DVD Zeburâman: Zebura Shiti no gyakushû

Sequels are often poorer when compared to the originals. Zebraman is an exception. The second movie builds an entire world around the Zebraman concept to the point that the color scheme is almost entirely black and white. Instead of weaving the superhero aspect into present day Japan Zebraman 2 takes place in a strange future with plenty of Orwellian vibes. Dystopia matched with oppression of the vaguely Fascist kind are brought to life with flashy visuals and fast paced scenes.

The movie takes Zebraman and turns it into a mythology of sorts with a strong polarity between good and evil. The campy aspect of the franchise is upgraded to include a lot of sexiness and tight music videos spliced into the video and even connected with the plot. At points this sequel's main point seems to be to promote the music but strangely enough it works remarkably well.

There is still plenty of corny humor but the overall tone is serious with even something like social critique with 'Zebra time', five minutes per day in which any violent act is permitted. The greatest innovation has got to be the new villain, a very attractive girl with black latex outfits worthy of any dominatrix worth her salt. She is also responsible for delivering the song around which so much of the story revolves. Her performance adds a flair of traditional comic book evilness and spices things up.

Some points do not seem to jive all that well with the original, back is Asano, the little kid befriended by Zebraman, now all grownup but for some reason Zebraman's family is never of again nor does he even ask about it. The final battle is as epic as it to be expected but followed by an hilarious conclusion.

Zebraman 2 is everything that the first one was and then much more. It is bigger, louder and maybe even crazier. Recommended for fans of the original but avoid the spin-off at all costs.

The Italians have "The Leopard," the French "Major Blueberry," the US has "Spiderman 2," Germany "The Tin Drum," Russia "Alexander Nevsky" Britain "Monty Python Live!," Sweden "Smiles of a Summer Night," India "Bandit Queen" and Japan "Zebraman 2: Attack on Zebra City." I find it quite pathetic that most moviegoers are unable to experience anything remotely original in terms of cinematic style or content. I'm appalled by the mere thought of feeding upon the commercialistic trash of mainstream American Superhero cinema – almost all of which is completely worthless, unimaginative, boring, and unintentionally hilarious. In like manner, I simply cannot understand why so many people indulge in studio controlled, mass-produced garbage on a whim, yet find it so difficult to appreciate a strikingly original, well-made horror film. "Zebraman 2: Attack on Zebra City" is one such film, and its current 0 rating is more a condemnation on IMDb voters than the film itself.

I don't like to include a long plot synopsis in my reviews, but when other reviewers insult the film for being a "mess", I am forced to explain things to persons who apparently have a prescribed limit to the number of brain cells they're willing to use while watching a movie. I certainly hope that these people aren't quite as stupid in their daily lives.

In a nutshell, Sho pukes up black and white mud as a foreshadowing of his interactions with the 1000-year-old zebra's spirit, which was preserved in the same kind of mud (and possibly drank the mud during its lifetime to preserve beauty). Cynthia Cheston (the Foreigner reporter) takes the zebra to the deserted house because it causes side-effects to those around it (Hino describes his nightmares and Makoto himself drives his pony off the road). The ghost zebra is the spirit of the zebra as manifested through the identity of a girl who was killed a few months earlier. Sho witnessed the murder, but the zebra's spirit possessed his body, thereby forcing Cheston to kill him again in self-defense. Plagued by these images, Sho suffers a fractured psychology and begins to believe that his act of murder was a hallucination.

Only a truly masterful filmmaker could pull this off with such perfection. Welcome to the world of Takeshi Miike.

Now that the dim-witted have been enlightened, I'd like to discuss other elements of this film. As far as style is concerned, I've heard some fans of Dario Argento who claim that his set designs and lighting are practically "characters" in his films. It's interesting to note that Miiki's location settings and architecture are employed in the same manner. I have no idea where he finds these places, but his films are driven forward by mesmerizing environments, decrepit buildings, natural settings, and expert use of lighting. Ironic, it seems, that someone such as I (an anti-snob to the grave) would be captivated by Miike's atmosphere as much as I am. Props to the filmmaker indeed.

While true that "Zebraman 2: Attack on Zebra City" panders to lovers of slow-paced atmospherics by having Sho walk slowly through moody environments, the fact remains that I need more than a pretty painting if I'm to be entertained for two hours, and "Zebraman 2: Attack on Zebra City" provides much in the way of entertaining events. The aforementioned murder scene is an obvious choice, but Sho's interaction with the zebra's spirit is good stuff. The gradual disintegration of the zebra girl on the foggy dock flies in the face of your typical Onryo, the ghoulish teleportation scene from one side of the room to the other is devilishly nice, and the creaky ceiling scene was well-executed. This is not pretentious tripe like "Akira Kurosawa's Dreams." On the contrary, this is expertly crafted, highly enjoyable cinema that is destined to be promptly insulted and trashed by those with no taste in film – of which there are many.

This is not a perfect endeavor, mind you. Some of the acting is hokey at times, but there are so many positives here that they far outweigh any negatives. Yet somehow this film has not met the ultra low standards of your typical IMDb mainstream moviegoer. This film has been trashed to the point where I have seriously questioned the sanity of the world. Have you people really devolved back into a primordial state where quality execution of originality is not only ignored, but derided and insulted? Perhaps the conflicts were not explicitly referenced and explained to the point where a person with an IQ of less than 50 could understand them. Perhaps the pacing should have been sped up and supplemented with a few dozen jump scares to keep viewers awake. Perhaps the characters were too old for teenie-boppers to identify with, and should have been revised to include a bunch of pot-smoking, sex-crazed highschoolers.

Well, whatever this film was "missing", I certainly didn't miss it.