I have seen this short movie twice and the other review here on IMDb from 2001 has misunderstood the fundamental concepts behind the movie. I mean no offense--it is an understandable mistake. In Japanese culture (as in some other cultures, such as the ancient Greeks), the concept of "Hell" is not the same as in Christianity. It is more a place where all the dead reside. Just because the judge sends evil people to Hell does NOT mean he is evil--quite the opposite, he is good and punishes the evil with death. The defense attorney CLEARLY is EVIL in the movie--he defends ANYONE and could care less if they are guilty. His "defense" included repeated attempts to murder the judge and he defended a completely horrible man--how could he have seen as "good"?! Okay, on to the movie. It looks as if it's some sort of pilot for a failed television series. Too bad there aren't more episodes, as it really is unique. I especially love all the ways the judge puts the evil doers to death--they are VERY creative (though a bit gross).
The down side? The animation is extremely poor when compared to more recent animation coming to the West. The quality is light years behind Miyazaki's movies (such as Kiki's Delivery Service and Spirted Away) and also much more choppy and poorly drawn when compared to any recent anime television series (such as Inuyasha, Full Metal Alchemist or even Pokemon). If you can ignore these limitations, it's still very much worth viewing.
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