Mind Game (2004): Movie Reaction! PATREON COMMISSION!
Added 2025-09-19 17:00:08 +0000 UTC*NEVERENDING CHAOTIC HEADPHONE WARNINGS*
This movie was WILD. It's also a first on my channel: I left this movie and the reaction feeling one way - then...went back and re-watched it on my own time, got Whiteboard-kun out, READ THE MANGA adaptation (though in a different "way" which you'll see why) and then came back with a whole new approach to the film...
...so needless to say the reaction and discussion may not match up...but that feels perfect for this film, right? THANK YOU, Sean, for delivering this wild commission that has really made me think on this one!
LINK TO PIP REACTION: https://share.vidyard.com/watch/2tpHVA5QGbRLd2bcUb5fMm
Thank you for watching with me and for all the support!
Comments
Thank you for the comment and kind words! HAHAHAHA - your description of it is definitely a breath of air because YES, this was a tricky piece to navigate! “That cousin,” haha!! The creativity is off the charts in this! And I really appreciated what they did beyond the manga in this adaptation. I am sad there’s not an English translation of this work, honestly, because I would have liked to have read it. I did like the idea of playing with the “skins” we’re forced to wear in society and how that identity, when not restricted, can be altered or discarded. That rant, though, yeah, that was the trickiest part of the movie because I wanted to give it the benefit of the doubt, but I had to side-eye a lot of it - luckily a rewatch and manga read helped to build that trust somewhat back, but you nail it on the head so well! But yeah, MAJOR themes of resistance! I loved how “god” was portrayed in this, especially the “you see me how you want to see me” but then Nishi choosing his own fate and using his free will to “go back” (which seemed the ‘correct’ answer) in this! Loved that. And yessss, I really liked the way the movie was not afraid to go against the grain with style! All the themes - the first pancake - yes! I love that we got to see the earlier work, which is surprisingly more gritty but then, that makes sense, too - especially as an adaptation of a prior work. Thank you for the kind words - any chance to expand my library with this director/creator, I love I can take advantage of - and yes, Sean picked a good one!! I’m excited for Extreme Job, too - it’s been a good month of commissions! 😀
Romaniablack
2025-09-27 13:52:42 +0000 UTCLoved the reaction and discussion! I really commend the balanced analysis in the discussion, as this is a challenging work on multiple fronts. To me, if Yuasa’s full catalogue is a big happy family – this is the cousin I am not that fond of and try to steer clear of at gatherings. 😆 Thank you for reviewing the manga, as well, I have not yet found any (even fan-) translations into English. I do love the sheer visceral artistry of this film. Just the huge number of different scenes which would have needed to be re-conceptualised from the manga, or created anew, for the film is astonishing! The little Blue Lock link was hilarious – this film very much was a journey of the ego. 😆 Based on the development (and improvement) of how certain themes are presented in later Yuasa works, I’m assuming that the manga source was a constraint and maybe approached more as a challenge. I feel like some barriers were pushed quite far out without losing connection to the original material. I think especially in the prominent representations of the social construction of gender as costumes or ‘skins’ and how the whale allowed some of the characters to shed these (or play around with them). Really enjoyed how it was touched on in discussion, as well! Especially with the old man and Yan. With Yan I think there was a definite layer of rejecting an expected (and forced) skin of ‘motherhood’, or more literally from the imagery as a skin of ‘production’ or ‘perpetuation.’ I am really happy with the changes they made to the material – I wish they’d made some more! Speaking of... unnecessary scenes (not only in this work but in general), glad that the ‘loss of trust’ came up in both the 1st reaction and post-2nd-watch discussion. I completely agree with this. Once a work/author loses my trust in this way – I feel no need (and much less ability) to expend compassion. It has also always come across to me as a miscalculation born out of (charitable) profound ignorance or (uncharitable) somewhere between ‘don’t give a fuck’ to a sadistic impulse. Why would you want to lose the compassionate engagement of your audience? To me this is where the same ol' issue of being ‘unable to address without indulging’ comes in. /end of rant Themes of resistance though? Again aplenty! 😂 I most of all love the insane and visceral representation of resistance against cosmic determinism. The image of the ‘God’ who is “Now Lording” as a huge menu screen in front of a tiny Nishi? Alone enough to buy the price of admission for me. But also there are so many example of resistance against prescribed social roles. And then there is also all the visual and creative resistance against what (especially at the time) was seen as animation conforming to puritanical standards of the international market for animated works. I always love seeing how creators come up with such amazing ways of dealing with financial constraints, as well. And the way they made use of inconsistency, collage and instability as tools for this is so much fun to experience. In terms of Yuasa’s influence, I see all the same things addressed in this work again as are so important in works later on (which is also quite impressive for a ‘debut’ work in a significant role): selfhood, transformation, queering of stereotypical masculinity and femininity, etcetc. Maybe a first pancake in some ways, but still. 😂 I’m really glad you were able to give this work a chance and had an interesting journey with it. Thank you to Sean for this commission! 🥰 Cannot wait for next week! 💙
Sunspots
2025-09-21 14:15:34 +0000 UTC
