Hiroyuki Okiura - Jin Roh (x-post amazon)

This movie is a charming mish mash of many tropes which have existed in anime for quite some time. Never underestimate the power of the eternal return of the same, or somesuch... Anyway. I was lucky enough not to have been exposed to anime at all before i saw this movie, and as an introductory foray into japanese anime it was really quite grand. If the tropes seem familiar to you, and you've seen a bajillizion japanese series and movies your mileage may vary, but for someone not accultured to such an expression it was indeed quite powerful. The setting is light-futuristic, and the reason for all the social turmoil is never explained. This works quite well, as you are left wondering, and working with the art style for clues instead of the statements of the characters. On the whole the society has a neo-germanic japanese feel. (How novel! Right? Back to my point about having this as an introduction to the entire anime-scene.) It is brooding and industrial, and it works perfectly for me. The story deals with the best soldier in a special anti-"terror" brigade and the repercussions of him seeing a girl blowing herself up right in front of him. This leads him on a circuitous route through conspiracies within the anti-terror unit itself and to an inevitable showdown i won't spoil here. For me, this movie is pretty much perfect, but i watched it at an impressionable age w/o any previous exposure to the many tropes within. The art is beautiful. The scenes are slow but meaningful. Action sequences are generally short, and if prolonged they are for a reason, not to stall time. The plot deals with concepts about order, mimicry, secrecy and trauma. All done in a respectful and intelligent manner.