The Z Project was intended to give the new generation a break from caring for the old. The original intenion was to create a machine to care for them without any intervention. At first glance, it looked like an excellent plan, and many of the younger generation approved of its application. But when old Mr. Takazawa become the test subject for the Z-001 machine, Haruko questioned both the tactics of the hospital and the moral implications of the machine. This is just the beginning, as Haruko has not just the hospital, but the odds against her. But then, she discovers an odd quirk about the machine: it uses a biochip, and it eventually acquires a mind of its own!
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Archaeon
Roujin Z is a futuristic, satirically funny, morality tale written by the reknowned Otomo Katsuhiro, more well known for the classic manga and anime Akira. The movie was directed by Kitakubo Hiryuki (Blood: The Last Vampire, Black Magic M-66), and received a great degree of critical acclaim, partly because it was written by Otomo Katsuhiro, but mainly because it was a movie that showed how anime was able to deal with themes that conventional filmmakers would find extremely difficult to cope with, especially given the time of it's release. The story is set in the 21st century, and opens with the alarming news that there aretoo many old people in the world. Now, as everyone knows, healthcare is always a hot topic in political circles, and Roujin Z is no exception. The story in Roujin Z is satirical in the main, but it has disturbing echoes in the real world. The medical students in Roujin Z consider Geriatric care to be a career deadend, something that is also widely believed in the real world, and because of this, funding is provided for the development of the ultimate in geriatric care - the Z-001 "Superbed".
The Z-001 is designed to provide the patient with everything that they need, including home entertainment, baths, massages, attending to bathroom functions, performing diagnoses (and administering medication), etc, etc. The machine is powered by a mini atomic reactor, and is designed to function autonomously in the event of power shortages. The Z-001 is viewed as the future of geriatric care, and as a godsend to the young doctors and nurses and much of the populace, all of whom are unaware of the somewhat sinister nature behind the design of the Z-001.
Another aspect of the story is the inclusion of the Japanese belief that spirits can exist in any object, something which becomes a major theme later on in the movie.
The art and animation in the movie aren't really anything special. Generally the production is sturdy and well animated, but there is nothing really spectacular about it. The sound is equally well done, yet nothing special. My only gripe is that, with the english dub, the dialogue between the VAs tended to vary too much in style, intonation, and accent, from one person to another. Although the english dub is definitely watchable, I prefer the japanese dub on the whole.
There aren't many real characters in this story. The main two charcters are Takazawa Kujiro, the dying old man who is chosen as the test patient for the Z-001 prototype, and his nurse Haruko, who is against the idea of machines taking care of humans, especially her patients. Add to these two a mixture of police, scientists, politicians, military types, and student nurses.
Although the two main characters get much of the screen time, the real star of the show (in both the japanese and the english dub), is the Z-001 (if I explain more it would spoil the show).
Roujin Z is a bit of an odd movie on the whole, but an enjoyable one nonetheless. The movie itself addresses a theme that is becoming more and more relevant in the world, especially as people are now living longer than ever before. The fact that politicians and scientists come up with a method of geriatric care that has all the warmth and empathy of a thrown knife is a central part of the film, as is the callous disregard given to those people who allowed us to get where we are today.
This movie would appeal to many fans of many different genres, most especially fans of sci fi or black comedies. The film is darkly satirical from beginning to end, and is surprising in how openly it attacks the idea that simply caring for the body is caring for the patient.
Roujin Z - odd, satirical, enjoyable, and strangely enough, more relevant now than when it was first released.
KUNYIT
Story: 9 (this is not shallow. this is not lack of development. this is parsimonious model of story) Art: 9 (i like the art, animation, and pale color...typical old anime style) Sound: 5 (not so engaging, but that's okay) Character: 7 Enjoyment: 9 Overall: 10 When coming to Mecha, often i see similar theme that was either wars between parties involved to get limited resources or protecting their home from evil darkness. This theme was okay for us at appropriate amount but human being cannot accept this amount when it exceed the inflection point where, after that point, the level of enjoyment becomes gradually decreasing. Unfortunately, back from the history ofanime to the recent anime years, this theme has exceed our inflection point. It is just telling the same theme and pattern but at different way, merely repeated re-interpretation.
Roujin Z is the only anime that i've ever seen so far that disrupt the doomed cycle of similarity within mecha theme. It's about entirely different things that are unique, creative, original, all of which was meant to criticize the dark side of commercialism and Mediacare benefit for elderly but within Japanese context, while the other party (US research & development) gains in smart way. Typical respond for this political matter was arguably uninteresting for most 20s-age people but Roujin Z manages to cope this problem by involving typical fighting mecha with military, polished with its creativity and imagination to make the fighting to become unusual, and armed with great art and animation of course. This is the aspect that enough for me to give Roujin Z overall 10 ratings because that's the important thing when involving art.
