Customer Reviews

Dead Leaves

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

The reason the reviewer doesn't understand the beauty of this movie is because they were looking for a traditional anime style movie...DEAD LEAVES IS NOT TRADITIONAL! I own Blood: The Last Vampire and have seen many of this production team's works, BUT I have NEVER SEEN ANYTHING THIS GOOD! The reason that it is so good is because there is NO STRUCTURE!! If you are looking for a good time, good laugh, and a twisted new look, then this movie is a MUST! If you keep an open mind, you will experience a wicked, memomorable movie. WELL WORTH THE RISK.

This is possible the most frantic anime I have ever seen. Retro and Panda, who look like characters straight out of FLCL awake on a dark street with no memories and a yen for violence. After a violent robbery and chase scene they are packed of to a prison of no return on the moon. They are fed, purges, and packed of into a cell where a momentary indiscretion somehow catapults them into a jailbreak.

From this point the story becomes on long chase and fight scene, complete with escalating bosses at the end of each level. In bits and pieces we find out Retro and Panda's previous history, and the secrets behind the walls of Dead Leaves. Nothing really ever quite makes sense, but it really isn't necessary that it does. Dead Leaves is a 'show off' piece, where twisted creativity and virtuoso animation are the real purpose of the show.

It's hard to believe that this comes from the same people who put together the atmospheric "Blood: The Last Vampire" and the beautifully drawn "Kai Doh Maru." The closest analog would be the aforementioned FLCL, without all the quiet parts. The first watching leaves a chaotic impression and it takes several more viewings before you start to pick up on a lot of the sight gags.

This isn't going to be everyone's cup of tea, especially for a US audience which has become accustomed to the new generation of anime. But it is fun in a loud, lewd, hyperactive fashion. At the first viewing the writer confided that what he wanted was for the audience to get drunk and start dancing. I'm not sure if it will take you that way, but it gives you a good idea of the driving force behind the film.

this anime blew me away! the main characters pandy and retro remind me of tank girl and booga. the pace and energy level of the story are reminisent of the anime Fooly Cooly,but much more anarchic and intense,plus the humorous parts are great! Dead Leaves is not like your standard anime but for people willing to expand their perceptions of what Anime can be,I would say give this anime a try and be prepared to hang on tight!!

Simply put, Dead Leaves is not for everyone. The action is frantic and uncontrollable, the plot is reminiscent of something Lewis Carroll would dream up, and it has an almost childish sense of humor. Viewing it for the first time was a complete assault on my senses; Scenes move forward at such a break-neck pace that I can't help but think the animators all suffer from ADD.

Dead Leaves is an ode to senseless, over-the-top violence. At times, it almost feels like an animated version of the indie comic, Scud: The Disposable Assassin. There are some definite western influences present, and the animation is very reminiscent of Peter Chung's works.

If it seems like I've been relying heavily on comparisons to other works to describe Dead Leaves, you'd be correct. On its own merits, it's nearly indescribable. Suffice it to say that, if you enjoyed any of the works I've mentioned so far, then you should at least rent Dead Leaves. If you think anime is all about weird sexual fetishes and characters with big eyes (or if you judge all anime by how it stacks up to Dragonball Z), then don't bother.

Dead Leaves was one of those anime that I was iffy about from the moment I saw it on the movie shelf. Looking at the case, it doesn't exactly look like anime, the characters look strange, and the movie itself, as is the wont of Manga, was short. Luckily, it was inexpensive. The store I bought it from had a sale on Manga titles and I picked this up, along with R.O.D. and Kai Doh Maru. After watching all of them, I considered myself lucking, being two for three (see my review for Kai Doh Maru).

To explain, I watched Dead Leaves last and was already jaded because of Kai Doh Maru. I was prepared to be disappointed when I popped it in. And, after the initial confusing moments of this anime, I was expecting it. But then came the action, a fiesta of explosions and a**kicking. The two main characters, Pandy, named for the tattoo over her eye, and Retro, named for the TV he uses for a face, are masters of destruction, and prove that in the initial scene of action where they almost completely destroy a city all on their own. Eventually, though, they are captured and imprisoned, and the action moves aside for some pretty suggestive comedy. Strange sex and nudity fill the next twenty minutes or so, until Pandy and Retro finally decide to make their escape, and once again, in comes the action.

The story is confusing and hard to explain, so I'll paraphrase the back of the DVD: Character wake up with no memory and no clothes, characters go on crime spree, characters are captured, characters discover the secrets of the prison known as Dead Leaves, characters decide death and destruction is the best way to deal with the secrets. I've written it the way I did because, well, the story is unimportant. Top notch animation from Production I.G. is what drives this anime, from start to finish.

