Anime Club: Millennium Actress

Hello everybody! For this week’s anime club we have yet another Satoshi Kon work, Millennium Actress.

MILLENNIUM ACTRESS

DIRECTED: Satoshi Kon

STARRING: Miyoko Shoji, Mami Koyama, Fumiko Orikasa, Shōzō Iizuka

GENRE: Anime, Drama

YEAR: 2001

COUNTRY: Japan

A movie studio is being torn down. TV interviewer Genya Tachibana has tracked down its most famous star, Chiyoko Fujiwara, who has been a recluse since she left acting some 30 years ago. Tachibana delivers a key to her, and it causes her to reflect on her career; as she’s telling the story, Tachibana and his long-suffering cameraman are drawn in. The key was given to her as a teenager by a painter and revolutionary that she helped to escape the police. She becomes an actress because it will make it possible to track him down, and she spends the next several decades acting out that search in various genres and eras.

Hey all, what a surprise, yet another Satoshi Kon film! We are definitely fans of Satoshi Kon here at Media in Review, so be prepared to see most if not all of his work. As with the rest of Kon’s work, the animation is crisp and fantastic. This time around I watched the dub version, and the voice acting cast was properly picked and do a fantastic job. All of the characters are well-designed, as none of the feel out of place.

My biggest gripe is the story. While I admit that it has to be one of Kon’s best stories, it is rather confusing and difficult to follow. What exactly is Kon trying to say? His format for Millennium Actress, albeit many films within a single film, get the job done. Unfortunately this even further confuses the story. If I would have to compare it to anything, it would definitely be on the scale of Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey and Lynch’s Mulholland Drive.

PROS:

• Crisp animation.
• Fantastic voice casting.
• Well-designed characters.
• Films with a film format.

CONS:

• Confusing as hell story.

SCORE: 9.0 / 10

If you have any suggestions for films/TV/Games/Music/Anime for me to review, drop me a comment!

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Brandon Stuhr

Who am I? Just some guy who decided to start writing on the Internet years ago and now operates his own brand and site. Owner/Operator of Modern Neon Media, I make all kinds of niche content to suit my interests at the time. DIY Enthusiast, Brewmaster extraordinaire, and avid freak for geek culture. Follow on my socials for a more “on” version of me.