The World of Kanako

The World of Kanako is basically about drugs, rape, violence, mental illness...all kinds of gritty stuff. But the cinematography and soundtrack are beautiful, and I was captivated watching it play out.

The World of Kanako is a pretty crazy movie, but I'm generally into that kind of thing. I love how it hits you right out of the gate with violence; it's all stylized, and really well done. The movie as a whole looks great.

The music stood out, too, especially the parts when it was punctuating something happening on screen, like when it stopped in the middle of the scene with Matsunaga. The animated scene was great, especially the way it ended with the doorbell ringing. I liked the blood-splattered cuts anytime someone attacked Akikazu. Speaking of which, that guy was a superhero - he could really take a beating.

I loved the flashbacks, especially Boku's narration. The party scenes conveyed really well what it must've felt like for Boku to be there. Kanako was seriously messed up, and so was her father. It was hard to identify with someone who treated women like that. He needed to be locked up. I thought Detective Asai was unjustified in being such a dick to him at first, but after I saw what Akikazu was like, I figured he kind of deserved it. Asai was hands-down my favorite character; that guy was awesome, as was seeing him get hit by a car.

The car - what another great character. And the moment when Akikazu rammed it into Asai's car was epic. I got a little confused about all the yakuza rival gang stuff, but I guess it doesn't matter. And I never could figure out why they were letting that guy take pictures of everything. You would think they wouldn't want those hanging around.

Anytime somebody did kicks, they were always super cool. They should've done more martial arts stuff. I liked that Emi tased Akikazu, and she wasn't just helpless. I loved the way Akikazu was just tearing through his daughter's room with no respect for anything. It added a lot to his character.  I didn't like the ending at first, but I guess it fits with the general craziness of the movie.