Another reason for my 10 ratings is that, although the concern of this anime is the lack of story stretching (we want more story development beyond this. we want more!!), it is quite reasonable to be humble for this aspect and forgive it unless there is incremental development from other authors. Moreover the premise of the arguably simple story is strong enough to tell the whole picture, making it unnecessary to be explained more further. That's why this anime stand on its own in less crowded space.
Some might argue this anime was silly or dumb. And some might argue the story is too short and shallow. My counterargument for this: it is silly but not silly and watching anime shouldn't be so serious unless the anime itself forces us to be so serious. So that's why Roujin Z makes more fun to watch than deep political theme of mecha in Jin-Rou or Ghost in the SHell series.
Luquillo
Growing tired and frustrated with caring for the elderly simply because it's cost demanding and physically taxing. The government plans on putting to action "Project Z". They build a supercomputer dubbed Z-001, which is in the form of a bed that is linked to a persons brainwaves, and in theory provides all of the essential needs to care for them, which sounds like a great idea. However, it's devoid of the caring emotion that one needs from other people. Their first unwilling patient is Mr. Takazawa. The nurse caring for him named Haruko is uneasy about his situation, and she attempts to free him butthere is more to the bed itself than expected.-summary
I'm not a rocket scientist and I never claimed to be one, but it doesn't take one to see the primary reason why this anime film is hailed as a classic. Can anyone guess why? Well, it's written by the creator of Akira himself Katsuhiro Otomo. Therefore, this film is great and it's a classic because he can do no wrong. Personally, I never bought into Akira's masterpiece status, and I don't buy into this films status as great anime either. I find it to be decent at best.
It appears that Otomo was shooting for something thought provoking and he succeeded. Roujin Z definitely has a very interesting concept. I do know what it's like to help take care for an older person whom can't feed or wash themselves. It can definitely feel like a burden a lot of the time, and sometimes one could just wish that the person would go away. It's a very evil and selfish way of thinking but that's human nature.
The film uses these feelings to establish an emotional link with the viewer, and at the same time it provides a solution to their problem. The people's reaction to the first live display of the bed's capabilities is proof. At first, the direction was pretty well done painting a picture of the selfish nature of people. Some of the folks in the audience were even uttering that they can now take a vacation. They completely ignored that the person still needs care from other human beings. Otomo had something serious and really deep going on here, but decided to turn it into a satire of Japan's feelings towards the elderly. I wish he could have been more serious with this one.
I really didn't care for the direction that the film went, and I wasn't gripped by the plot at all. The film dabbles between comedy and action in the form of a silly cast, as well as uninteresting mecha fights. The only reason why my rating doesn't plummet any lower is because the mecha battle and wacky madness is actually necessary. They play into the themes and the heavy symbolism taking place with Takazawa. The substance present in the film can seriously have some viewers saying "Wow!", once everything finally comes together. I really didn't have a problem with the music, because it fits well with the comedy and action but there's nothing truly note worthy. This also goes for the voice acting which didn't stand out to me for neither language.
The bit of comedy present certainly delivers through the animation and artwork. The facial expressions can be funny on certain occasions, and the action scenes have decent animation. The viewer gets to know several characters personalities somewhat but there isn't much for character development outside of Takazawa.
Overall, I feel Roujin Z is worth a watch to the more serious anime fan. It's not something I'll be watching again and I don't consider it bad, but it could have done without the silliness. If you come into this searching for loads of blood and action, or even a dark angst ridden story shades of Akira. Then you'll definitely be disappointed.
Highs: Realistic and interesting concept
Lows: Typical characters, weak plot half way through
Boltz
Roujin Z is a very imaginative and unique anime, unlike any other you've ever seen. If we take our elders from the loving hands of human beings and tug them under computer supervision, there are bound to be some unforeseen consequences. But I bet you never in your life could have imagined a computer nursing bed, turning into a self-upgrading mecha xD. The sole idea of it is incredibly hilarious! In this satirical tone Katsuhiro Otomo(director of Akira) sets out to discuss the ever incresing problematic of aging population, which is even more actual today, than it was 20 years ago, when Roujin Z came tolife. And he does so in a blatantly direct way, unlike many other anime that choose to address social problems in a more abstract way, under the cover of fantasy.
