Customer Reviews

Strait Jacket

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Yes it's violent. Yes it's gory. No, Strait Jacket is not groundbreaking anime, but if you require having your mind blown every time and being revolutionary is the standard by which you measure things, then you will find most anime (and things in general) very disappointing.

I may be the lone voice of praise in an ocean of aspersion, but I really liked Strait Jacket. Maybe there wasn't enough comedy relief or cliche sweatdrops for some people's satisfaction. It's not the most original thing you'll ever see, but the things Strait Jacket does, it does well.

There's action, violence (graphic), a blend of magic and science, fighting and explosions. It's not Hollywood level action, so the explosions/fighting are more limited and there are no car chase scenes, but still fairly entertaining. The voice acting was flawless, with an all-star cast, Freeman and many more, how could one complain. Like others, I went into it with very low expectations. To my surprise, I found the setting intriguing and the premise fascinating, so much so that I went from "kind of paying attention" to giving it my full attention. It was very action driven and the pacing was perfect. It still spared enough time to flesh out or develop the characters just enough to make them interesting. I suspect that perhaps it's not as character driven as some people would like, but I liked Strait Jacket for what it was. No different than someone who enjoys a good action flick. The plot was "incomplete," but unless you are too busy looking down your nose from your high horse, you should get the sense that it was meant to be that way. Like an appetizer before a full course meal, it gives you an idea of how rich the story could be if they could make it into a series.

In this title, the action is well-paced, English dub is acted like they took it seriously and the animation is above average. The CG blends well with the hand-drawn animation and all the characters are generally likeable( I especially liked the main character's sidekick.
The story was good enough to keep my interest quite well, and when it ended I only wanted MORE! This is a one-shot movie, not a series. That's hard to come by these days in anime.
If you like anime with a great story, awesome animation and plenty of action, you should definitely pick this one up! It could have stood to be about 10-15 minutes longer though.

I'll rate it 8.5 out of 10.

Strait jacket is a good anime about a man wrestling with the sins of his past. Magic has become a way of life for everyone, and by doing so we have unleashed demons into the world. It's the job of the "tactical sorcerers" to destroy one every time it takes over someones body. Good story, decent battles, real cool battle suits, but the back story on the main charcater is real vauge. I really didn't get why he was so depressed. He was alittle too EMO I felt like "the cure" should of been a part of the soundtrack. The animation isvery good. Nice and smooth with a sort of"final fantasy" look about the characters. The english voice acting is very nice and the visuals/aduio looked and sounded great on suround sound with a HDtv. If you like anime and horror genres with alittle sci-fi on the side then you should really pick it up.

Didn't hate it, but this should have been marked; for 'tweens' only. The story as writen is amed at a young audience. Good idea, but a better wrighter could have made it work for an older croud. It didn't work for me.

There wasn't much to it. No content really. Ok, so some guy gets in a suit and kills demons... Tell me when this doesn't happen in anime? I'm sure if I was Japanese, and spoke it, I would understand more of what was going on. I know a lot can be lost in translation for lack of an appropriate word in English. It wasn't worth buying, but if someone else has it and you're really bored, go for it...

crispen freeman is good as ever for those who dont know he was the time guardian from rave master

Most of the people who see this movie are going to leave it feeling dissatisfied because the ending just seems to cut off right in the middle of the story without providing any real resolution, as if they had just watched the pilot episode of a new anime. And they would be right to feel this way because this edition of straitjacket is the pilot episode of an anime OAV/OVA or whatever... OVA/OAV's are typically shorter than actual anime series. For example Fullmetal alchemist, Dragon Ball Z, and Yu yu hakusho are all Anime series. Whereas FLCL, AKA Fooly Cooly AKA Furi Curi, The Tales of Symphonia and Tales of Phantasia Animations were all OVA/OAV. For anyone whos seen any of the OVA's (Which I'm gonna refer to them from now on cause it's simpler) aformentioned, (Which I recommend, Although FLCL might not actually be an OVA, the other two definitely are) you might have noticed that they are typically shorter than anime series. It is that way with Strait Jacket, This is the first of the three episodes being produced in English. (the next one comes out in January I think)
That being said, as a movie this was crap, but as a series, it has a lot of potential. However, whether this means the series will be good or not, I couldnt tell you, but given how this one was done, I would think that three more episodes this length (The movie's 76 minutes) probably can wind it down to the satisfying conclusion that this movie didnt have and are worth the risk if you've already bought it, but if not, I would advise that you wait until the other two come out and then look at their reviews.

As a footnote, the ending of this one isnt really a cliffhanger in that it ends right in the middle of a conflict, but it does end without really resolving the main character's main problem

"Strait Jacket" contains the usual mix of Manga melodrama and cliché married to a juvenile predilection for gore. And while much of this particular anime is all very pretty to look at, with some quite beautiful artwork in places and high production standards, ultimately nothing can really rescue it from the fundamental banality of its storyline and its complete lack of substance. Perhaps if it took itself less seriously... but then, I suppose it wouldn't be Manga, would it?

Lovers of the genre will no doubt enjoy this production enormously. There is nothing here for anyone else, however.