The Mystical Laws

The evening started like any other evening. I left work, met up with a friend and went to a secret showing of Isamu Imakake’s The Mystical Laws. I had found very little on the interwebs about this movie so I was going in there a bit blind folded. But I am always up for an adventure and I have a big soft spot for anime.

Let us stroll through the Mystical Laws. (Spoilers, maybe.)

The movie sets the tone very quickly on what it is trying to say. You manage to see the evil Godom Empire make the first strike against Japan. It starts off with secret societies and our hero Sho Shishimaru who has an uncanny ability to see flashes of the future. It becomes quiet evident that Sho is here to help people during this troubling time with the invading Godom Empire. (I just like saying Godom Empire. I will be writing it more. Godom Empire.)

We here at Spin Serpent are going to try a new format when it comes to reviewing movies. Let us see if it will stick.

The Upside

Visually stunning to say the least, it held my attention as it played out.  The movie encompassed many beliefs and religions to an above standard degree. I loved that they wanted to show you that believing in something you cannot see or touch is a gift to be treasured. They took on every idea that has to deal with faith. We are not just talking religion; we are talking about aliens, UFO’s, ancient spirits, alien spirits, God, devils, angels, demons, evil, love, dragons and so on.

The scenes with the Godom Empire were good in the way they drip evil. They draw upon a lot of symbolism from the Nazi party with their altered swastikas.

The spirit dragons had me sit up straighter in my chair well because I have a soft spot for dragons as well.

The computer generated fight at the end between good and evil rocked!

Aliens from the planet Vega are called Vegans.

The symbols in the movie can relate to everyone from every place on the globe. This made my inner positive child jump up with joy.

The movie is meaty when it comes to story. Once you are done watching, it feels like you just had a ten course meal of faith.

The Downside

There were points where it did get a bit preachy. Some of the scenes lasted a little too long. Maybe it is just my experience but all the topics the characters were talking about have been done many times over.

I can be an action junky but the movie is very tame in that arena. It is understandable because the movie was meant to be viewed by a wider audience. The ending fight between good and evil really grabbed me but that was really the only time.

Aliens from the planet Vega are called Vegans.

There is a scene where Sho was going to break in with the help of Vegans to destroy the ultimate dooms day device. He had no special equipment with him and the soldiers didn’t look like they had any explosives. How on Earth were they going to destroy it? The question bugged me a little watching and even long after the movie.

The Verdict

This was a good solid movie. One of the many things I love about anime is that it is an inspiring art form to tell stories. The entire movie fell into place and was handled pretty well. 

There was a Q & A with glasses of wine afterwards. I spoke with Creative Director and Producer Koji Matsumoto and VP of Distribution, Shun Ohara. From the group that was gathered he was getting a lot of positive feedback. He informed me that the movie was meant to be a trilogy. I could see what he was saying because the movie was pretty crammed full of story. Also the parallel of the Godom Empire to the Nazi party was just a way to show true evil. Koji informed me that evil and good are forces that help push us in certain direction through out life. Even though the Nazi party is gone, their evil still lingers in our history. The main character Sho is a combination of Buddha and the son of Christ. When you are working with so much symbolism it is hard to put all of it into one movie. But they had to work with the canvas given and made the best of it.

I think they did a pretty damn good job. 

Godom Empire.

E. Cross