Strait Jacket

Yes it's violent. Yes it's gory. No, Strait Jacket is not groundbreaking anime, but if you require having your mind blown every time and being revolutionary is the standard by which you measure things, then you will find most anime (and things in general) very disappointing.I may be the lone voice of praise in an ocean of aspersion, but I really liked Strait Jacket. Maybe there wasn't enough comedy relief or cliche sweatdrops for some people's satisfaction. It's not the most original thing you'll ever see, but the things Strait Jacket does, it does well.There's action, violence (graphic), a blend of magic and science, fighting and explosions. It's not Hollywood level action, so the explosions/fighting are more limited and there are no car chase scenes, but still fairly entertaining. The voice acting was flawless, with an all-star cast, Freeman and many more, how could one complain. Like others, I went into it with very low expectations. To my surprise, I found the setting intriguing and the premise fascinating, so much so that I went from "kind of paying attention" to giving it my full attention. It was very action driven and the pacing was perfect. It still spared enough time to flesh out or develop the characters just enough to make them interesting. I suspect that perhaps it's not as character driven as some people would like, but I liked Strait Jacket for what it was. No different than someone who enjoys a good action flick. The plot was "incomplete," but unless you are too busy looking down your nose from your high horse, you should get the sense that it was meant to be that way. Like an appetizer before a full course meal, it gives you an idea of how rich the story could be if they could make it into a series.

In this title, the action is well-paced, English dub is acted like they took it seriously and the animation is above average. The CG blends well with the hand-drawn animation and all the characters are generally likeable( I especially liked the main character's sidekick.The story was good enough to keep my interest quite well, and when it ended I only wanted MORE! This is a one-shot movie, not a series. That's hard to come by these days in anime.If you like anime with a great story, awesome animation and plenty of action, you should definitely pick this one up! It could have stood to be about 10-15 minutes longer though.I'll rate it 8.5 out of 10.

The monsters are pretty freaky looking, but the overall storyline is pretty good. I wish it was long and more in depth, but the overall story is capturing and does the job well enough.

I really do like this movie. Its alot of fun. I will say I had some issues with getting it to work on my comp but that could just be user error.

I got this a day before it said which is a plus. Loved this movie so I just had to buy it at this price. 5 stars because it's an awesome movie.

Good Plot

This was a terrific anime. I only hope that there is more to come. Very enjoyable. Heavy on the action and a bit bloody.

Very fast shipping and arrived as described.

本体状況に関するもうすこし詳しい情報が欲しかった。

I enjoyed watching this but ultimately it is let down by the storyline which is just average at best. The premise is very interesting and makes it worth a look, the animation is great as are the characters, but the story isn't satisfying overall. I enjoyed it and would watch it again, but it won't leave a strong impression on you.

Ordered the wrong film thinking it was the Joan Crawford movie. Doh!₩

Originally a three-episode series 'Strait Jacket' revolves around a society that has incorporated the use of magic into everyday life. The side-effect for those with the ability to use magic is that, through over-use, they turn from humans to demons, killing indiscriminantly. An agency to control the use of magic, and an elite force of "scorcerists", work to battle and destroy demons, while a terrorist group stages attacks by creating them.The story had a lot of potential, but ends up being rather tiresome. Although only 85 minutes long the story doesn't move along at a rate you would expect something that short to have. For at least the first 40 minutes or so nothing much happens. A demon appears, main subject and rogue scorcerist Leiot (not Rayotte) Steinberg dispatches it in an unorthodox way, stepping on the toes of the legal scorcerists in the process, throws a couple of one-liners at lead female character Nerin Simmons, and disappears into the night with largely unexplained sidekick Kapelteta Fernandez. This happens three or four times before any advancement in the story is made.And when the plot twists come they are contrived and feel very predictable. Without wishing to spoil the story for wouldbe viewers, there's a corrupt official, a guy wronged as a child who goes a little off the rails when he finds out the truth and a shady side to Steinberg's past etc. etc.It is also somewhat disappointing that, after all these years of dubbing manga for the Western market, the English side of the studios are getting no better at English dubbing. Or scripts - in particular here the Nerin Simmons script, voiced by Bridget Hoffman, is awful. Alex Von David, previously responsible for English scripts on 'Mars Daybreak', 'Lucky Star' and 'Rozen Maiden', is to blame, although his scripting for other characters, particularly Leiot Steinberg (Steven Blum), is excellent.There was potential here, and while not revolutionary, the animation was strong enough not to let it down. Unfortunately the under-developed story and contrived characters don't give it much chance at all.

"Strait Jacket" is a pejorative term for the binding armour that magic users must wear to avoid being transformed into crazed demons in this unusual film. Set in an alternate past where magic has been introduced into the world through the application of science, the story follows the exploits of some tactical sorcerers, who police cases of sorcery addiction and eradicate demons.The plot concentrates around a rogue tactical sorcerer, Rayotte, overcome by feelings of guilt and remorse over the people he has been forced to kill in the past. Like all users of magic he must wear a Mold, designed to prevent him from losing his human form and turning into a demon when employing sorcery.Though the back story for Strait Jacket is refreshingly different, the film that comes out of it is surprisingly mainstream. The blurb says the story takes place in 1899, but the film just mentions that this is the date at which sorcery was first harnessed and the period generally feels more modern. The sorcerers' mold armour incorporates a massive "canon", completing the resemblance to the robots, mechs and exoskeletons typical of many mangas. What it all boils down to is men wearing big armour firing huge guns at monsters - that the guns fire magic and not bullets/lasers is pretty moot.Despite it not being as original a film as first impressions lead you to hope, it is competently directed and enjoyable to watch. The animation is pretty standard manga fare - with minimal movement when they can get away with it, but not to an abusive extent - but is of above average quality. Characters are well detailed and the action sequences rich in special effects, though not in suspense. Backgrounds are numerous, clean and detailed, with good use of light and colour, though they are not especially artistic.The story requires that you fill in some of the blanks for yourself, the functionality of the mold must be inferred by watching the action and you need to concentrate a little to understand the short flashbacks that pop up from time to time. But this is no bad thing as you're not taken for an idiot who needs every little detail explained in triplicate. Though there is some overly sentimental content, specifically the main character's combat with his guilt, it does not burden the film with long-winded navel-gazing, which is often the case in mangas. The end of the film is a bit of a non-event as there isn't really any big conclusion, which might disappoint or frustrate some viewers.The soundtrack is good, but not remarkable. Both English and Japanese language tracks are available in stereo, though only English is available in Dolby 5.1. The English dubbing is bearable, but far from perfect, so the Japanese track is still the best option for good voice acting. The only bonus material on the disc is a collection of trailers for other films.All in all I found Strait Jacket a pleasing film to watch, it didn't blow my socks off, but it was original enough to be refreshing and interesting enough to be engrossing. Well worth seeing at least once.***1/2