Dead Leaves (2004)
Animation Production: Production I.G.
Released by: Manga Video
Official Website: Dead Leaves
Running Time: 50 Minutes
By Jeffrey Couto

Introduction

Remember an old show on MTV by the name of Liquid Television? It was a program that featured several animation shorts per episode, each assembled by a different creative team. The program was a great showcase for experimental design and storytelling that used everything from classic hand drawn animation to full-fledged computer rendered images to tell stories that for the most part were as abstract as the art style used to tell them.

Dead Leaves reminds me a lot of the type of shorts that were featured in that program in that it’s hard to convey in words what it is that the producers and animators have accomplished with this release. Lets go in for a closer look.

Story

"Pandy and Retro awaken naked on Earth with no recollection of their past. They embark on a devastating crime in search of food, clothing and transportation, but are captured by authorities and sent to the infamous lunar penitentiary named Dead Leaves.

While incarcerated, they quickly discover that Dead Leaves is also a top-secret cloning facility, occupied by villainous guards and deformed genetic experiments. Ultra-manic chaos and hyper-violent bedlam ensure as they organize a prison break with the aid of their fellow mutant inmates."-- Manga's Dead Leaves Webpage

Review

The story opens as we join our two protagonists, Pandy, a young girl with a pink circle around her left eye, and Retro, who happens to have a monitor for a head. They wake up in a field next to a city with no idea of who they are or why they’re there; all they know is that they need clothes and food. To get these they travel into the city and begin a crime spree that ends up getting them captured by the police, who promptly send our strange duo to the lunar prison of Dead Leaves. After arriving to their new home they manage to break free and lead all the other inmates in a thrilling escape while at the same time uncovering a villainous plot that's taking place inside Dead Leaves.

Having just seen heart warming movie Doggy Poo, which was a relatively slow paced and colorful short film about the circle of life, Dead Leaves came as a shock to my eyes and processing skills. Its frantic energy, quick moving images, and over-the-top violence were quite a 180 from that movie. To say that Dead Leaves makes its presence known and noted would be an understatement.

The story itself is rather dark in nature, centering on the cloning of genetically enhanced humanoids for military purposes. As such it raises many issues and questions on the ethics of cloning, the value of life, and what it means to be an individual. However as the director points out during in the commentary audio track, the story's plot and background really are just there to help give the action some meaning, therefore there isn't a lot explained to us in regards to the nature of the events or characters behind everything taking place in the film. This is a movie about action and kinetic visuals!

From the moment Pandy and Retro go on their crime spree at the beginning of the story up to the last frame of animation before the credits roll Dead Leaves’ chaotic action is non-stop, with our characters constantly moving and engaging in no holds barred fighting that often results in very gory and bizarre outcomes. The energy displayed throughout most the movie is relentless and borders on the insane. I'm very impressed by how they managed to pull it off so effectively without it falling flat on its face.

Visually the style used in this OVA is without equal and it really does stand out when compared to other releases currently in the market. More so than anything I’ve seen recently, every second of Dead Leaves just seemed to explode with movement and filled every character with a bizarre onscreen presence that defied explanation or reason.

The animation is a nice mix of simple drawings and backgrounds mixed with high speed cuts, multi-layered frames and complex action sequences. As the director explains in the commentary track different sequences were handled by various top talent his team managed to recruit for the project, so there is a nice mix of styles from some of the best animators in the industry, including Takeshi Koike of Animatrix fame, who along with his brother was responsible for the impossibly fluid opening sequence.

Accompanying the tremendous visual tour de force of Dead Leaves is an equally impressive soundtrack. The music which ranges from Hip Hop to more techno-inspired pieces is a nice mix of styles that helps set the pace and mood of the OVA. While there were many unique music pieces I didn't think there were any real stand out ones, however that being said, I could not think of a better sound atmosphere for Dead Leaves, this one just happens to be right on.

The voice acting like the animation and music is over the top and complements the rest of the package by delivering right-on voice acting that brings the characters to life and make the overall production that much more enjoyable. You can tell that the voice actors were having a ball when they recorded their lines; it really comes through in their performance and adds to the overall narration of Dead Leaves.

Rounding off the movie itself is a surprising amount of extra DVD features. These include a selection of digital sound (5.1 Dolby and 2.0 Dolby), Director's commentary, footage from the film premiere's QA session, a feature on Dead Leaves' premiere at Club Asia, a Truth or Doubt feature, an interview with the director at a film festival, original Japanese trailer, and scenes from the audio recording sessions. Quite a lot of neat features I have to say! Wish more domestic anime releases went this far in the area of DVD extras.

The video transfer is great with no pixelation or visible color bleeds. The audio comes through crystal clear and the subtitles are easy to read and follow. The DVD packaging features Retro and Pandy on a white background and lots of information on the backside about the OVA and features included within. On the inside of the case there is a fold out insert with a poster featuring our heroes on one side and a prison inmate height comparison chart on the other side, which gives us a nice detailed look at some of the many characters that appear throughout the prison escape.

Final Thoughts

Typically I shy away from more adult-oriented fare, but Dead Leaves was a ton of fun to watch, I only regret not having a big old bowl of buttered popcorn readily available when I was watching it. If you're in the market for something completely different and jam-packed with action scenes, you'd be hard-pressed to do better than Dead Leaves.

Very highly recommended!!

Jeffrey Couto