ALTERED CARBON: RESLEEVED

DESCRIPTION

CAST

REVIEWS

• 

  h1za

  40/100
  There's really no shortage of fight scenes. It even excited me.

  It took me a while to digest, a very long creative process for me, perhaps.

  Visually speaking it is a very beautiful thing. Cyberpunk colors and aesthetics.

  But it still makes me think of the big chance that was thrown away. All the phosphory and social criticism that could be embedded in history.

  There's really no shortage of fight scenes. It even excited me.

  But I remember the times I found myself spying on social media in a constant struggle to not give up watching.

  The concept of this universe is so vast that it is difficult to believe that all these characters would meet so easily.

  But I like the lack of dates or time.

  As soon as the second season of Altered Carbon was released, Netflix followed the story of Takeshi Kovacs with an animated feature produced in Japan, with original Japanese direction, script and voices. And, even better, instead of doing something completely independent of the series, what we have is a prelude to many years before the events of the first season (the action takes place a year after the “deaths” of Reileen and Quellcrist in the World of Harlan ) that talks directly to each of the two seasons.

  Using the cel-shading technique (or emulating it, I don't know), very common in games, directors Takeru Nakajima and Yoshiyuki Okada created a vibrant and extremely violent animation that puts Takeshi Kovacs (original voice of Tatsuhisa Suzuki) as a guard the back of the young tattoo artist Holly (Ayaka Asai) who needs to ally with Gena (Rina Satou), a CTAC agent, to unravel a mystery that involves the ceremony of succession of the command of Yakusa on the planet Latimer. The story is simple, even though the script by Dai Satô and Tsukasa Kondo tries, but fails, to give a complex drape to the plot, with everything basically functioning as a great 74-minute excuse for the beating to eat loose.

  And she eats loose, you can be sure. Combining a cyberpunk look in the outer shots of the planet where the violence already begins with masked ninjas smashing CTAC agents left and right, with the same artifice of using a hotel - actually, technically, a ryokan - managed by an AI, this time the friendly but hesitant Ogai (Jouji Nakata), where most of the action takes place, the animation manages to fulfill its mission of maintaining an energetic step that drowns out the complete lack of history with hectoliters of blood, sensational full-body tattoos, varied dismemberments, a lot of use of cutting instruments and powerful firearms, as well as beautiful armor adorning the endless ninjas and, of course, the final boss. Only Kovacs' 80s pimp appearance doesn't work very well…

  There is even enough time for the great asset of Richard Morgan's books - the cartridges that allow eternal life and the exchange of bodies at will - to be well used as an intrinsic element to the plot, something that is lacking in the live-action series. On the other hand, precisely because the script insists on creating twists within twists to bring a pseudo-complexity to the story, sometimes the action gives rise to dialogues whose sole function is to explain once or twice what had already become naturally clear. They either underestimated the viewer's intelligence, or had to occupy “space” to prevent the tape from being classified as a medium-length film. Or both, I don't know. The fact is that the blah, blah, redundant blah tires a little, even though the normally stunning look helps to divert his attention.

  The idea of ​​making Altered Carbon: New Cover another chapter in the live-action series is a good one, as it creates narrative uniqueness and allows Netflix to expand this universe without needing large budgets. The first season gains connection with Nova Capa in the revelation - which happens very early, by the way - about who Gena really is and the second season fits the animation for the hiring of Kovacs by Tanaseda Hideki (Kenji Yamauchi), the same matusa who helps the Last Emissary in the second year of the series. That is, those who care about continuity and connections will have nothing to complain about.

  With an open ending that seems to promise other adventures in this period of Kovacs' life, Altered Carbon: New Cover opens an interesting door that could also be used in other series of the streaming service. I just hope that, in the next mission of the protagonist, he will get more inspired cover and costume.

