Jigoku no Tōsōgeki, also known as Bloody Escape, is a film that has extreme highs and lows on almost every aspect. Its universe is delightfully exaggerated, on the one hand. Collisions in tone and style are immensely enjoyable as a result of the blend of magic, future technology, and fantasy races. Our primary character, Kisaragi, is a cyborg vampire ninja who must consume regular vampires in order to survive. He also makes inventive use of the fact that vampires are severely poisoned by his blood throughout the movie.
The narrative itself is on the other hand. Both the character revelations and the plot twists are incredibly predictable. It’s easy to predict the direction of events, especially when the journey turns into Mad Max: Fury Road with trains in place of automobiles and has a comedic relief figure who was previously an enemy but is now an ally.
The personalities themselves are likewise inconsistent. Many are one-note, like the mook-turned-ally mentioned earlier (whose chief function is to get shot or stabbed in the butt whenever possible) and the group of mercenaries that assist individuals in leaving their clusters in order to resettle in other ones.
Then there is Lunalu, who is unexpectedly complex, particularly in the way she handles the personal tragedy she goes through in the movie and how it makes her stronger. Similar to this, Kisaragi’s decent arc ends with him finding purpose in life after beginning as a guy with no cause to exist (or die).
But not just the content is outrageously inconsistent; the animation is also inconsistent. Despite all the visual craziness, the action scenes are imaginatively planned and have superb camera work that makes it easy to grasp what is occurring on screen. Here, Polygon’s 3D animation steals the show, culminating in an incredibly amazing battle between a flying villain and a “web-slinging” hero between two swiftly moving trains. The fights are full of amazing minor visual storytelling moments, such as Kisaragi’s continual exhaustion from physical exertion and the villains’ swift amputation of any limb that has been contaminated by Kisaragi’s blood. Nevertheless, the camera work is usually uninspired and boring outside of action moments. The more conversation-heavy parts of the movie are interspersed by straightforward, head-on, static views and boring backgrounds.
Regarding the audio aspect, the voice acting is excellent, especially Lunalu’s. Even yet, there is a strange sense of dissonance in what ought to be the most poignant scenes in the movie because the character animation can’t quite capture the intensity of the emotions in the characters’ voices. This brings us to the one area of the movie that is free of highs and lows: the music, which is passable but unmemorable throughout.
All in all, Bloody Escape seems like an anime movie that will never be seen again. Every instance of incredible inventiveness has an equally corny equivalent. Every visually striking scene has a blandly directed chat with one-note characters to set the tone. The movie excels in its most audacious scenes but falters in its most sensible ones. In the end, I’m glad I saw the movie, even if I doubt I’ll ever watch it again.
