elsie09 - 2016-03-07 17:47:59

well i don't regret at all to have choose to watch this movie that's was pretty great and awesome to follow but that's still a little bit special to watch because of all the shit going on in this movie but yeah.. this pretty awesome to watch but the anime contain a lot of blood too xD.. and just the thing when you connect a body with the gadget is a little bit gore..but anyway Let's begin !

About The Story
the story begin with a guy who work on corpse "dead body" why ? because he want to bring back someone to life.. well... not only person but his goal is to success to bring back the soul of a dead person , who mean bring back them into their normal state like they have been before.. but the thing is he don't know how he gonna do that.. but there some special note who know the response of what he research but... that's not actually a movie based on some note research... there more problem than searching some notes ! the story never stop or fill-up so this is even more interesting and you don't gonna be annoyed by random events ! the beginning can be a little slow but that's necessary to the build-up after that that's begin to be interesting so be patient with the beginning because this is actually pretty good , the end was a little special too.. this is the only thing i don't very like in the story... the end was strange and well i will not say anything... but the story was great but i would prefer a other end (Note: after the Credits this is not finish so take note to watch what happen after the credit "but well you probably have expected to do this thing") , so yeah everything will be focus on the dead body and the Notes.. i just find a little strange too that the corpses don't rot away i mean... this is actually dead bodies right ? but everything was logic in some sense so.. i don't have any problem with the story o: !

About The Animation and Sound
the animation was really awesome to watch the most good animation is around the end ! so yeah i have liked the details of the gadgets they use in the movie they was cool and i want some gadgets like that too D: ! well... yeah the graphics was really nice to watch and the dead people.. you can easily see that they are dead people.. you don't need to question yourself about it.. ! i have very liked the background too because of the style how this is draw that's giving like a dark ambiance too sometimes so this is good :3 , for the sounds everything was alright but i don't share any OP or END you understand why.. "because this is a movie" but the sounds was just good like that but my favorite song was when the dead body scream xD.. well i know that's seem weird but.. anyway 

About The Characters
there more than 4 characters but i will only talk about 4 characters because they are the 4 most important in the movie so let's talk about them.. and i would like to note that some of them are actually some characters who already exist.. well if you already know it you will notice it ! if you are very curious about the real story about them you can try to do some research ! but i will only describe them how they are into the movie !

John H. Watson / this guy work with corpses , and he try to bring back the soul of dead body and later he will want to find the note for know the secret how to bring back the soul of a dead body , he have a mature personality but are really addicted about bringing back the soul of a dead body.. he is not a maniac or something but he really need to know how.. so yeah... he have actually created (bring back Friday to live as Dead Body don't worry this is not a spoil) but that was actually illegal but that's was for the sake of research and for trying to prove that you can bring back the soul of someone but well... i will not confuse you with a lot of things now.. !

Friday / dead body who have been bring back to live by John, Friday listen everything what John is saying and actually write and note everything they do and etc.. but that's stay he is not like a Human and he actually look not here at all.. i mean he cannot talk or walk properly.. he is a dead body... but can listen order and execute it... but i think he is pretty talented when we talk about writing.. !

Hadaly Lilith / well the most beautiful women in the movie i think.. yeah trust me she is beautiful.. i want to say a lot of thing about it.. but i don't want to spoil you something so that's gonna be short about her.. ! she is pretty gentle and clearly have the personality of a perfect women i think.. hey ! don't get me wrong.. i just try to describe her the most precise possible... let's just say she is a beautiful women.. !

Frederick Burnaby / this guy will be with John for escorting him , this guy really like eating and drinking but are strong when we talk about combat.. not totally strong but he know how to fight and are helpful 

About The Enjoyment
i was really concentrate into the movie , and interested in what is gonna happen with all the things going on so yeah i have really enjoy it you will not be bored with it if you like this kind of anime plus that's was really mature.. no Comedy at all everything serious and i like when i anime is serious and continue their goal until the end without filling up so i didn't have been annoyed by anything and i have really liked to watch this movie ! plus the animation was awesome.. i don't think you will be bored with this anime

i would probably recommend this movie for sure , but if the story not interest you try to past your road because if you force yourself to watch it you will don't like it for sure because this is a Movie of 2 Hours... but i don't think you will hate it.. that's was good to watch ! so yeah just give it a try if you want to watch a good anime movie ! but.. yeah if maturity is not your strong point i doubt you will be interested in it.. so take in consideration your genre of anime you like to watch !
If you watch the movie don't forget to watch what happen after the credit !!!

