It
is a post-Frankenstein world. The process of resurrecting corpses has been
weaponized by the great powers, but those who have followed the good doctor have
only been able to match his ability to re-animate the flesh. No subsequent
anatomists have been able to rekindle the mind or the soul. That is all very
well for the governments that want mindless soldiers, but Dr. John Watson aches
to reawaken something inside his late but not departed friend Friday. Despite
some initial reluctance, he will join the globe-trotting search for Dr.
Frankenstein’s lost notebooks in Ryôtarô Makihara’s anime adaptation of Project
Itoh’s steampunk science fiction novel Empire
of Corpses
(trailer here), which
screens nationwide for two days only this Tuesday and Wednesday.
Dr.
Watson had no intention of joining the Her Majesty’s Secret Service, but the
mysterious director known only as “M” prevails upon him. It turns out he has
violated quite a few laws with his unauthorized reanimation experiments. Gruff
British agent Frederick Burnaby and their mysterious ally Aleksi Karamazov are
determined to destroy the records of Frankenstein’s monstrous creation, but Dr.
Watson is more conflicted. Of course, Watson is not the only one interested in
the notes’ possible practical applications. Frankenstein’s notorious first creation,
now referred to as “The One,” also has use for his creator’s secret methods.
Based
on Itoh’s posthumously published novel (completed by Tô Enjo), Empire is fully loaded with literary and
historical allusions as well a bounty of steampunk devices, the most intriguing
being the self-aware automaton who periodically comes to the rescue. It also
has the mother of all stingers, which seems to hint a possible sequel, but that
seems unlikely given the fate of its author.
In
the third act, The One and the film’s secret supervillain try to employ Frankenstein’s
forbidden knowledge to shackle mankind’s free will, which is a massively
provocative turn of events. Frankly, it is kind of sad only films take themes
of personal freedom seriously are anime features, like Empire and Psycho-Pass,
but at least Funimation has been releasing them. Midori Goto, Hiroshi Seko, and
Koji Yamamoto’s tag-team adaptation does indeed begin with great promise and
ends in strong fashion, but many of the midsection’s exploits feel rather
repetitive.
