Against the grain of Makoto Shinkai's films and Studio Ghibli which are the most visible because they leave a lot money, there are several animated films of unexpected maturity that challenge the imagination of the most creative and even terrify the bravest.
Due to this, the time has come to talk about three of these masterpieces that, despite having marked an era and innovating in various ways, succumbed to the influence of the so-called ghibli culture.
Said classics and cult movies show a different face of the animation Japanese because they project their own light even being in the shadow of the commercial.
Akira (1988), directed by Katsuhiro Otomo
This Oscar-nominated film cyberpunk It can be considered a rarity that created a school because it is a dystopia that takes place in the then distant 2019.
Three decades after World War III, Neo-Tokyo lives in chaos, noise and lights. Troubled youths crowd the police station, receive no education and spend their time in an illegal world of drugs, motorcycle races and fights.
People demonstrate and the army attacks them armed to the teeth, those who go against a state presided over by corruption and control are called terrorists and the only thing the government is looking for is to create a lethal weapon to control the world.
Midori (1992), directed by Hiroshi Harada
This film belongs to the Japanese narrative and aesthetic genre known as ero guro nansensu, which is nothing more than absurd, extreme and grotesque eroticism.
The film takes place in Japan at the end of the 12th century. Due to her father's abandonment and her mother's illness, Midori, a XNUMX-year-old girl, is forced to drop out of school and survive in poverty by selling flowers on the streets.
After a day in which he cannot sell a single flower, he meets a man in a top hat who, moved by his sad story, offers to buy all of them, indicating where to find him if he needs his help.
That night, Midori excitedly returns home and while telling her mother the good news, she discovers that she has died and her body is being eaten by rats. Given this, the little girl decides to look for the man who helped her, which turns out to be in a circus.
Once there, she meets the strange members of the circus, who sexually abuse her. One of the members named Kanabun kills some dogs and forces Midori to eat a soup made from her meat and from there life becomes a series of endless tragedies.
Perfect Blue (1997), directed by Satoshi Kon
The filmmaker Satoshi Kon is considered the first great world superstar of Japanese cinema for not so children. He became one of Japan's cult animation filmmakers after his untimely death in 2010.
Perfect Blue is a cult psychological thriller that has fascinated millions around the world because it tells the story of Mima Kirigoe, a girl who lives in constant conflict with her life.
She is a singer who wants to take the next step in acting, but the fear and insecurity of being famous are more present than it seems.
Little by little, the story allows us to enter a journey about the reality and the thoughts of the protagonist, who has to deal with this excessive workload and the many problems she has to face as a former singer and actress.
