Gyakusatsu Kikan

*I'm not basing this review on the source material for this story, the change in the production studio, or anything other than the story standing alone on it's own*

Overall this movie is very enjoyable, with great fluid animation, appealing character design, and an overall compelling story.

The story is this movie's strongest and weakest point. The concept is great and extremely thought provoking, and it often makes allusions to other works and ideas which I loved. The world this movie is set in is very well built and established. The characters are often traveling and moving around and there are some complex political conflicts between ... and within nations and groups, which is presented in a way that isn't so complicated that the viewer gets lost. Very well done in that aspect.

We travel through the plot from the perspective of the main character and with him we come to understand human nature in the context of responsibility and freedom. The stance the movie takes on this subject doesn't interest me as much as how the movie simply brings this idea to the table for discussion. That was one of the aspects of the movie that bothered me, I just wish it went full out on the unfolding of the story and the conflict between the characters and the conflict within the characters instead of spending time making their personal commentary on the subjects. Another criticism I have is that there are some plot discontinuities and the actual concept of the "genocidal organ" seems pretty baseless and kinda boring, not that I'm a psychologist or anything. But these criticisms aren't too significant in light of how happy I am with what this movie did right with the main theme of how freedom comes with responsibility that you have to be willing to bear.

I highly enjoyed the characters from their designs to their personalities and struggles. They have flaws, make discoveries throughout the story, and have genuine thoughts and reactions. Their personalities are probably the weakest part because the story focuses on how the characters are relevant in the plot, although there are a few scenes that feature the characters in an everyday normal situation, and those scenes were great for their characterization, I just wish there was just a little bit more of that. All of the relevant characters are memorable, but there are some minor characters that serve as plot facilitators who are not expanded upon, and most of these characters work perfectly fine in the story, only one or two of them I wish were expanded upon a little bit more.

As far as sound goes, they took a relatively minimalist approach to it, not having any outstanding standalone tracks, but simply having tracks that enhanced the scenes without making me wish for more. Overall I had no problem with the sound.

The visuals were almost outstanding including composition, animation quality, color scheme, and design. The only issue I have is that there are a few short shots here and there where the animation isn't as good as the rest of the movie, and are pretty jarring relative to the rest of the visuals. But besides that, the quality is great, and the fight/action scenes are composed and executed extremely well, making the action easy to follow and visually appealing, not to mention that these scenes have substance and meaning that relates to the story and themes, they are not just hollow and visually appealing for the sake of cool fight scenes.

I think the themes of freedom and responsibility as well as the topic of terrorism are relevant in our current world, so I would personally give it an 8/10. It's a great movie that is entertaining and thought provoking, I definitely recommend it.

*Disclaimer*
Just personal scratch.
Advised, possible spoilers.
Opinion & Informal

Art: 7/10. Quite detailed. Realistic style. Attention to small details. Anatomy was actually very very well done. The human figures were spot on and very life-like.

Animation: 8/10 Fluid. Looked a little awkward during some scenes. Everything else was nice to look at. The human movements were believable for a realistic-styled art style. The gun-play and action scenes were few but animated very well. The small mannerisms in both the environment and characters as well as their body languages were noticeable and much appreciated. The action was exciting for the most part but wasn't really enough to warrant the ... movie as being an action one. More of a thriller-psychological with a pinch of action.

Plot: 6/10. Stop this terrorist dude pretty much. Nothing too complex or mind blowing here.

Pacing: 6/10. Good enough to understand what's going on.

Development: 7/10. I liked the big reveal towards the end as well as the twist at the very end. Revealed plot in an understandable way.

Characters: 5/10. Bland, unrelatable, and unlikable. Pretty much only there to voice two different philosophies.

Music: 7/10 Decent. Sound design and effects were spot on. Gun shots, explosions, small details...all spot on.

Action: 6/10. Pretty for the maybe 3 minutes of it that there was. Not an action flick.

Ending: 5/10. Nothing real impressive about the ending. The ED song is cooler than the actual conclusion to the plot.

Overall: 6/10. Could have done more.

What a piece of crap. Even Project Itoh's critically acclaimed novel wasn't perfect, but at least it delivered a semirealistic futuristic world with all its pros and cons of surveillance, nanomechanical warfare, etc. But this adaption is a failure in every aspect - whether or not you look at the trouble it went through during its production.

Genocidal Organ fails to deliver a coherent storyline (and makes all the wrong choices through the way). It fails to replicate the detailed world building, Itoh is so well known for (compare with Harmony i.e.). It just scratches on the surface of the complex thoughts, this topic offers. The ... animation is a pain in the ass (it doesn't matter if Manglobe went bankrupt during the process, you pretty much can see were they had their hands on - the quality differs from the bullshit of the so called 'animation' studio Geno made), as well as the character design. There are tons of cheaper shows, that look so much better than this useless piece of junk. And it is not just because of the american characters, it didn't look good at all. Thanks to the crappy animation and production. There were plenty of scenes looking clumsy and awkard, were you couldn't tell that this is a movie from 2017.
Let alone the characters themselves without any personality... except for antagonist John Paul. Unfortunately, his shiny moments were too rare. Just like the nanomechanical warfare and surveillance systems, that helped build a world like only Itoh could have thought of. There were enough scenes showing how practical it can be, but little to less behind that facade. Which is a shame, especially regarding the way how it could have turned out, if the adaption followed its source material more truthfully AND considering the possibilities of anime.

I don't want to compare with the original novel that much, but this adaption lacks of a fluent and reasonable story. Most of the plotpoints doesn't seem to be connected at all; they are more like various stations, which the story needed to pass for its clumsy conclusion.

The only positive thing in here is the cruelty of war shown: childsoldiers vs modern warfare. In all its glory. There's no time to trivialize such things and that's the only strength, this movie shows. Unfortunately, these scenes are kept just like the whole essence behind the thematic: Shallow and irrelevant for the story or the plot, because Genocidal Organ doesn't give much about the complex nihilistic philosophy behind its pristine storytelling. What is freedom worth? Do you pay it from personal freedom or other countries, which can't keep up with the modern world of capitalism?