Anime is beautiful (for many reasons) & gives so much to its fans. Unique characters, storylines, and artwork are just a few mentions on the list. Like most entertainment, a lot of it re-hashes stuff that existed before. But sometimes you get pure original gold like the 2013 cult classic movie GYO: Tokyo Fish Attack!
The Premise
Being intentionally brief and trying not to spoil anything, sea life randomly begins to appear on the land of Tokyo. Not in its waters, but ON land. Walking!
They walk/run on these creepy little mechanical spider-legs and smell terrible — much like a dead fish that’s sat out in the sun too long would. And for some ungodly reason, they menacingly attack any- and everything they come across.
This relentless story follows a group of loosely-associated characters trying to survive the ordeal against all odds. And it makes for a greatly entertaining romp.
What’s Good About GYO: Tokyo Fish Attack!?
There is a lot to love about this movie. They take a very goofy sounding concept and grow it up into something that is actually worth fearing on some conceptual level. The characters are very mature (Like — some are NSFW levels of mature). The artwork is pretty decent and vivid. The expressions and cadence of the story feel natural. The philosophical quagmires it presents are very authentic and relatable. All of it just… works!
And the premise is outlandish enough (no pun intended) that I just think it’s worth any Anime fan seeing. Be warned — this is NOT for children, even though it seems silly at first blush. You probably don’t want anyone under the age of 13 really seeing this one, and (saying this backward to not spoil anything too easily) – “enecs xes puorg a si ereht“.
It isn’t anything graphic & doesn’t last too long, but it is there, and a younger viewer probably shouldn’t be watching that (on top of all the blood and gore).
Not to mention all of the genuinely unsettling imagery in this one. Some messed up stuff happens in this movie.
Where Can You Watch It? (Preferably for Free)
While scouring the internet trying to watch this one, I actually came across two reliable sources for viewing this one at no cost to you: Facebook (surprisingly) & KISS Anime (old faithful). The video on KISS has a higher playback quality than what’s offered on Facebook, but if you don’t trust clicking through to KISS – Facebook will take care of that for you.
Peace, and thanks for reading.
The soundtrack for this post provided by…
Image Credits:
All Images © Junji Ito, Shogakukan/Anime Bunko