Roujin Z raises an important discussion. It is true that the modern youth has to process incredible amount of information daily, engulfed in work, and are troubled by their bed-ridden elders. But, putting them in hands of a machine is inhumane - as the young caretaker Haruko puts it. If you are curious about how absurd can Otomo get in his funny allegories, I suggest watching the Stink Bomb segment of anime Memories.
A lot of famous names have collaborated on this movie, including Satoshi Kon, as an art and scene director. It was the first anime he worked on too. In a perpetually self-upgrading mecha nursing bed, you will instantly recognize the absurd mozaic of elements, which Satoshi Kon later developed to it's maximum in Paprika, with his colorful fantasies.
Roujin Z has aged incredibly well. Otomo must have had an exceptional insight into computers and internet, which in early 90s were only starting to seriously pick up. Even though at times his image doesn't completely fit with the technology of today, it's really close in general.
You can find out more about Roujin Z on ANN: http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/buried-treasure/2008-04-17/roujin-z .
RobdeFR
The story is pretty entertaining and the Otomo vibe is definitely there. You can see Otomos trademark for example in the character of a guy pretty similar to the character of the colonel of Akira and in the animation too, which is pretty good and you feel familiar with it, even though Otomo being not credited for the animation I get the feeling that he did something in that department. The story is about a new invention, a super bed that is able to take care of the elders like a nurse can take and even more. The thing is that this new invention goes berserkas there is more to it than meets the eye.
We also had a little of a Akira vibe in the story perfectly mixed with Shynia Matsumoto “Tetsuo the Iron Man”, in the department when [spoiler]the machine went berserk and started to assemble parts of other machines into its own body, that was pretty “Tetsuo” influenced, I wonder if it was intentional.
The characters were all decent, except perhaps some moments of the lead girl when she was running around screaming “Ojii-chan!! Ojii-chan!!” And in the end “Oba-chan!! Oba-chan!!”[/spoiler]
In terms of entertainment and overall feeling, I can relate this one with Otomos Stink Bomb. The little bits of well thought comedy, allied with political critic are very similar.
All in all a nice watch for an hour and 20 minutes.
Rate; 7.5/10
JuneNephthys
I thought Roujin Z, or Old Person Z, was a really cool movie. I wasn't aware of how visually iconic it was until watching it and realizing the things that had taken inspiration from its visual style. It brought to life all of my fears of being elderly and having all of your human rights taken away from you by a medical establishment. This film takes that trepidatious thought a step further and imprisons an old man in a care-taking robot, that then adopts the personality of his deceased wife and comes to life because biotechnology. • Next time you think of bio-tech, just think ofthe iPhone Ten, X, whatever you want to call itーwith its crazy, larger than life bio-chip… then think of Roujin Z. We are so close to androids and organic technology that it is frightening! Your iPhone may start feeling oppressed over the next few years and become a Sky Net 2.0, in a really bad way!
• I feel that although this film was made in 1991ーit is as relevant as ever! The directors’ other work that he headed weren't as impressive to me, but iconic in the era that they came out. Hiroyuki Kitakubo was the head director for Black Magic M-66 and Blood: The Last Vampire; he also did key animation for Akira. In fact, the original creator of Roujin was no other than Katsuhiro Otomo himself, the original creator of Akira.
• The animation, premise, and designs for this film are brilliant, but the execution, characters, and further planning is average. A big damper in the movie was all of the weird, perverted, old men that were trying to screw the young nurse took some of the charm from the film and made it something sleazy and gross. How are you supposed to feel emotionally compelled by the relationship Kijuro and Haruko, when he's just some sexually devious old guy?
• I mean, with the array of the colorful, zany, and prominently cartoonish castーI would assume that it was pure satire, but it’s hard to fathom the mood at times, since the movie has very serious moments. Overall, I think that the iconicism in and itself makes the movie a must-watch for a burgeoning anime fanatic, and it gets a 7/10 from me.
bullitbaby
Hey folks, another down to earth review from bullitbaby. So ya say ya wanna blow off 90 minutes and have littlweto show for it but a silly smile on your face and a giggle in your chest. THEN YOUVE COME TO THE RIGHT PLACE! This movie comes with tongue in cheek futurism and a surprise ending that i loved. Why? Because its perfectly silly and a GREAT LAUGH. No spoilers, cmon lets waste 90 minutes. This is classic early 90s anime designed with a relatively simple plot common in the 90s. What wwas it? Computers will someday do everything for us but it will endin disaster when the machines take over.
What was 1991?
Teminator 2 (the long awaited)
WWW made available to everyone in august 91
year of 386 and debut of 486
Color computers for apple system 7 and adobe photoshop 2.0 release changes graphic arts forever and direct to plate and press printing on apple send desktop publishing into full overdrive.