And I'm thankful to Dead Leaves for one reason: it took the taste out of my mouth left behind by Kai Doh Maru.

The one problem I had with this anime was the length. I'm getting tired of spending so much money on something that doesn't even go past an hour. I wish it was at least ten minutes longer, making it a full hour and therefore a movie.

That, however, is no reason not to own Dead Leaves, especially if you enjoy quality animation. In many ways, this anime is similar to FLCL and Magical Shopping Arcade Abenobashi in that both of these anime use a certain amount of chaos in their animation style. Dead Leaves, however, goes beyond that. It's visual madness, and one I'd recommend to hardcore fans of anime.

Dead Leaves is a great new captivating anime. It is an insane wild ride through abstract animation, vibrant color use and a killer soundtrack. Though you may raise an eyebrow the first few minutes of the film, the next few will have you wide-eyed and open-mouthed at the feats it has accomplished.
Unlike Blood: The Last Vampire and Kai Doh Maru, Manga has given us an entire storyline, not leaving out a twenty minute chunk of plot like the former titles.
In the end, Dead Leaves is definitely worth a purchase.

you know the new wave of american animated tv shows like courage the cowardly dog,dexter laboratory and i am weasel.well ,this film has a similar character design.it disappointed me at first but thankfuly the anime style of directing,adolescence sense of humor,silly nudity and off the wall violence are still here.
the story is a bout two runaway amensia cases .a female with a panda make up on,pandy.and a tv headed male,retro.who in their search for their past run havoc across town,get arrested and sent to the deformed clones prison on the moon,dead leaves.and once they arrive there ,they continue their chaotic mayhem ride.helped by a line up of the weirdest characters i ever saw in an anime film ,so far.
its violent,fast, has a weak story,alot of mayhem fun and R rated.
even the dvd extras are R rated.where we see the director hiroyuki imaishi advising getting drunk before watching his film, if we want to really enjoy it.there are also a directer's commentary,festival interviews, truth or doubt game with some of the cast and the recording session.
and yes ladies and gentlemen,it does remind you of FLCL.
but is it that good? not really.
alot of fun? definitely.
a poster of the film is included in this dvd.on it's back there is a drawing of a police line up of some of dead leave's inmates.understandably chinko drillo is not there.

i think this movie is one of the coolest anime movies i have ever seen. i understand the fact that it annoys some audience due its toilet/sexual humor and extensive violence on screen. but i found its illustration is very creative!! the designs are brilliant. although the story is kinda fragmented, im fine with it. there are many different types of anime. and dead leaves is yhe kind that provides good visual enjoyment and easy-understandable humor. however, you might also find some social reflection and satire from this movie. overall, i give it a 5, you might not have a same taste as mine, but i definitely recommend this movie to you. ^_^ watch it without kids around~

The plot written on the back of the DVD-box as well as on Amazon is correct but the description misses a single small detail - this is not a mainstream movie. So if you expect some interesting events, adventures and horrors related to travelling with a corpse you won't get them. "Dead Leaves" is a film of mood and feeling. There are practically no dialogs and no developments. But there are a lot of interesting metaphors, monotonous and hypnotizing music, long frames where you see actually nothing but mood - rainy highways, gloomy urban landscapes and deserted motels.
I wouldn't say this movie is about madness. It's about mad love, true love. When Joey takes his deceased girlfriend for a road-trip it seems first he's so devastated he just doesn't know what he's doing. But then we see he takes her to a place he recalls they were happy at. This is not a trip to nowhere - it's a fateful journey to the beginning. To the beginning of their relation and to the beginning of life itself. Here we start to realize this trip can have only one kind of an ending. Joey is so in love with his fiancee he just can't let her go, he decides better to initiate this self-destructing tour and stay with his love till the very end.
As I said this is a film of feeling and you can feel very clearly what Joey must feel. "Dead Leaves" is extremely sad and dismal, it's spellbinding and enchanting. And definately not for everyone. This is art-house at its best, very well crafted and elaborate. It's very nice to know such movies are still being made by someone.

I kept thinking the animation style of the credits and first few scenes was just some temporary effect that would fade to a more traditional style, but no - it stayed that way through the whole "ride." There are a few jokes, a few situations that induced a chuckle, but for the most part this is just an excuse to show dozens upon dozens of "characters" killed, maimed, mutilated, and pulverized in the most horrible of ways possible in the short hour or so that this lasts. Add in the toilet humor, the sodomy "gags" (one inmate has a powerful drill for his "equipment") and the shear volume of bloodletting and you have what amounts to a basically pointless romp. They try to insert a point and a story with a unique poem that the two heros can barely remember as they are suffering from amnesia, but in the end nothing is really resolved - and you are left wondering what the point was. Would have given it a one, but I have to admit, it made me laugh a couple of times.