Mind Game The Value Of Choices The 2004 movie directed by a visionary Masaaki Yuasa was one chaotic joyride of a cinematic experience. The movie stands out from the rest no matter where its seen because of its wonderfully expressive art style. A wide colour pallet combined with dynamic amazingly abstract animation adds up to a masterful acid tripesque experience that hooks you from the beginning and never lets you go. For the entire runtime of this film I was enjoying myself through and through something that rarely happens when Im forced to sit down and pay attention for such a long time. The movies art direction was absolutely unforgettable such stellar animation that I started asking myself why the SAKUGABOORU blog even bothered with their themes if they could simply spend their time dissecting every frame from this film... Its obviously an exaggeration I truly mean that I loved nearly everything about how this movie looked but while the motions were near flawless the frame rate wasnt perfect. In my opinion the slight jankiness ultimately contributed to the movies charm but it could still be seen as a detriment to some peoples enjoyment. While the visual part of the experience was close to perfection the story was not lacking either. With the opening treating us to a fastpaced montage composed of the lives of people we dont yet know for just enough time to make anybody wander about its nature. The movie begins with introducing us to the protagonist Nishiki and immediately within the first couple of minutes a twist occurred that subverted almost all of my expectations about how this movie would play out. We see the protagonist change his perspective about life beginning to follow the carpe diem etiquette and not let his life pass him by for any longer. To avoid spoilers its suffice to say that the story takes many unexpected turns along the way and contains scenes that I will surely remember for a long time... in the positive light of course. Generally however the story focuses not on the quite simple message of seize the day but rather on the implications that it has on everyday life. That message becomes painfully clear during the ending this will be a spoiler and while its vague enough to not ruin anybodys experience it is still better experienced by surprise : the same way in which the film begun with a montage it ends with one. Although now we know all the characters whose daily lives are contained within these series of events. The compilation of many scenes that seemingly hold little significance compares different decisions that various characters had to take in their past and how they could have changed them. We see them abandon their loved ones choosing their careers over human relationships and vice versa. Unlike in fiction in real life there are no second chances and nobody ever gets to attempt the same thing twice at least not truly. Contained perfectly within the films main themes the importance of choices is presented in many ways. Many might shrug the movie off and pigeonhole it as one of many crazy abstract pieces of animation that only serve to entertain and have no deeper meaning. However upon closer inspection it is clear to see the message that its trying to make us understand. So everybody at least try to make the right choices and never let fear get the better of you. I recommend this experience to anybody not offput by this peculiar style of animation if you have two hours on your hands this is a great way to spend them.