Space Battleship Yamato

In America, I really enjoyed going to the movie theater. It gave me something to look forward to and served as a convenient break from reality. So I've been making an effort to find movies to see here, as well. It's not always so simple, since there are only so many foreign (i.e. English language) movies playing at any given time, and they're not necessarily the ones I want to see. That being the case, I've started going to Japanese movies, as well.

Yesterday was the last day of a three day weekend (Coming of Age Day was Monday), so Hollie and I went to see Space Battleship Yamato. I forget how we ended up choosing that one. I think it was because it looked suitably melodramatic, and the main character had very pretty hair. Unfortunately for us, it was a Japanese-made movie, so it would be in Japanese with no subtitles. We went into it knowing that we wouldn't understand much, and mostly just expecting to be entertained by explosions and over the top acting. That was my take on it, at least.

The story as I understood it: A space battleship called the Yamato is being sent into space as humanity's last hope to find another inhabitable planet. For some reason, humanity is at war with an alien civilization. Then it turns out that the thing the Yamato was sent to find was not in fact a planet, but some sort of artifact on the alien home world. It tells them something important, and then they blow up the alien planet. Somehow they find a suitable planet, but the remaining aliens have come for a final battle. Kodai, the main character with the disturbingly beautiful hair, sacrifices his life to destroy the aliens, and then humanity gets to live on the new planet.

There were some plot twists in there that neither Hollie or I managed to understand. I'm not really sure what they discovered on the alien planet, but it was very important. For large sections of the movie, it was pretty clear what the cast was doing, but we couldn't tell why. But for the most part, the storytelling was very formulaic, so at the beginning of each scene I could usually guess what was going to happen. "Oh, they brought an alien ship on board. It's going to activate and kill some people." Or, "The old man captain collapsed and is dying, so he'll make the unpredictable rogue the next captain." Or, "Kodai's pretty female subordinate, Yuki, just returned from carrying out a command which forced her to kill a number of crewmates. He is going to console her. They will end up kissing." Even understanding only 10% of the dialogue at best, it was pretty easy to guess what would happen throughout most of the movie. It was only toward the end that things got unpredictable.

I don't know if it's because I've mostly seen movies based on anime and manga, but from what I've seen, the Japanese acting style seems very melodramatic. The facial expressions, the voices, the gestures, everything is designed for maximum impact. This sometimes resulted in me laughing at things that probably weren't supposed to be funny, but I think it also may have made the movie more comprehensible. If I can't understand the dialogue, I can surely tell what's going on based on the ridiculous faces the actors are making. It made the movie more entertaining, as well. It's hard to stay focused on something you really don't understand for the full length of a feature film. But I only spaced out briefly for a few times, so I was pretty satisfied with my experience.

What must've been the most entertaining features of the movie (for me) were the doctor's cat, Yuki punching people, and Kodai's hair. For the first several scenes where the doctor is present, she is shown carrying a bottle of sake and a cat. A big orange cat that meows and wiggles and doesn't seem entirely happy with the way it is being held. That kept me pretty entertained. I also enjoyed Yuki punching a number of people at the beginning of the film. A disgruntled Kodai tries to attack the captain, so she jumps in and punches him in the face. Another pilot is giving her shit in the cafeteria, so she punches him in the face. There was a good deal of punching. But more than anything I was fascinated by Kodai's hair. It was wavy and feathered and perfectly arranged even during battle scenes. Takuya Kimura, the actor who plays Kodai, is a very pretty man. What else can I say?

All in all, Hollie and I had a pretty good time at the movies. I'd be curious to watch the movie with English subtitles to find out what was actually going on. The next movie I'm looking forward to: Gantz. It's a live action film based on an anime/manga series that I particularly like. There will be aliens, and battles, and attractive young men in snug black bodysuits. I'm still recruiting other friends to go with me. It's a little hard to get someone to pay a significant amount of money to see a movie they likely won't understand, but I've got a few takers so far. I'm excited for the release date.

Also, unrelated question: Does McDonald's serve an Idaho Burger in the U.S.? Because that is the next featured burger here. It's supposed to become available sometime this month, and I have every intention of eating one. From the poster I saw, it looks to be a burger with a potato patty and bacon on it. Please let me know if such a thing exists elsewhere in this world.