Zebraman (2004)

User Rating:

6.8/10   

Director:

Takashi Miike

Writer:

Kankurô Kudô (screenplay)

Release Date:

15 August 2007 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy

Plot:

Being a failure as a teacher and a familyman, Shinichi tries to escape everyday live by dressing up as "Zebraman"...

Plot Keywords:

Superhero | Teacher | Teacher Student Relationship | Nurse | Suicide

Awards:

2 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Sho Aikawa	...	Shin'ichi Ichikawa / Zeburâman
Kyoka Suzuki	...	Kana Asano
Atsuro Watabe	...	Oikawa at the Defence Agency
Yui Ichikawa	...	Midori, Shin'ichi's daughter
Koen Kondo	...	Segawa
Naoki Yasukôchi
Makiko Watanabe
Keisuke Mishima
Yu Tokui
Yoji Tanaka
Arata Furuta	...	Owner of Candy Shop
Kumiko Aso	...	Newscaster
Akira Emoto	...	Kani-Otoko
Yoshihiko Hakamada
Ryo Iwamatsu	...	Kanda

Runtime:

115 min

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Filming Locations:

Mitsukaido City, Ibaraki, Japan

Company:

Bingo Y.K.

Movie Connections:

References The Mark of Zorro (1920)

Benevolently Reflects Vivid Childhood Memories Controlled By Superheroes

Being a pushover as a teacher and family man, the true humble, mild-mannered identity of our hero tries to escape everyday life by dressing up as Zebraman, a superhero from a TV series that was canceled after only a few episodes. But escaping into his fantasy world in a self-made zebra-suit is the only thing keeping him going. But when he discovers that the Zebraman show was a prophecy of a true alien invasion, disguised as the show's hero he is the only person who can stop it.

Miike always chooses material not only with an unusual premise but with over-the-top details that are slowly, gradually revealed to us. Aside from the way in which its plot unfolds, the film's real charm is in what decides to show us about superheroes, why we identify with them on such a whimsical level and how the ridiculous mentality of a superhero could be formed in a man's solitude. The movie is not serious though. It has Miike's sometime stoic feel, but what we are shown is often hilarious, like the non-sequitary title shot of a fat woman in a beauty parlor who is passed by a sauntering zebra, or Radioactive Ranger, a perfect rendition of a TV show not unlike Power Rangers and its various, progressively obscuring incarnations, or countless others.

Even if Miike's more studious sense of pace is a hindrance to the potential impact of the film, leaving it without a tone and thus making the memory of the movie pretty fuzzy over time, it reflects very benevolently vivid childhood memories controlled by our superheroes. Where the film's spirit hits the nail on the head is in its blurring of zeal and absurdity. The film knows escapism because it's acuity in what it evokes really allows you to escape back into that unadorned young spirit. And what's the point of escapism if you're not truly escaping?