Senya Ichiya Monogatari - Reviews

The art style reminds me of Pink Panther with the low detail monochrome colour style. For something that originated in Japan, the anime style is quite similar to cartoons. The visuals were quite abstract and trippy in a sense with comic-like aesthetics at times. I don't know whether I would term it experimental, even though it certainly is experimental considering its time and the conventions of Anime, but I would definitely call it Abstract. That's something which I really like.

I also liked the inclusion of scenes shot using a camera with characters and animations Rotoscoped on top of it instead of drawing it by hand. It is a clever way of animation which doesn't really look bad.

The music and sound, while old, was quite amazing as well. I would call it Psyechedlic/Funky and it goes well with the abstract essence of the whole movie. The plot was also quite good. The classic tale was narrated from yet again, an abstract and metaphorical perspective. My take was that the story was about Reckless desire and how it made everyone meet their ends. Be it money, power, lust, love, or even revenge.

The lewdness of the movie doesn't shift the focus away from the story itself, but rather adds to it quite well. I honestly liked the movie and I'm looking forward to watching the next two. It was slow, but I sure did enjoy it. I would personally add it to my collection of classics. Perhaps even movies that inspired modern artistic trends.