Genocidal Organ is a violent anime, based on the cult novel by Japanese SF author Satoshi Itō, who wrote under the pen name Project Itoh and died of cancer in 2009 at the age of 34. This is a widely anticipated film – a live-action version by Park Chan-wook is reportedly being discussed – but, for all its ambitious futuristic reach and some occasionally amazing visuals, I have to confess to finding it inert and glib.
It is set in a time after Sarajevo has been wiped out by a terrorist nuclear bomb and the resulting horror has caused wealthy nations to become high-security fortresses, where citizens have abandoned civil rights in exchange for surveillance and security. Meanwhile, poorer countries have unravelled into genocidal civil wars that are apparently being masterminded by a mysterious American called John Paul. The Americans send in a special forces team to investigate him, under agent Clavis Shepherd, who like the rest of his crew has been “emotionally optimised” in training to feel no fear.
The film gives us the awkward spectacle of supposedly American characters speaking Japanese with English subtitles. (It’s one time where dubbing might actually be better.) The concept of genocide raises the stakes, but is sketchily invoked. Specific countries are named, so an audience is entitled to ask how many and which specific races or ethnic groups are getting wiped out. For all its style, there is something unconvincing about this.
