I always check the marquee of The Bagdad when I walk by, and then when I’m home (usually) I’ll quick check out what the movie is about, the genre, the gist, to decide whether I wanna see it or not. My decisions tend to be whimsical in this case and have as much to do with my mood as with the movie itself.
Last night I was in the mood for a Bagdad movie, and a quick check told me this was Japanese anime, with subtitles. Fans were raving, but that’s what fans do.
The endless fractal city, the infinity castle we could call it, is the backdrop through which many plots intertwine, with an overall elite demon slayer team pitted against the demons, which come in ranks and with various powers. Ditto the slayers have their own hierarchy, and sometimes a slayer will switch to the demon side, because reasons.
The backdrop infinity city anchors the flashbacks, as much of the movie comes through as backstory, as we explore a character’s past while, at present, they’re in a life or death battle in the Matrix (if we wanna call it that). The many flashback scenarios are archetypal stories involving family expectations, loyalties, the divvying of a lineage and so on.
For example, one brother is insanely jealous of another whom gramps seems to love equally whereas this one brother is clearly better and more worthy in every dimension. His getting locked into this one way of seeing matters leads to his monstering out and developing demon qualities.
In another backstory we follow the history of a young hellion, deemed worthy by a dojo master and his sickly daughter, but right when everything was going well, the jealousy of others kicked in and ruined everything. The hellion felt furious about his powerlessness at this critical juncture and resolved to gain strength at all costs. Flash forward and he’s in a pitched battle, even minus his head.
The foreground life and death fights involve defending against mortal thrusts and blows, also poisons, while invoking aggressive modalities (actions) aimed at achieving domination. All these characters, slayer and demon alike, demonstrate more propensity to fight than to escape the scene. They actively seek encounters. They’re warriors.
I’m not a consistent student of the Japanese anime genre (with all its sub-genres), of manga either, but I did appreciate the consistent language, as in semiotic code, for sharing character thoughts as well as backstories. We get a lot of insights. As viewers, we’re nigh omniscient, a familiar viewpoint assumed by English novelists with similar confidence.
Within the movie itself, overview is provided by a mapping room and a murder of spy crows who also share news.
The film was only lightly attended. Cartoons still enjoy an edge in matinee world I’d hazard, when a lot of the younger crowd is out of school for the afternoon. This was the late show, on a school night.
I was there in senior citizen mode (I get the discount) even if I’d be up past my bed time. Now it’s 7 am the next morning and I’ve been up for hours. I could always take a nap.
