INUYASHIKI (いぬやしき) (2018)

Genre: Action/Fantasy
Director: Shinsuke Sato
Cast: Noritake Kinashi, Takeru Satoh, Kanata Hongōas, Fumi Nikaidô, Ayaka Miyoshi
RunTime: 2 hrs 7 mins
Rating: PG13 (Some Violence)
Released By: Golden Village Pictures
Official Website: 

Opening Day: 24 May 2018

Synopsis: Inuyashiki Ichirou is down on his luck. While only 58 years old, his geriatric looks often have him written off as a pathetic old man by the world around him and he's constantly ignored and disrespected by his family despite all that he's done to support them. On top of everything else, his doctor has revealed that he has cancer and it appears that he has little time left in this world. But just when it seems things couldn't get any worse, a blinding light in the night sky strikes the earth where Ichirou stands. He later wakes up to find himself unscathed, but he soon starts to notice that there's something... different about himself. However, it turns out that these strange, new changes are just what Ichirou needs to take a new lease on life and now it seems like there's nothing to stop him from being a hero worthy of the respect that he never had before... unless, that is, there was someone else out there with these same changes...

Movie Review:

Inuyashiki (not to be confused with Inuyasha!) is the real-life action movie of the manga series of the same name. It was also adapted into a 11-episode animewhich was released in 2017. Although the original manga series is often contending for manga awards, the manga sales is quite underwhelming in Japan. So while the series have not received great commercial success, Inuyashiki, the first of the planned trilogy, may spark more interests back to the original manga.

The story follows Inuyashiki Ichirou (played by Noritake Kinashi), a middle-aged salary man who never experienced great success in his life, and hasn’t got anything right in his career and family. His life took a downward spiral as he was diagnosed with cancer. While contemplating about how he could break the news to his family, he experienced a blinding bright light which transformed his body. On exploring his new mechanical body, he uncovers the potential of the new ‘power’ he possess which could save people. On the other hand, a high school boy student, Shishigami Hiro (played by Takeru Sato), seemed to have experienced the same transformation as Inuyashiki. However, unlike Inuyashiki, he employs the newly obtained power to destruct.

This movie is directed by Shinsuke Sato, who has worked on several manga turned movies such as Gantz (2011), Library Wars (2013), I am a Hero (2016) and Death Note: Light Up The New World (2016). Being no stranger to having action sequences in his movies, the fight scenes between Inuyashiki and Shishigami are a definite to-watch. Even so, Inuyashiki is slightly different from the director’s past works as the use of CGI is a lot more elaborate. With that, there are actually split reviews because there are some viewers who complain about the quality of the CGI and it being more of a distraction than supporting the movie. That is true to some extent and it was especially a pity for one of the key scenes of the cyborgs’ showdown. While the CGI is not bad, it does look like it needs a bit of polishing till it could attain the Hollywood block buster level.

Nevertheless, the narrative of the movie and the cast deserves some spotlight. Firstly, even though the story is largely about the cyborgs who are no longer humans, it is still largely based on the human experience. The relationships were quite straightforward and easy to get, and is fairly relatable as well. One of the most moving scenes is at the end, in between the credits roll. Shishigami might be seen as quite distant and cold, but that scene showed otherwise. Regarding the cast, the lead Inuyashiki is played by veteran comedian Noritake Kinashi. At 56, this is his first lead role in a movie and his portrayal of Inuyashiki was on point. Second lead Takeru Sato might be a lot more familiar to the audience as he is known for his role of Kenshin in the Kenshin trilogy and more recently Kei in Ajin (2017). He’s already 29 this year, yet he has taken up the role of Shishigami, a 17-year old teenager. He not only put up a convincing act of an adolescent with those sudden outbursts of emotions, you can trust him to deliver the action sequences as well.

Overall Inuyashiki is a pleasant watch, with more to promise in the future. Hopefully the second instalment will make its comeback with better CGI, packed with a punch.

Movie Rating:

(Even though the movie has not achieved top in class for a sci-fi movie, Inuyashiki is a promising start to the trilogy)

Review by Tho Shu Ling