  Continue on AniList
• 

  Bigbone99

  70/100
  Slick and stylish cyberpunk action

  This review can also be found on my MAL Profile:
  Altered Carbon: Resleeved is pretty average by most metrics, but is elevated by what it excels at: its visuals and overall aesthetic. There's one caveat to take into consideration before I start the review proper; this is my first piece of media from the Altered Carbon franchise so if I get anything wrong, am missing information or I misrepresent something, know full well it's because I'm completely ignorant about the franchise. But I do know about anime, so I'll be reviewing it standalone (I've also read that you don't need any prior knowledge to get into it so I guess this approach works anyway).

  Being a cyberpunk anime Altered Carbon: Resleeved comes with a lot of the visual and narrative short-hand of a typical cyberpunk work; neon lights filled with sexed up ads, dingy and rainy streets filled with graffiti and trash, the extreme advantages of the rich over the poor because of the hyper-capitalistic society and so on. What sets this one apart from others is its premise. Though bodies can be enhanced with technology, they mostly remain flesh and blood. These bodies are called "skins". But due to technological innovations, one's mind can be digitized and put into a "stack", meaning that as long as the mind survives, you can effectively become immortal if you have the means to do so. This is honestly quite the interesting premise that goes under explored I feel, although this is probably something the main franchise has explored at length. The story chooses to instead focus on is a Yakuza succession story, with a cyberpunk twist. The story follows a Yakuza from a rival clan, Takeshi, tasked to find and protect a tattoo artist Holly alongside Gena, a policewoman who also has business with her. I don't have too much to say about the story since it's pretty straight forward. It isn't really boring though since there's enough intrigue to keep you engaged. I don't have much to say about the main characters either since Takeshi comes off as a "Bad ass punch man who smokes a lot", the villain as "Ambitious scheming successor" and on and on. I don't like to reduce characters this way since there's more going on with them which might be followed up on in any future entry, but for now, they serve their role.

  The real meat of this ONA is the artwork, and its atmosphere. The visuals are fully done in 3D in a cel shaded style; typical for anime. Techniques to limit the frame count haven't been used so everything animates quite smoothly. The character designs also work quite well in 3D since facial features are a bit more pronounced allowing for more natural feeling mouth and face movements, all the while allowing for more diverse faces in general. Like I mentioned before, the movie is cel shaded, but an interesting lighting technique is used allowing for shadows to have a softer and more layered look, while keeping the distinctive blocks of shadow that this style is known for. Textures have also been implemented well to give the character designs that extra pop, all resulting in a slick and sexy package. A strange choice to me would be the more realistically rendered effects such as blood and smoke since blood splatter becomes a texture on the characters and environments, but that's a nit pick. What was a little disappointing was the background work, but it's not because it was bad. They were actually done really well, having a more sterile and cleanly lit look to them. The disappointment comes because the first 30 or so minutes are spent in this beautiful and colorful cyberpunk city that feels so lived in it's immersive. The rest of the movie is set in a Yakuza styled hotel which is, while beautiful, is quite boring compared to the previous setting. That seems to be more a story issue though. I don't have too much to say about the fight scenes, they kick ass!

  In the end, Altered Carbon: Resleeved is a little by the numbers in terms of story and characters, but you'll care enough about them to watch all the way through. This movie is more about the art on display, and I can say that it succeeds overwhelmingly. Though its strong overall, it's kinda weakened because for the most part, we've been there and done that. There are some genuinely interesting ideas that could have been explored because of the premise, but the movie leaves you to speculate on your own. If you absolutely love Altered Carbon as a franchise, you'll probably be watching this one anyway, but if you're on the fence, I'll nudge you on and say that the art impressed me as an outsider. To outsiders like me, check it out if you have time. To the 3DCG fan, it's a definite must watch. A side note: I'm not sure if this is it's own thing or going to be a longer series since a there's a sequel hook at the end. But as far as first impressions go, its a good one.

  Continue on AniList

SIMILAR ANIMES YOU MAY LIKE

• MOVIE

  ActionGANTZ:O
• ONA

  ActionTerminator 0