Strait Jacket
It’s the not too distant future. The
scientific basis of magic has been discovered and sorcery has become
just another scientific phenomenon. It creeps into every aspect of
human activity, and therefore must be controlled and regulated. A
government bureaucracy is established, the Bureau of Sorcery
Management. That institution is also deemed necessary since those who
practice sorcery – and almost all professions do – run the
risk of spontaneous transformation into demons bent on death and
destruction.
 When such a demon is set loose, the Bureau will counterattack with
one of its stable of sorcerists; they are the equivalent of magical
S.W.A.T. team members. Sorcerists must be licensed, but there are
rogues, those who operate for hire outside the regulated confines of
the Bureau’s regulations. Such a rogue is Leiot Steinberg, who
is accompanied by an odd young girl with the striking feature of four
eyes, Kapelteta Fernandez. She seems to have special sight (no pun
intended), able to detect the presence of a demon psychically. She and
he also have a history together, one that makes her motives suspect
and one that burdens him with deep guilt.
 Steinberg is tolerated by the Bureau rather then arrested, since
he’s so effective at helping to destroy the bloodthirsty demons
when Bureau sorcerists are in short supply. (Leiot Steinberg reminds
me of Cowboy Bebop’s Spike Spiegel, both physically and
their slightly depressed personalities. I’m forced to digress
for a fascinating tidbit. Keanu Reeves is reported to be planning to
play Spike Spiegel in a live action film based on an episode of
Cowboy Bebop. It’s been alternatively reported that the
episode is either Asteroid Blues or Red Eye.
I’m curious to know who’ll be cast as the well-endowed
Faye Valentine. Back to the film at hand…)
 Since the sorcerists must use tactical sorcery to defeat the demons,
they must protect themselves. That’s accomplished by encasing
themselves in very special suits of armor known as strait jackets.
Also called molds, they serve a dual purpose, helping to protect the
wearer from attack by the demon and somehow preventing the use of
sorcery to transform them into demons. It does not always work.
 What follows is a lot of action, a subplot about yet another
conspiracy (a plot device so popular in the Japanese action Anime
films I’ve watched), and only a modicum of character
development. Alas, the English dubbing leaves much to be desired. In
an effort to match mouth movements, the dub is self-conscious in its
grammar and expression. The female lead, voicing an agent from the
Bureau named Nerin Simmons, sounds too young and immature for her
important position. And the demons’ giggles and laughs seem
inconsistent with their violent, bloodthirsty natures.
The production values are fine. The death and destruction, from the
bloody slicing and dicing of the film’s many victims to the
fiery explosions that destroy buildings or demons are the best parts
of the animations. I just wish the story had been a bit stronger. A
quick visit to the IMDB reveals that this was a three-episode limited
run television series subtitled The Relief, The
Convicts, and, The Cast. I’m not sure I understand
the connection of the titles to the onscreen action, but I can attest
to the transparency of the edits that fused those three stories
together for this presentation.
The cel count is
limited, so you’ll see quintessential Anime jerkiness in
character movement. I will once again ask the question, why
don’t animators use computer morphing techniques to generate
fill frames to smooth out the animation with one image per frame
instead of photographing the same cels repeatedly for a 1:2 or, worse,
1:3 cel to frame ratio?
The Video: How Does The
Disc Look?
The film’s aspect ratio of
1.78:1 is presented in a fine looking anamorphic transfer. Perhaps
because there is so little material on this disc, the bit budget could
be dedicated to the film and with less compression comes fewer digital
artifacts. I saw no halos, no mosquito noise, and no macroblocking.
Chroma cannot be compared to anything absolute, but with the exception
of an intentionally subdued palette, the color rendition seemed quite
natural, with persuasively red blood. The video dynamic range is well
represented, although blacks come up a bit shy. I noticed no white
crush or blooming. Shadow detail is fine. Small object detail, thanks
to the absence of halos, is very good, while finely grained textures
are good enough.
The Audio: How Does The Disc
Sound?
The Dolby Digital 5.1 track is
excellent. There’s deep bass, satisfying sound effects, dryly
recorded English dialog, a forgettable score that telegraphs the
feelings the audience should have, and a nice application of surround
effects.
The alternative audio track is in Japanese
stereo. The optional subtitles are in English.
The Supplements: What Goodies Are There?
There are none on this disc, not even a trailer.
The 76-minute film is organized into twelve chapters.
Final Thoughts
Not up to the quality
of Anime produced for the motion picture screen, Strait
Jacket has an interesting premise and a reasonable but
unexceptional execution. The video and audio qualities excel, but
there are no supplements at all.
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