[桃太郎 海の神兵] Momotaro’s Divine Sea Warriors

The school year is almost over, so let’s kick off summer in the best way possible – old school. The mindset of many people is that old school is superior, many times just for the sake of being old school, whether the original Clash of the Titanswas actually better than the remake or not (just one example of many). And why not? With roughly 3 or so original anime films being produced yearly (another 5 or more anime-series-related ones as well), it’s hard to forget about the old days when there was only one at a time.

Presented in the highest quality possible for a 70-year-old animation...

Genre: Historical, musical
Themes: War, Community/Teamwork, Propaganda, Asian Liberation, Japanese Supremacy
Director: Seo Mitsuyo
Watch on YouTube (no subtitles available)

I'm on a boat :3

Many credit Momotaro’s Divine Sea Warriorsas Japan’s first feature-length anime film, creating a sort of misleading notion that Momotaro is a stand-alone film. There is a prequel, however, called Momotaro’s Sea Eagles, which has heavy tones of anti-American propaganda as a little monkey boy and his cute creature friends bomb the shit out of “Demon Island”, an obvious analogous representation of Pearl Harbor. While Momotaro’s Divine Sea Warriorshas its own anti-American propagandist weight, it does not make the movie any less enjoyable. In fact, I found it more amusing, especially with their blatant Asia-liberation, Japanese-supremacist messages being thrown around as Momotaro reminisces about his regiment’s days making less superior animals build their supplies, teaching them Japanese, and “visiting” to a small island (a.k.a. some East Asian country, either Singapore or the Philippines).

DEM LIPS

Seo, influenced by Disney (which explains the usage of those little eyes instead of big animu ones), created an animated masterpiece. You can see a slight correlation between the clueless little critters of Snow White and Momotaro’s Divine Sea Warriors; but, unlike Snow White, it is important to note which animals are portrayed and what roles they play. While Disney’s Snow White exceeds in color and style, the animators working on this film have a strong sense of shading and shadows. While the background is pretty and the animals super cute, the close-ups of Momotaro’s face can be quite creepy… in a few scenes he has an obvious pair of lips on him that throw me off. The animation is a bit rough here and there, but smooth and uses no loops; overall, Momotaro is definitely ahead of its time considering its budget and lack of resources. The visuals and constant panoramas of the landscapes go hand-in-hand with its Japanese-supremacist theme, that Japan is the best, the most beautiful nation in the world… (pfffffffft…)

What kind of fugly animal is this?!?!

On a shallow note, everyone sounds super cute, like a classroom of little school kids in animal form. Even if I don’t understand a word they’re saying, the story and basis ideas come across easily. Some of the sounds do not go well with the actions (running for one) but it can be easily overlooked. The songs are cute and fun as well, all presented in a Disney-esque manner (lots of singing and not much talking), but in a elementary-school styled choir form suited for a child military to emphasize the communal support for their nation. This movie is pretty much 80% watching animals work together for the war cause. The other 20% is split between the actual war itself and its “aftermath”. The cheery happiness and childish working together, while cute, gets boring after a while.

ಠ_ಠ

Seo Mitsuyo was commissioned by the imperial Japanese Naval Ministry, so if you are offended by the political messages of this film, he is not the one to blame. Movies tend to be reflective of the time they were produced (although it’s tough to say that nowadays), so a movie with a bad or disturbing message isn’t necessarily a bad movie. Momotaro’s Divine Sea Warriors is a cute, almost boring movie of pure, gay cutesiness for 8/9s of the movie. The last part? Well, if you’re a proud American like me, then it’s not the coolest part, but I give the film crew creator for their English rather than the horrible Engrish used in modern anime now a days. And, I can’t help but laugh at all the little critters pretending to parachute onto America and its obvious message it’s trying to invoke.

Rating: ★★★★★★☆☆☆☆

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