Jin-Roh (1998)

Written and created by Mamoru Oshii, famed director of Ghost in the Shell and Patlabor, Jin-Roh is an interesting and dark look at an alternate universe where Japan has been occupied by Nazis after World War II and deals with political betrays as well as a violent uprising amongst the general populace. The main conflict is between the two police forces in Japan: the Capital Police and the Local Police. The Capital Police uses a special unit of enforcers known as the Panzer Corps who are heavily armored and excel at killing people as well as the guerilla group members called “the Sect” that have been terrorizing government officials; these guys are horrifying to anyone who has to fight them as they not only move fast despite their armor, but look like super Nazis out of a science fiction horror story. The story follows Kazuki Fuse (Yoshikazu Fujiki), a young new Panzer soldier who in the beginning of the film was unable to shoot down a young girl carrying an explosive hidden in her bag. This type of girl is known as a Little Red Riding Hood, a new and useful weapon that the guerillas use in their missions to move explosives undetected. The Little Red Riding Hood story also parallels the film and is key in terms of symbolism because there is another secret organization known as the Wolf Brigade that has supposedly infiltrated every level of government. There are many allusions to wolves and Fuse is often shown amongst them. The film opens with,

“This thing is like a wolf
This thing is a wolf
Thus, it is a thing to be banished”

This quote establishes a great deal of the imagery in the film and further adds to the tone that is consistently held throughout the story. The version of Little Red Riding Hood that is told throughout the film is probably not the version you’re familiar with. It is a dark and violent German version called Rotkäppchen (Red Cap) that may startle anyone familiar with the story. In this film however, it fits in with the bleak and gray world that the story takes place in. There are many parallels to the story and by the end the different roles become in synch with characters in the film.

So the girl that Fuse failed to kill blows herself up and he is sent back to the training academy. Racked with guilt and traumatized by the experience, he eventually meets the deceased girls’ older sister Kei (Sumi Mutoh), with whom he develops a relationship. Unfortunately, she is not quite what she seems, but then again, neither is he. There is a high amount of twists and backstabbing amongst the different organizations that it is easy to get lost. As a testament to how complicated the story can be, the special edition DVD comes complete with a map chronicling the different sections of government involved in the story and displays how each are connected and which ones have been compromised thanks to the Wolf Brigade (aka Jin-Roh). That aside, the film is still very good. The animation style is particularly noticeable. All the characters are drawn in a much unexaggerated way that it is easy to forget that they are animated; they all have distinct mannerisms and appearances so that they seem like actual people. The way Fuse moves and acts is very important to the character, because despite being the central protagonist, he has very little dialogue. There are few action scenes, but the few there are stand out greatly; the finale in the sewer tunnels is particularly memorable. The Panzer soldiers seem damn near invincible and they mow people down with inhuman precision and a complete lack of emotion (at least none that can be seen through their red eyed masks). Jin-Roh is definitely a film that gets better with repeated viewings. It maintains a slow pace and contains a layered and complex storyline that, for those willing to put the effort into understanding, can be very rewarding.