Jin-Roh

• Japanese: 人狼, Hepburn: Jinrō; lit. Wolfman
• Also known as Jin-Roh: The Wolf Brigade (American release)
• Directed by Hiroyuki Okiura
• November 17, 1999 (France) / June 3, 2000 (Japan)
• Based on the first chapter of Volume 1 of Oshii’s manga Kerberos Panzer Cop

Voice Cast

• Kazuki Fuse-Michael Dobson
• Kei Amemiya-Moneca Stori
• Atsushi Henmi-Colin Murdock
• Nanami Agawa-Maggie Blue O’Hara
• Isao Aniya-French Tickner
• Bunmei Muroto-Dale Wilson
• Shiroh Tatsumi-Ron Halder
• Hajime Handa-Michael Kopsa
• Hachiroh Tohbe-Doug Abrahams

In an alternate post WWII Tokyo, a member of a para-military police force falls for the sister of a female terrorist courier that died in front of him.

Tubi and its random suggestions. “You watched this so here’s this!” Such was the case with Jin-Roh (or Jin-Roh: The Wolf Brigade for the American release). It is an alternate history science-fiction film set after the days of World War II. Like many Japanese films, it engages in heavy conversation rather than showing. It is something that always bothers me no matter the country of origin though does so better here than in other instances I have viewed.

Since watching this, I have heard that Jin-Roh is connected to other movies. If I understood correctly this is the only one animated in the entire series or entirely animated in the series. That might have helped a few things such as understanding the larger fictional world and historical mentions that are poorly explained.

This is set in a fictional Tokyo in the 50s with the Nazis having won though based on extraneous material explains they were eventually overthrown. That there explains some of the visual aesthetics present in the movie such as the costuming. Those strongly resemble appearance of Nazi gear of WWII. Nothing wrong with a film being a part of a larger series but you need to make sure you remind the viewer of other stuff which helps bring up those such as myself up to speed.

Jin-Roh delves into guilt, atonement and living with emotional burden(s) in what looks superficially like a procedural narrative. It is the story of a person with the nature of a killer trying to interact with an ordinary woman and how he is trapped by his nature. This can be a depressing and bleak bit of animation that sets the tone early with a suicide bombing. Wolves and the story of “Little Red Riding Hood” intertwine with the narrative to frame Kazuki Fuse as the wolf and Kei Amemiya (or generally young women) as Red Riding Hood.

Hard choices and duty to a greater cause all play a part in this. It’s not nearly as meditative as some films I have seen but does try to use serious thought within the narrative. It is not a film that is a fun adventure but how some things are inescapable.

The predatory nature of wolves and wolf imagery are heavily used in this. Director Hiroyuki Okiura and the rest of the crew did an excellent job of creating a parallel that built the character. It focuses on character and emotions over flashy action. The romance between the two characters is at an arm’s length but it will not be a spoiler to tell you it is tragic. You can see that coming.

The animation in Jin-Roh itself is simply stunning. Realistic and detailed and shockingly violent. It gets into the physical minutia of this world allowing for the suspension of disbelief in multiple ways with the least of which being that you are watching animation instead of a live action production.

Weaknesses do not greatly hurt the story but prevent it from being everything it could. The lack of certain explanations keeps this moving but leaves you confused causing the steady pace to come to a stop. That moment of “Huh?” takes you out of things.

If you’re looking for something a little more serious Jin-Roh is a good option. It’s not silly or goofy but seriously handles its ideas.