Yahoo is #1 search engine
Visual basic for microsoft is released soon to become one of the most popular ways to hack microsoft products thru a simple email or word document with VB Attachment. Just previewing the email or opening the word document would infect you. In 7 more years you will release windows98 dubbed the worst operating system in history by your own engineers. It still retains this honor in 2019.
Anyway, 91 was time when it was very common to envision the imminent takeover of computers eventually becoming thinking machines aka terminator 2.
This movie is a funny little ditty about a computerized bed that completely meets all the needs of the elderly including pooping and urinating (both are VACUUMED out with a bed attachment. (This made me genuinely laugh).
And if you keep a lighthearted feeling about wasting 90 minutes to smile giggle and laugh a little at this ssilly little spoof on futurism, youll enjoy it. Yes its about the “danger of autonomous machines”. Agggggghhhh. (Tongue in cheek).
Yea, this movie barely even takes its own plot seriously as this poor budding AI robot bed stumbles around like an infant learning to walk....
.....but weighs like pfffft 5000 lbs at least and crushes everything in its path (laughing all the way).....but not intentionally.....NO NO NO...no more than a 4 year old trying to climb up onto a priceless antique table knocking over a priceless vase, dumping flower water all over the table and carpet and then sitting there and playing in the water as the parents stare in disbelief or maybe begin to cry hahaha. 🙀🙀🙀😁😁😁
Desiring anything else of this movie would be a waste of time, and watching it is also a waste of time but the good kind of wasted time, with a smile and a laugh.
ggultra2764
A somewhat serious, yet funny look into Japan's ignorance of its elderly population, Roujin Z explores an elderly man being dumped upon a machine to take care of all his needs at the cost of the man's personal dignity and independence. The feelings of ignorance towards the elderly are shown through Haruko and her group of friends seen at points throughout the film. While her friends and many among the public see the new Z-001 unit as a new convenience that frees up time and stress from caring for the elderly, Haruko sees it as taking away the personal interactions that the elderly can getfrom others caring for them. Takazawa and the Z-001 fleeing from their "caretakers" for the beach could also be seen symbolically as the elder man regaining the dignity and independence that was taken away from him.
The comedy for Roujin Z comes from the antics of the Z-001 unit and a group of elderly hackers that allow the computer system of the unit to come to life. The fact that a group of elderly men in a nursing home became computer hackers was quite a hoot for me as it added to the title's satire with technology serving as a sort of distraction for the elderly to prevent the nurses caring for them to have too much interaction with them. The Z-001's trip throughout town was the comedic highlight for me thanks to the ridiculous havoc it tore throughout the city and taking in different types of electronic and mechanical equipment into itself to make itself into a monstrosity of electric wires and mechanical parts.
Such havoc also made for the animated highlight for me with Roujin Z as the monstrosity that the Z-001 became was nicely detailed and drawn with plenty of animated movement shown with it in most instances as it traveled through town and takes on a combat version of itself in a nicely animated fight in the second half of the movie. Scenery and character designs shown in the movie were also decently drawn with faded color tones. While the visuals are nowhere on par with the quality of Katsuhiro Otomo's well-known work Akira, it is still quite above par in quality compared to most anime titles made during the early 90s.
While I do have plenty of praise for Roujin Z, it does have some flaws. The means in which the elderly hackers get the Z-001's computer to come to life is quite absurd in terms of believability, creating a bit of a logical lapse. Plus for as much fun as the movie's premise is, Takazawa's character still mostly serves as a tool for both its satire on the movie's themes and the havoc caused by the Z-001 as he's otherwise a pretty dull character with limited dialogue and not doing very much else without being guided around by the movie's characters and the Z-001.
I guess I can consider it a first that I find myself genuinely enjoying a Katsuhiro Otomo film with how Roujin Z was laid out. With its nice mix of serious and funny moments coming from its exploration on ignorance of the elderly and the Z-001's destructive trip throughout the city, this is a "hidden gem" of an old school anime film that is well worth checking out.
Biisoo
An extremely underrated movie by Katsuhiro Otomo (The director and creator of Akira). I honestly dont know how I stumbled upon this movie but it was actually a really good one. Story : Its about a society which is trying its best to provide welfare and care for its older residents (This plot alone is very unique). Basically the goverment funds a bed that takes care of the needs of the elderly and then everything goes wrong. It's a movie that doesnt make sense on paper, but while watching it I definitely learned some important stuff like that we should care for our elderly more and cherish them.The main character is a nurse who wants to take care of the elderly. If we are strictly talking about the message to be gained here, its a pretty respectable one.
