Appleseed Ex Machina is the sequel to the 2004 Appleseed film directed by Aramaki Shinji, adapted from Masamune Shirow’s ( who also gave us GITS, Orion ) much acclaimed manga of the same name. Hong Kong film director John Woo is listed as a producer; I wonder if the film received any creative inputs from him.
Inital impressions after viewing the trailer is that the lighting, modelling and rendering of the characters take on a more polished and refined look as compared to the first film, which wasn’t bad at all to begin with. Action sequences are pretty stunning.
I didn’t really enjoy the first Appleseed film – It played like a 90 minutes long, beautifully rendered Autocad architecture flythru masquerading as an anime film; plus the mo-cap characters were a tad bit lifeless. Let’s hope it’d be better this time.
Ex Machina will be released in Japan on the 20th of October.
Official website : http://www.exmachina.jp/
Production company : Digital Frontier
Ex Machina artwork above from current issue of Animation Note. There is also an official guide book that you can get here.
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The Analysis of Ex Machina – Appleseed Art Book
Upcoming anime films 1 – Sword of the Stranger
Upcoming anime films 3 – Genius Party 2
The Wolf Children – Mamoru Hosoda’s Upcoming Anime
Evangelion – Another Impact CG Short
October 8th, 2007 at 3:10 am
Appleseed will remain my all time favourite SF manga, and Masamune Shirow’s works had played a strong influence in my imaginations.
Yeah, I was a little bit disappointed with the CGI Appleseed movie – it’s more eye candy than story, though it’s a vast improvement from the original OVA, which looked kinda like a yashigani anime.
Btw, there’s this new online game based on Appleseed – “Appleseed Online Card Tactics”
http://www.appleseedonline.jp/
October 8th, 2007 at 4:23 am
oooo…appleseed movie is always remain my fav’t anime movie. i cannot wait to see appleseed II. where did u get that magazine? can i order that magazine?
October 8th, 2007 at 6:05 am
i heard that woo was somehow involved in the action sequences…
October 8th, 2007 at 1:19 pm
John Woo was involved in the recent Alexi Tan Shanghai triad move, Blood Brothers.
There were a number of action sequences, particularly gun fights, that had his fingerprints all over.
October 9th, 2007 at 4:14 am
Zero – The visuals look really good on Ex Machina and I am hoping for the best. Speaking of which, I wonder why they haven’t made Orion into an anime, I love the characters and story.
Alice – The magazine is available for order here – Animation Note. It also includes the feature on Sword of the Stranger.
CMWilly, Jackson – From what I’ve seen so far there will be a firefight in a cathedral – now we just need a couple of doves in slowmo flight.
October 9th, 2007 at 4:47 am
john woos influence shows clearly in the suspended bullet casings on the first pic…
hong kong style anime? maybe they could make infernal affairs animated next…
October 9th, 2007 at 1:45 pm
Hey YongHow did you purchase that Appleseed Book? I hope the mo-cap is better in this one.
October 9th, 2007 at 2:32 pm
I saw the trailer before I watched the Evangelion Movie. The graphics were superb. I hope this comes to Singapore, as it’ll be really cool to be able to see such a animated film with great graphics on the big screen.
October 11th, 2007 at 3:02 am
tragic comedy – I have a feeling they are just using his name to gain publicity, but yeah, some input from him might be interesting.
Akiraman – Yes I did, its the current issue of Animation Note.
double – If the film gets good ticket sales there’s a high chance that the distributors might just bring it in. I guess we’ll see.
October 12th, 2007 at 5:11 pm
at first, i was kinda turned down by appleseed’s 2.5D animation..but later, accepted it. Wonder if the sequel has that too..and who knows, mocap technology has improved. So, it could be better!! XD (seeing how they did their facial mocap was pain!!tons of markers on the face.. Acting and voicing and mocaping at one go was omg!!)
October 16th, 2007 at 5:01 am
I’m pretty sure the mocap is much better this time. I just hope the story is better too ! :]
November 1st, 2007 at 5:02 pm
Call me a Shirow fanboy I don’t care!
This show is a must watch for me
April 12th, 2008 at 2:20 pm
I didn’t particularly enjoy the first Appleseed movie my-self either. But it still was worth the watching i believe .. So i am looking forward to watch the second part.
February 29th, 2012 at 11:10 am
Hi,you know any artbook shop in Hong Kong?
Cheers.