The Deer King

 Now for another episode of "I Could Have Seen It ... It Was Playing."

That would be the anime epic The Deer King, based on the novels by Nahoko Uehashi, which premiered stateside last July. The film marks the directorial debuts of Masashi Ando and Masayuki Miyaji, both of whom worked on Spirited Away (Ando as character designer and chief animator, Miyaji as assistant director). So, if you're wondering why it seems so thematically similar to some of Studio Ghibli's works, that's probably why. As for the film...

The film's opening text tells us how the evil Zol Empire conquered the peaceful Aquafa kingdom.  All except for the Fire Horse village, which is essentially guarded by demonic plague-bearing wolves. The film starts as a pack of these "Ossom dogs" race through a Zolian mine and kill everybody. Only two slaves - a former war hero named Van (Shinichi Tsutsumi) and a little girl named Yuna (Hisui Kimura) - survive getting bit by the Ossom. They head off into the world to live in peace.

Meanwhile, eventual Zol Emperor Yotalu (Atsushi Abe) dispatches Doctor Hohsalle (Ryoma Takeuchi) to find the two and extract their blood for a cure. The Aquafaese King (Tessho Genda) and his advisor, Tohlim (Yoshito Yasuhara), dispatch the tracker, Sae (Anne Watanabe), and the wolves' trainer, Ohfan (Shinshu Fuji), to take them out. Also, meanwhile, Van is beckoned to by a mysterious man named Kenoi (Tomomichi Nishimura) to take down the Zol and embrace nature. The film's title refers to the deer-like Pyuika, one of whom becomes Van's steed and whose milk is an important plot point. 

Everybody got that?

I watched it subtitled today on Hulu and I have the English dub on as I type this. The film's cavalcade of subplots makes a lot more sense upon a second viewing. The slow pace is taxing, but there were a few great character moments, particularly with Hohsalle's blowhard assistant Makoukan (Tooru Sakurai). A major subplot revolves around "The Emperor's Eyes," visiting hot-air balloons, and that goes nowhere. It also throws around a few terms faster than anyone can process. It's a major plot point that the "Black Wolf Fever," which was supposed to infect only Zolians, also infects Aquafaese. And there's no comeuppance for Tohlim and the Aquafaese King. The true nature of the disease and why Van gets superpowers from it is quite odd.

A few more great character moments come from Van and Yuna's relationship. Yuna tugging on an unconscious Van's chains at the start is moving. Yuna's innocence starts cracking Van's hardened exterior by the time they're taken in by Tohma (Chad Horii) and his village. His devotion to her is strong enough that, despite being wounded, he goes after the Ossom when they take her. Yuna's optimism is endearing; when she's possessed by Kenoi, that smile is unnerving. It's also quite moving when Yuna, and then later, Van, are broken free from Kenoi's possession. 

 Meanwhile, Hohsalle's quest for the cure would make him a compelling protagonist if the film was centered on him. He's still compelling as a co-protagonist, though. Sae is fine, though not as compelling as the others. Tohma and Makoukan liven up whatever scenes they're in. Yotalu's predecessor and brother Utalu (Yutaka Aoyama) is surprisingly pitiable despite being a bad guy. It probably helps that he's dying horribly in his one scene. Yotalu himself is sympathetic, while the actual villains are serviceably unlikable. Overall, these supporting characters are fine, but what about the technicals?

The visuals are just as impressive as anything in Ghibli's catalogue. The naturalistic scenery - from the pyuika frolicking in the grasslands to our heroes trekking through the snow - is magnificent. The Ossom running wild with a purple fog around them is sufficiently spooky. The towns are neat, while the character designs (by Ando himself), have equally appealing wardrobes. I do wonder why the Aquafaese are dressed in red, but I digress. The music by Harumi Fuuki is fine, though not as impressive as, say, Joe Hisaishi's work on Miyazaki's films. 

Overall, The Deer King looks nice, but its story could have been better. A quickened pace and spread-out exposition could have livened up these 114 minutes. A few characters help out admirably, though. It's probably worth seeing once in either language. Any more than that is up to you. I still found it a breather film to watch as I slide in more Oscar contenders in the coming days. Stay tuned for the next review.