one big surprise after a
knock down drag out fight early in the film reveals that Masamune may not be as impervious as he's appeared to be
previously and how in fact he claimed to be with his major antagonist here, Mitsunari.
But even within these sometimes shocking developments, there's a very real sense of humor at work. Several
characters are on the fey side (one early supposed warlord plays like an animated version of Billy DeWolfe, replete with
natty mustache), and the voice work is so obviously hyperbolic that it's hard not to giggle sometimes,
even when the scenes
seem to be intended to be taken seriously. There's an undeniably dramatic undertone
to the basic setup here—especially with regard to the horrors of war having spawned one wounded soul on a mad
dash for revenge—but
Sengoku Basara The Last Party doesn't ever let that stand in the way of completely over
the top action and lunatic characters. This may make the feature film somewhat less appealing to more reserved
viewers, but for those who don't mind some genuine goofiness accompanying their anime adventures, this will certainly
fill the bill.
There are several simultaneously unfolding arcs in
Sengoku Basara The Last Party, but the general setup is
perhaps only too familiar to fans of the anime series: once again, Japan is threatened with being put under the thumb
of a nefarious dictator-warlord. Playing out within that background are a couple of interesting stories. First, in the
wake of Hideyoshi's vanquishing, Misunari is out to wreak vengeance on Masmune. Contrasting Misunari's scorched
earth policy is that of Ieyasu, who seems to be attempting to get former combatants to beat their samurai katanas into
plowshares. However, his real intentions may not exactly be what they seem. Everything (including several other
tangential plots) catapults toward an expectedly over the top battle finale which includes a big showdown between
Masamune and Misunari.
The film should certainly appeal to
Sengoku Basara's fanbase, whether they are drawn to the franchise from the
videogame or
Samurai Kings. But the underlying goofiness of this enterprise may well endear it even to those
who wouldn't know a shogun from shinola. I found myself laughing at
Sengoku Basara: Samurai Kings a lot of
the time (especially with the "I can scream your name louder than you can scream mine" angle that seemed to crop up
in many episodes), but I felt like I was laughing
with this feature film.
Packaging Note: FUNimation continues its really odd decision to house the Blu-ray disc and DVD discs in a
standard
Blu-ray case, but to put
those in a DVD sized slipcover with little cardboard brackets at the bottom of the
slipcase to
make up for the extra space.
