SOS! Tokyo Metro Explorers Anime Review

Quick Review

• Reviewer: Marc
• Review Date: 2008-06-25 (updated 2012-10-19)
• 2 stars out of 5 (?)

SOS! Tokyo Metro Explorers: The Next is a little one-off all-ages adventure movie about a troupe of kids looking for treasure and finding interesting people and adventure beneath Tokyo. Vaguely like The Goonies without any of the gross and even less plot, it's fun enough but unsubstantial and over quickly. Its most memorable feature, however, is the weird character art, in particular the red, turned-up noses all the characters sport, making it look like the entire cast has a cold. That distracts from the fact that the animation otherwise does an admirably good job of making 3D computer work look like hand-drawn cel art. Otherwise it's a largely forgettable film; there are a couple of notably colorful characters inhabiting the tunnels under Tokyo, and about the last third of the movie consists of one extended battle/chase sequence, but none of it has any emotional substance at all nor any honest thrills.

In the end it's a simple film that more or less succeeds as a kids' adventure flick--it's fun, suitable for most ages, and doesn't talk down to the audience. It is also almost entirely without substance, drama, or even a sense of dramatic tension, so other than the notably odd character designs it's totally forgettable, particularly for something based on an Otomo story and backed with fancy computer animation.

Read the full-length review...

Full Review

• Reviewer: Marc
• Review Date: 2008-06-25 (updated 2012-10-19)
• 2 stars out of 5 (?)

SOS! Tokyo Metro Explorers: The Next is a little one-off adventure movie about a troupe of kids looking for treasure and finding interesting people and adventure beneath Tokyo. A sort-of-sequel to an Otomo manga short and apparently intended as a children's flick, it's vaguely like The Goonies without any of the gross and even less plot. It's also unsubstantial and over quickly, but it is full of at least reasonably fun action for as long as it lasts.

The most memorable feature of the movie is the art. The whole production appears designed as much as anything to showcase 3D computer animation that doesn't look like it; the combination of a very good hand-drawn-style cel shader and intentionally decreased framerates (not choppy, but noticeably less smooth than it could have been) makes it easy to forget that it's computer animated. The attractive backgrounds (as attractive as a tunnel can be, anyway) look equally hand-painted, and the camerawork uses relatively static hand-animation-style framing to complete the "CG that isn't" effect.

From a technological standpoint it does an impressive, if not quite perfect, job of capturing the feel of hand-drawn animation. The one area it falls short is a bit ironically the fluidity of the animation; where hand-drawn cels use streaks and other effects to evoke fast motion, and cinematic-style CG usually uses motion blur, Tokyo Metro Explorers just uses a series of freeze frames, leaving it looking subtly less dynamic. The character animation looks a little stiff as well, though that's mostly nitpicking.

But when I said the most memorable feature was the art, I actually didn't mean from a technological standpoint; the character designs are weird, and not because of the technology. The otherwise anime-style faces have these odd little turned-up, red noses that make it seem like the entire cast has a cold. They were distracting and add nothing appealing, so I really wonder who made that call, particularly given how hard it's otherwise trying to "fit in" as traditional anime.

The second most memorable thing is a sharp-witted and completely unflappable girl following the boys for purposes of "observation." She's armed with a collection of portable power tools and plenty of creativity with which to apply them, making for a couple of amusing scenes and a nice contrast with the somewhat underprepared boys.

The third I don't really want to give away, since it's about the closest thing to a surprise twist the movie has in it, but suffice it to say there's a rather rollicking subterranean chase sequence through most of the second half of the movie. That's unfortunately pretty much it for the noteworthy features.

The movie gets rolling quickly, forsaking almost any backstory or character establishment. Probably a good call, given how short it is, but it leaves it feeling noticeably unsubstantial, even by kids' movie standards. A brief flashback of one boy's recently-divorced and apparently socially inept father hints at some sort of emotional substance, but that goes basically nowhere, and that's pretty much it. A couple of the colorful characters the kids run into, having willfully dropped out of society proper, have the potential for some pathos behind the humor, but again that isn't capitalized on at all.

Speaking of whom, once the kids get underground, there's less tunnel crawling than you'd think. They soon run across an underground shantytown populated by a wide variety of social outcasts (full of cultural references most non-Japanese won't catch), and things quickly launch into a small-scale (and bloodless) war. From there on it's an extended action scene for the remainder of the short runtime. If it doesn't sound like there's any "meat" in there, it's because there isn't. Even the big action finale doesn't have any sense of tension to speak of, and the wrap-up consists of "Wow, that was a heck of an adventure. Well, I've got a train to catch."

The end result is that almost nothing stuck with me afterward. Not that it was boring (it wasn't long enough to be even if it tried), but for what must have been a relatively substantial budget, and with Otomo's name attached to it, Tokyo Metro Explorers is a remarkably forgettable movie. Yes, it's a kids' movie, but given what Miyazaki and others can do within that genre, I don't consider that an excuse.

The acting (Japanese only) is solid, nothing more. The kids all sound like kids and the colorful underworld inhabitants are colorful, but there's no drama at all. The only performance that stands out is a deranged old man still stuck in WWII, but that's as much for his amusing dialogue as the voice behind it. No complaints about the soundtrack, other than to note that I can't remember any of it.

SOS! Tokyo Metro Explorers: The Next is a simple film that more or less succeeds as a kids' adventure flick--it's fun, suitable for most ages, and doesn't talk down to the audience. It is also almost entirely without substance, drama, or even a sense of tension, so other than the notably odd character designs it's totally forgettable, particularly for something based on an Otomo story and backed with some fancy computer animation.

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Related Recommendations

Surprisingly little similar anime comes to mind. As an all-ages adventure movie The Cat Returns is somewhat similar in mood, though far more fanciful; Kiki's Delivery Service is also similar in mood, but with a completely different semi-fantasy setting. Whisper of the Heart is a third Ghibli film that comes to mind--it has a bit of exploring everyday places, but is drastically lower-key. As far as films based on Otomo works, this is pretty much unique; maybe reminiscent of the wild chase sequence in Roujin Z, and Steamboy is vaguely similar inasmuch as it has kids and adventure (plus this is the sort of side-effect of Steamboy), but that's about it.