hester59 - 2016-03-06 17:18:07

So the first question is, did I enjoy the movie? Both yes and no. Visually, almost everything about this movie is drawn gorgeously. The characters designs aren't the most unique, but the backdrops of nature and steam-punkey cities are just eye-popping. The "heroine" is blonde, which automatically makes her pretty hot, if you ask me. Clearly, this movie had a budget and a lot of time given to it, and it shows.

Visuals aside, this movie also includes a few good tracks that aren't too special to listen to by themselves, but fit the atmosphere. Yeah, when characters weren't fumbling around all the time, the atmosphere is fantastic. Nothing noticeably wrong with the rest of the audio, but there is a lot of hoarse moaning, which sound pretty grating to the ears, but hey, that's the point.

Story wise, the premise is unique and great. No spoilers here of course, but everything you need to know is already in the synopsis. I didn't expect "Empire of Corpses" to be that literal, but basically, our MC-kun is a guy who has a private lab of adding "souls" to corpses. This alternate Earth has a system in which corpses are re-animated for everything in our society, from grunt work to sacrificial soldiers. Sounds pretty interesting right? Sounds like a premise for a ton of gray morals and the questioning of life and death, right? Again, both yes and no.

If anything, this movie really REALLY feels like your average Western movie. The MC-kun revives the corpse of his friend, but corpses don't really have souls in them, and he wants to find the truth of that. He then goes on a hunt to find these "notes" that hold the secret to truly adding a soul back into a corpse. The first half of this movie is a journey of our cast to find these notes and to destroy them. Some confusing stuff happens to some characters, but for the most part, the movie tries to keep things simple.

The second half is hard to discuss without spoilers, but let's say, it really drops the ball. Some spiritual Code Geass/Evangelion shit goes on, but even CG had executed it way better than this. For one, this would have been pretty awesome as a TV series. Just not enough time is given to the characters to really like them in any meaningful way. Plot twists are predictable and USUALLY seen from a mile away. Also, this is a prequel to Sherlock Holmes apparently, which I find laughable tbh.

My biggest gripe is how it rushes some stuff, and goes quite slow on others, like the traveling is fast, but stagnant when people talk. Maybe I just missed a lot of details, but a lot of things were brought up right when you needed them or in the middle of a movie. There was also this one promise or another with a friend that I completely missed out on the first time, but ended up not being that relevant anyway. The ending is not satisfying, and is not conclusive either. It leaves it open-ended, which in this case, feels like one just wasted 2 hours of their time. Yeah, the movie's 2-hours long, so be prepared to sit for a while. There's a lot of references historical names and other important works of fiction, but honestly, they only add superficially to the movie.

The movie has a few action scenes, and they look better than most TV-series, but I kinda feel like they're inserted just for the sake of there being action scenes. And, plot armor, there's clearly a lot of that, as well as deus ex machina. I'm not really good at determining if the villains and characters are "one-dimensional" or not, and in this case, it's even more hard to tell. 

In conclusion, did I like it? For the first half, it was a blast traveling the world and looking at some well-drawn scenery, and the plot was kept simple. The second-half had some train-wreck level proportions that if I were a true elitist, I would probably consider to be unwatchable. In this case, the movie is to be treated better as a popcorn flick than to have any deeper meanings, which is a shame, as that's what I hoped Project Itoh had set out to do.

Well, whatever, if you have 2 hours worth of free time, watch this for entertainment and eye-candy. If not, there are much better alternatives you could be watching, but I did like Empire of Corpses as an anime-movie better than Western films of the same style. It wasn't as steam-punk as I hoped it would be, as it turned out to be a lot more mystical than scientific. There are 2 other movies for Project Itoh coming hopefully sometime this year, and I hope for them to improve in the story section while keeping the same visual fidelity.