Fantasia ’25: Redman (short)

What happens when a Power Ranger-like tokusatsu hero retires? They must readjust to normal life. However, they have a lot of history out there that could come back to haunt them. The shocking murder of his former teammate precipitates an existential crisis for Akagi, a.k.a. “Red” in director-screenwriter Kim Sung-jae’s animated short, Redman, which had its Canadian premiere at the 2025 Fantasia International Film Festival.

In the high-jumping, butt-kicking Mega Five, Akagi wore the red costume. Now he is a workaday salaryman, but he still dons his red mask, because, presumably, it remains an indelible part of his identity. With his glory days long gone, Akagi is clearly mired in a deep malaise. Then he receives the shocking news his Mega Five comrade was murdered by a member of their former foe’s death cult remnant.

So, what does it all mean? Is it time to get heroic again, or rather to finally accept their mortality and the limits that implies? Even though he remains masked, Akagi is clearly wrestling with some heavy burdens.

Indeed, Redman is unusually deep for an animated superhero short. Yet, Kim’s animation clearly reflects the loving inspiration of Ultraman, Power Rangers, and dozens of other Japanese costumed heroes. The look and vibe are vintage anime. Unfortunately, the running time is a bit too short, because Kim cannot quite land the complex and ambiguous finale within the film’s 15-minute running time.

Nevertheless, Redman is a thoughtful and visually spot-on homage to tokusatsu anime. Arguably, Kim’s premise is so clever and original, it deserves to ultimately spawn an entire anime franchise, which is quite something for a short. Highly recommended for genre fans, Redman screened at this year’s Fantasia.