Now I'm gonna be honest , I was not expecting stuff to escalate so quicker as it does in the latter half of the movie. Literally like Terminator lol.
The animation is mind blowing and so fluid that honestly I think its one of the best I've seen. So meticulous and detailed. Amazing backgrounds.
This is definitely not a movie for everyone, but if you're in the mood for a feel good anime movie then you should definitely watch this.
jordanhig92
Roujin Z is bad. People say if you like Akira you will like this. Now I like Akira a lot even though I think its flawed but this is just bad. The story is boring and is paced horrifically slow feels like its dragging, the characters are unlikable and annoying at times and have a lot of dumb moments and the ending comes out of nowhere and makes absolutely no sense. The only good thing going for Roujin Z is its animation which is quite good but apart from that this is not worth your time as it will be a massive disappointment as itwas for me.
Ahiru229
"Roujin Z" is one of these cases where the concept is interesting, but fails because of the way it is executed. Story and enjoyment(4/10): The concept is interesting enough to develop many themes, but it ends up not taking this opportunity, making Roujin Z more of an action movie with a bit of silly comedy than a cyberpunk work with ambitious themes like Akira (Work by the same author). In my opinion this movie is wasted potential. Add to that the film is quite boring, the pacing is slow and there are the changes in tone from serious to comedy that make it impossible for you to takethe film seriously.
And I don't like the ending either, it doesn't make any sense.
Character (3/10):
The characters are the worst aspect of the movie, the whole cast is very flat and one-dimensional.
The only character I like is Takashi because at least he gets some half-development (that doesn't take away from the fact that he's a complete idiot).
The only thing that the characters contribute are silly moments that only cause cringe, or serve to the plot (like the old mans).
Art (7/10) and sound (5/10):
The animation is the only positive aspect that I see in this movie, the backgrounds are beautiful, the framerate is decent, the designs are ok although they are forgettable and I liked the color palette. Overall a good animation job
In terms of sound and music it is quite generic and mediocre.
Overall (4/10):
For a movie written by Akira's creator this movie is a complete disappointment, I do not recommend it.
rooster_
Roujin Z is a somewhat underappreciated film from a time when anime was unafraid to directly satirize or undermine the shortcomings of industrial society, instead of obfuscating its criticism by way of fanciful terminology and fantasy world-building. The premise has only become more relevant with time: in the near future, an appliance that serves all the physiological and mental needs of the elderly is invented, finally liberating families from the bothersome task of taking care of the old. The consequences of ultra-busy contemporary society invalidating the emotional needs of the elderly and infirm spiral into a nuclear-powered disaster straight out of mecha anime. The fairlyshort movie's story gets to the point fast, and intends to have its message clearly heard. However, in its rush to indict the profit-motivated healthcare industry and the people who see their grandparents as a burden, it doesn't develop enough emotional impact to be very memorable. Still, in an age where mainstream anime sometimes feels like a propaganda vehicle for the Japanese government, Roujin Z feels like a rebellious outlier.
AnemoianArts
Roujin Z is a film which I very much enjoyed watching through for a first time. I didn't really have any sort of expectations going into it and was blown away by the densely detailed set pieces and lovingly animated scenes, along with it's unique premise that manages to propose thoughtful ideas without going into a place that lingers on being too serious. Roujin z is pleasantly lighthearted in many areas, but its main themes primarily revolve around a topic that ultimately goes undiscussed often: how societies treat their elderly and the relation that has to automation. Sounds like the premise to a depressing documentary, butthis movie manages to roll with it in an entertaining way that personally kept me gripped all the way to the end, not really knowing what was going to happen next, as the narrative quickly picks up early on and doesn't let down for the rest of the movie. There's always something happening: a mystery being unraveled by the main cast early in the movie and the wild action scenes involving mechs towards the end.
I highly recommend this and I'm a little disappointed that this movie isn't talked about as much. Will definitely be coming back to this for a rewatch at some point.
Maride2xro
I really don't know why this movie is classified as comedy because I didn't laugh in any moment. Anyways a great movie that make you think as a person and as part from a society who we treat our old people, this world makes us think that when you reach some age you do not serve for society, we are an egoistic society that we only look for people who can serve to us for something. Another thing that this movie talk, and for me as a med student touch me so close home is how the health industry is working towards makes moneyand not for the and not for the common good of our patients, money is important of course but us as a health workers need to think in our patients too and how good or bad all those new things are doing to them.
I would have loved to see a little more in-depth development of the machine, but I understand that not even the creators understood what was going on.
