![]() When I point out the Earwig figurine in the background, he picks it up and waggles it playfully at the screen. Behind him is a bookshelf of Ghibli books and memorabilia. When I meet the director on Zoom, he is warm and charismatic. But Goro, 54, describes the move as a necessity over anything else. The decision to forego hand-drawn animation has no doubt sparked the ire of Studio Ghibli’s dedicated legion of fans, who were quick to label the computer animated style as “stiff and off-putting” upon the release of the film’s trailer last year. Earwig’s mother, voiced in the English dub by Kacey Musgraves, is a witchy runaway rock star, but this plotline is hardly touched on, making the journey feel incomplete. Fresh out of the Victorian orphanage, Earwig is put to work completing menial witchy tasks, prepping ingredients for spells, doing dishes, and mopping floors. It follows a precocious young witch, Earwig, who’s adopted by a magical couple, Bella Yaga and her reclusive warlock partner Mandrake (voiced by Richard E Grant). Made for television on a considerably lower budget than most Ghibli productions, the film has many of the familiar qualities of a Studio Ghibli film. If the magic of Studio Ghibli rests in its ability to build fantastical dreamworlds that lift us out of the mundane, Earwig and the Witch is a more subtle beast. To watch Earwig properly, you must throw away all preconceptions of what came before it. The rock-n-roll soundtrack feels fresh and contemporary too, and signals a move towards a more current and vivacious chapter for the animation studio. Most notably, in Katsuya Kondo’s expressive character designs and Yuhki Takeuchi’s sumptuous and detailed background art. But the film does have undeniable charms, and branches out into aesthetics and opportunities the Ghibli world thus far has not touched. Seeing Ghibli’s signature aesthetic warped to three-dimensional proportions is admittedly unsettling, maybe for the most ardent fans, akin to seeing your warmest childhood memories mashed through a digitally processed mincer. Like Hayao Miyazaki’s run-in with the headless zombie, watching Earwig and the Witch feels uniquely uncanny. Gangster VIP is a far more mature and serious film than most of Nikkatsu's akushun films from the 60s, benefiting from some great acting, especially from its lead Watari (Tokyo Drifter), and the poignant final scenes will stick in one's mind for a long time after the film is over.There’s still the hallmarks of what we associate with Ghibli – a plucky protagonist, talking animals, magical witches, and morphing spirits – but the animation is Pixar-esque and wholly different from anything the studio has done before. Jasper Sharp of Midnight Eye stated that "Toshio Masuda didn't make the flashiest of works at Nikkatsu, but he did make solid, reliable movies with great characters and well-crafted plots that always keep the viewer on their toes. Outlaw: Gangster VIP was released by Arrow Video on Blu-ray and DVD in 2016 as part of a box set of the entire series. ![]() The film had its Canadian premier at the Fantasia Film Festival on July 14, 2008. Outlaw: Gangster VIP was shown at the Udine Far East Festival in 2005. ![]() The film was released by Toho International in an English-subtitled version in the United States in May 1968. The film was released in Japan on January 13, 1968. The film was the first in a six-part series of films based on Goro Fujita's character. Outlaw: Gangster VIP is based on the writings of Goro Fujita, an ex-gangster who wrote the novel the film was based on. On his release from prison, Goro finds out his gang is in decline and learns that the hitman he stabbed is still alive. ![]() The film stars Tetsuya Watari who plays Goro, a gangster who was sent to prison for three years for stabbing a hitman ( Machida Kyosuke) who belonged to the rival gang called the Aokis. Outlaw: Gangster VIP ( 「無頼」より 大幹部, Burai yori daikanbu) is a 1968 Japanese crime film directed by Toshio Masuda.
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