Review of Speed Grapher: Vol. 1

Introduction

With anime producer and distributor FUNimation`s change of British sub-licencing partner from MVM to Revelation at the end of last year, it comes as quite a pleasant surprise to see 2005 serial `Speed Grapher`, licenced by FUNimation in the US, released into the UK market by their former bedfellows. MVM are indeed distributing the UK DVD of the show, and after the loss of the stupidly popular `Full Metal Alchemist` and `Fruits Basket` through the dissolving of the partnership, it seems they`ve pulled up their socks, strapped on their serious hat and changed their licencing patterns, presumably striking up a deal direct with the show`s creators, anime studio GONZO (`Samurai 7`, `Burst Angel`) and beating the FUNimation/Revelation agency partnership to the punch. As superwise move indeed if MVM want to remain the fan favourite when it comes to UK distributors, as the adult-themed and noir-ish `Speed Grapher` looks like becoming a very promising anime series indeed.

Set in a near future Tokyo, `Speed Grapher` follows Tatsumi Saiga, a former war photographer turned tabloid photo-journalist. When Saiga gets a hot tip about a clandestine fetish club for the city`s powerful and wealthy upper crust, he works his way into the building as only a journalist can, and finds himself thrust into the world of the Roppongi - rituals, bondage and desire, all that lovely stuff, involving a teenage Goddess who passes judgement over the members, awarding them with power relating to their deepest fantasy. Saiga inadvertently comes into physical contact with the Goddess, and upon him she bestows his greatest desire and a seemingly latent ability - harnessing the true destructive power of the camera... literally; he only goes and blows stuff up with it! At the same time a young girl named Kagura, suffering from horrible nightmares, yearns of breaking free from the confinement of being the closely monitored heir to the most powerful company in Japan - the mysterious Tennouzu Group, a conglomerate of companies so versatile, it controls the country`s economy... not to mention owning the secret Roppongi club.

An unwanted intruder, Saiga is on the run from the Tennouzu Group with his new power when he crosses paths with Kagura and feels compelled to offer the girl the freedom she desires. But while he realises who he`s dealing with, he underestimates just what a world of trouble he`s in - Kagura`s nightmares of being worshipped as a Goddess aren`t strictly nightmares...

Episodes:

1. Depravity City
2. Goddess of Greed
3. Film Like A Bullet
4. Lethal Headshot

Video

Preserving the original AR of 1.78:1 and presented in anamorphic format, `Speed Grapher` isn`t particularly flashy when it comes to animation, and certainly isn`t as edgy as the cover art suggests. While there`s generally a lot going on in a scene, the backgrounds and character design aren`t excessively detailed or striking, however both the settings and characters do have plenty of visual personality. Of more cause for concern is that the transfer is very soft and the composition contrast and colour palette are both murky and muted, almost washed out. There are few small techie niggles, such as instances of colour banding and the odd artefact, that pop up during the course of the volume, too.

Audio

While there`s an English surround track in the form of Dolby Digital 5.1, the only native Japanese language track is a DD 2.0, which, while perfectly clear with solid acting, good casting, and certainly preferable for those who can`t sit with a Tokyo setting and English speaking citizens, really does miss out on some of the great direction and solid use of the soundstage as displayed by the DD 5.1. The voice acting on the English track is good, certainly one of the better dubs out there, even if a little overdone at times, with the now American-accented Saiga doing his best Philip Marlowe-meets-Max Payne impression. The subtitles that accompany the native track are actually subtitles, as opposed to the dreaded `dubtitles` (booooo!), which gives you the advantage of comparing the translation of the original script with the English adaptation. Should you feel so inclined, you`ll find the original translation ekes out the win on the script front.

An interesting side-note: in the broadcast version of the show, Duran Duran`s `Girls on Film` was used as the opening theme, but it seems GONZO didn`t acquire the rights to use the song on the DVD release. Still, the theme in its place, `Shutter Speed`, sets the tone of the show well over the classy opening credits.

Features

The most interesting and unusual extra is a short audio feature entitled Character Cast Auditions, in which the director of the English dub introduces the aural equivalent of screen tests from the main actors. Aside from that, it`s business as usual with an art gallery, textless opening and closing and trailers for the disappointing `Ikki Tousen` and the fun `Gun X Sword` shows.

Conclusion

On the surface, it may bear a striking resemblance to the old school (sorry, skool) anime that flooded the UK during the 1990s home video invasion - spearheaded of course by Manga Entertainment and `Akira`, with lashings of sex, violence, swearing and exploitation - but `Speed Grapher`, like the aforementioned tale of teenage biker gangs and government test subjects, has much more going on between its ears than most of its contemporaries. It`s genuinely exciting, with a smart wit that`s both subtle and not so, great scenarios, set pieces and characters, and that`s before you get to the deliciously twisted and well envisioned story at its heart - a modern spin on an old dark fairy tale; a reluctant hero of sorts coming to the rescue of the innocent princess oppressed through subjugation. But it looks to be much more than that. It`s no stretch to say that volume one of `Speed Grapher`, which somewhat surprisingly has passed through the BBFC conveyer belt unmolested, has presented to us a taster of possibly one of the most intriguing anime series of recent years.

Blending near-futurism with neo-noir, `Speed Grapher` is an adult anime in more ways than one. Yes, there`s the usual: bloody violence is embraced and sexually-derived pleasure is a theme than courses through the episodes - in fact, the Roppongi club instantly brings to mind the sex party from Kubrick`s `Eyes Wide Shut`, only with more table-dancing and bondage. But the show draws a line in the sand between the usual cheap-thrill sex thrown into anime and what is essentially part of the plot and identity of the show - highlighting the slide of the culture into a pool of depravity in which sex is no more than a common throwaway commodity. The violence too is laid on pretty thick, yet there always seems to be a humorous edge to the exploding heads and geysers of claret. Perhaps the most mature aspect, as presented in this first volume, is the maturity of some of the characters and the seemingly cruel and haunting motivations that drive them, like Saiga`s past and the horrors he`s seen as a war-time photographer or young Kagura`s mother imposing the regime of domestic dominance on her daughter because of her own severe insecurities.

However, that`s not to say there isn`t a great sense of fun in some of the others; the rubber suited assassin who kills with the stretchy propensity of Marvel`s Mr Fantastic to the strains of Moonlight Sonata, the sarcastic and dangerous loose cannon detective and her quest to get the photographer into the sack, or the camp and constantly squealing lovelorn masseuse who lives next door to Saiga. There also seems to be a burgeoning superhuman theme waiting to emerge, hinted at with the brief mention of `Euphorians` during one of the episodes - a reference to the humans, like Saiga, who`ve been blessed by the Goddess and have their ultimate desires granted, becoming superhuman of sorts. So in the coming volumes, it looks like there may be plenty of new and unusual characters to introduce, and of course, fresh spin to put on the old comic book-style battles, which frankly, everybody loves. Importantly, the mysteries behind why the Goddess has her powers and how they juxtapose with a world utterly devoid of fantasy and magic are questions for another day. Volume one has done its job, primed its audience, and now the second volume is something to be looked forward to. If you enjoy anime, but want to explore a darker, more mature story without losing the sense of fun that is inherent to the medium, this first volume of `Speed Grapher` is more than worth a look.