Jin-Roh: The Wolf Brigade (1999)

A traumatized member of an elite para-military police force falls for the sister of a female terrorist courier who died in front of him on duty.

Director:

Hiroyuki Okiura

Writers:

Mamoru Oshii (creator), Mamoru Oshii

Stars:

Michael Dobson, Yoshikazu Fujiki, Sumi Mutoh

4 wins & 2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Michael Dobson	...	Kazuki Fuse (voice)
Yoshikazu Fujiki	...	Kazuki Fuse (voice) (as Yoshikatsu Fujiki)
Sumi Mutoh	...	Kei Amemiya (voice)
Moneca Stori	...	Kei Amemiya (voice)
Hiroyuki Kinosha	...	Atsuhi Henmi (voice) (as Hiroyuki Kinoshita)
Colin Murdock	...	Atsushi Henmi / Academy Officer / Riot Police (voice)
Yukio Hiroda	...	Bunmei Muroto (voice)
Dale Wilson	...	Bunmei Muroto / Riot Police Commander (voice)
Michael Kopsa	...	Hajime Handa (voice)
Yukihiro Yoshida	...	Hajime Handa (voice)
Ron Halder	...	Shiro Tatsumi / Nanami's Contact (voice)
Eri Sendai	...	Nanami Agawa (voice)
Kenji Nakagawa	...	Isao Aniya (voice)
Maggie Blue O'Hara	...	Nanami Agawa (voice)
French Tickner	...	Isao Aniya (voice)

Storyline

Ten years after the end of World War II; anti-terror policeman Fuse gets suspended from service after the suicide by self-detonation of a young terrorist girl during an operation, as he failed to shoot her in time. When he tries to gather some information about her, he meets her sister and befriends with her. Both get dragged into the rivalries between the administration of the police and the counter terrorism commando unit 'Jin Roh' (human wolves).

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Plot Keywords:

directorial debut | punctuation in title | animal in title | police | policeman | 

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Genres:

Animation | Drama | Fantasy | Thriller

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Certificate:

R

Details

Official Sites:

Production I.G. (english) [Japan] Production I.G. (japanese) [Japan]

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Release Date:

17 November 1999 (France)

Also Known As:

Jin-Roh: The Wolf Brigade

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$7,098, 24 June 2001

Gross USA:

$94,591

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$94,591

Company Credits

Production Co:

Bandai Visual Company, Production I.G.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

102 min

Sound Mix:

DTS-Stereo DTS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Many of the weapons, vehicles, and equipment used are from the World War II period, mainly of German design. Some weapons include a modified version of the MG42 machine gun, the MP44 sub-machine gun, the FG42 rifle, a Panzerfaust rocket, and several British Sten guns. World War II German period vehicles, such as the Kubelwagen and Volkswagen, are also present.

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Quotes

Kei Amemiya: What big eyes you have... what big teeth you have!

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Alternate Versions

An English credit roll is used for the dubbed version as well as an English title crawl for the opening quote.

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Connections

Featured in Anime Abandon: Spawn (2014)

User Reviews

Ingenious plot, brilliantly pictured and narrated

The plot of Jin-Roh is set in a fictitious Tokyo, several years after the second World War. Violent combats between an anti-administration terrorist organization and the capital's para-military police rock the city over and over again. When Fuse, a member of the capital's police force, gets suspended after a young terrorist messenger blows herself up in front of his eyes, he tries to search for more information about her but gets mired in a secret power struggle between the administration and the capital's police force.

The plot of "Jin-Roh" is so sophisticated, it can hardly be described without spoiling some very important facts. The movie then comes up with several stunningly surprising twists that one would hardly have anticipated. But despite, respectively, due to the movie's complexity, it is sometimes hard to follow properly the events and incidents. There are so many different organizations interacting and intriguing, which shall not mean, that the story is inconsistent. Rather are all relationships and hierarchies between the organizations (police, administration, ministries) brilliantly thought-out, but the fact that everybody seems to play off against one another, doesn't make it clear who belongs to whom until the end. I had to watch the movie twice, before realizing every aspect of the story.

All this may sound like an ordinary political crime plot, but let me tell you, it is something totally unique. The plot's obscurity perfectly fits its grim atmosphere. The idea of a fictitious past is excellently illustrated by the streets and locations, that seem familiar, but at the same time totally strange.

The movie's subjects about guilt, atonement and living with burden make it also pretty depressing, but at the same time, a special cinematic experience, due to its unique stylistic features, such as narrating the story of "Little Red Riding Hood and the evil wolf" during several scenes, which accurately fits the events in the movie itself.

All in all, one of the greatest and most unique movies, that I have seen, Mamoru Oshii, once again, created a brilliant and intelligent plot, whose complexity sometimes really reminds oneself of Oshii's "Ghost in the shell". The movie's overwhelming picture language and music contribute to its excellence.