“「真実の世界」がここにある！”
竜介と知美は中学生でいとこ同士。 夏休みに徳島の穴吹川で川遊びをしていた最中に急流に流されてしまう。すると龍が現れ、二人を救い出し、謎の老仙人のもとへと導く。 老仙人は二人が溺れて死んでしまったと宣告するが、霊界を旅して「人生でなすべきこと」を見つけたら元の世界に還してくれると告げる。二人は戸惑いつつも、霊界探訪を決意する。そして、龍に導かれて霊界へと旅立つ。 着いた場所は、この世と変わりないように見えるが、やがて次々と恐ろしいことが起こる。恐怖心に支配された人たちが殺し合う。病院では医者が患者を切り刻む。死んでも死んでも、また蘇り、また殺される。そう、ここは地獄なのだ。 しかし、霊界の旅は地獄だけでは終わらない。さらなる未知の世界へと冒険は続く。 二人は霊界で何を見つけるのか？
AIが作品の魅力を深く読み解いています
映画化された原作や関連書籍を読んで、映像との違いや独自の世界観を楽しみましょう。
監督: 今掛勇
制作会社: HS Production Company
"It was a mystical summer." Dragon Heart - Adventures Beyond This World, directed by Isamu Imakake is an anime about two teenaged cousins who find themselves in the afterlife after spotting a kappa along the edge of a river, chasing it, & falling in. That first brush with the unknown throws them into the underworld where questionable choices for soundtrack music are made (it suffers from the Toy Story lyrical redundancy) and an abundance of religious propaganda that *presents* as pantheistic. They meet a bunch of gods, get a dragon for a taxi, emotionally grow to fully stand by their convictions, & learn the value of family. Overall the message is wholesome until you get to the part where sex slaves are condemned to hell for feeling tormented about having been sex slaves. That really ruined the story, actually. Perhaps I went into this with my expectations too high as I grew up on the works of Isamu Imakake, with Cowboy Bebop being my most favorite of his endeavors. The film had its moments, with that Isamu Imakake flair but overall it felt disjointed & rushed as if it were originally intended to be a series. Or perhaps there were too many cooks in the kitchen. It makes me wonder what took place behind the scenes considering one can usually depend upon Isamu Imakake for as near to flawless art as one could hope. The animation itself was beautiful, dreamlike, crystal clear, it hit that feeling of nostalgia of anime from the 90s-2000's. That alone was worth the watch. I don't know if I will be watching Dragon Heart - Adventures Beyond This World again, as too many points of the story passed the threshold of being tedious & the best parts of the film didn't get enough time. The best part about this film is to see Isamu Imakake back on the scene after a seven year hiatus. I hope his next project is fully in his hands.
