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Mpd Psycho II
Ventura // Unrated // August 30, 2005
List Price: $19.99 [Buy now and save at Amazon]
The Movie
If Japanese cult-auteur Takashi Miike's Gozu was the first indication – at least to us here in the west – that he had a Lynchian bent to him then MPD Psycho is his Twin Peaks. Densely layered with images and subconscious urges MPD Psycho is a surreal, compelling meditation on the nature of evil. It is perplexing, confounding, a strong entry into the Miike canon and one of the better manga adaptations I have ever come across, successfully creating a distinctive visual world to capture tone and general strangeness that seldom survives the move from page to screen.
Opening with a scene of schoolgirls in uniform opening fire on a crowded chapel service before turning their weapons on themselves MPD Psycho Volume Two continues Miike's story of bar coded eyeballs, techno religious cults, flowers planted in brains, split personalities and a restless evil that can transmit itself over phone lines. It is absolutely impossible to discuss plot points on this without spoiling what came before in Volume One and, likewise, it is completely and utterly pointless to watch this without having first seen Volume One. MPD Psycho is a series that absolutely demands to be viewed in sequence. You will be completely lost otherwise. Suffice it to say that this middle volume drives the story forward without reaching any sort of resolution – that will presumably come in the final volume – and everything we said in our earlier review for Volume One as far as theme and style holds equally true on this.
The DVD
Video
Shot on digital video the transfer is solid. It shows the limits of the source and the deliberate pixilation of some gore effects is sill in place, as it was in Volume One, but the transfer itself is dead solid with good color quality, true blacks and an anamorphic transfer.
Audio
The audio track is the original Japanese 2.0 presented with optional English subtitles. There are definitely moments where a fuller sound mix would help, but this does the job.
Extras
Once again all that is included are trailer for other Adness releases, which is a shame. This is definitely a show that would benefit from some analysis, and I'd love to hear Miike discussing the ideas behind it and the adaptation process. I know a good number of people would also like to see the gore sequences without the added pixilation. Hopefully some of this things will be included in the final release.
Final Thoughts
MPD Psycho shows its made-for-TV origins in set design and some limited effects but if ever there were a release that proved ideas and execution trumps budget, this is it. Miike is an absolute master of maximizing limited budgets and, with material this strong to work with, he brings it all home here. Bizarre, surreal, and very highly recommended. But get Volume One first.
If Japanese cult-auteur Takashi Miike's Gozu was the first indication – at least to us here in the west – that he had a Lynchian bent to him then MPD Psycho is his Twin Peaks. Densely layered with images and subconscious urges MPD Psycho is a surreal, compelling meditation on the nature of evil. It is perplexing, confounding, a strong entry into the Miike canon and one of the better manga adaptations I have ever come across, successfully creating a distinctive visual world to capture tone and general strangeness that seldom survives the move from page to screen.
Opening with a scene of schoolgirls in uniform opening fire on a crowded chapel service before turning their weapons on themselves MPD Psycho Volume Two continues Miike's story of bar coded eyeballs, techno religious cults, flowers planted in brains, split personalities and a restless evil that can transmit itself over phone lines. It is absolutely impossible to discuss plot points on this without spoiling what came before in Volume One and, likewise, it is completely and utterly pointless to watch this without having first seen Volume One. MPD Psycho is a series that absolutely demands to be viewed in sequence. You will be completely lost otherwise. Suffice it to say that this middle volume drives the story forward without reaching any sort of resolution – that will presumably come in the final volume – and everything we said in our earlier review for Volume One as far as theme and style holds equally true on this.
The DVD
Video
Shot on digital video the transfer is solid. It shows the limits of the source and the deliberate pixilation of some gore effects is sill in place, as it was in Volume One, but the transfer itself is dead solid with good color quality, true blacks and an anamorphic transfer.
Audio
The audio track is the original Japanese 2.0 presented with optional English subtitles. There are definitely moments where a fuller sound mix would help, but this does the job.
Extras
Once again all that is included are trailer for other Adness releases, which is a shame. This is definitely a show that would benefit from some analysis, and I'd love to hear Miike discussing the ideas behind it and the adaptation process. I know a good number of people would also like to see the gore sequences without the added pixilation. Hopefully some of this things will be included in the final release.
Final Thoughts
MPD Psycho shows its made-for-TV origins in set design and some limited effects but if ever there were a release that proved ideas and execution trumps budget, this is it. Miike is an absolute master of maximizing limited budgets and, with material this strong to work with, he brings it all home here. Bizarre, surreal, and very highly recommended. But get Volume One first.
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