is a 2004 Japanese animated science fiction film produced by animation studio Production I.G. It was distributed in Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

 by Shochiku

Shochiku

is a Japanese movie studio and production company for kabuki. It also produces and distributes anime films. Its best remembered directors include Yasujirō Ozu, Kenji Mizoguchi, Mikio Naruse, Keisuke Kinoshita and Yōji Yamada...

, in North America

North America

North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...

, Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

 and the UK

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 by Manga Entertainment

Manga Entertainment

Manga Entertainment is a producer, licensor and distributor of Japanese animation in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, France, Australia and New Zealand...

, and in Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

 and New Zealand

New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

 by Madman Entertainment

Madman Entertainment

Madman Entertainment is an Australian company that distributes international films as well as Japanese anime and manga in Australia and New Zealand. The company is owned by Funtastic Limited and is one of the major entertainment companies in Australia. It employs 130 people and has an annual...

. It is directed by Hiroyuki Imaishi

Hiroyuki Imaishi

is a Japanese key animator and anime director. His style is marked by fast and frantic animation combined with elaborate storyboarding and punchy direction.-Early career:Imaishi began his career at Gainax in 1995 as a key animator on Neon Genesis Evangelion...

. It is notable for its fast pace and energetic visual style.

Plot summary

Retro and Pandy, two unlikely renegades, awaken naked on Earth with no recollection of their past, but with superior physical abilities. After embarking on a brief but devastating crime spree for food, clothing and transportation in downtown Tokyo, they are captured by authorities and sent to the infamous prison called Dead Leaves, on the half destroyed moon.

Once incarcerated, they orchestrate a mass prison break and discover the secret work being carried out at the facility. Over the course of the film, it is discovered that Pandy and Retro were spies working at the facility and the crazed warden is trying to get revenge on Pandy by recreating a deranged fairy tale she remembers from her childhood.

In the finale, Pandy has Retro's child, who comes out with twin machine guns and blows the warden away. A giant caterpillar (part of the demented fairy tale) begins consuming the station until the mutant baby sacrifices himself so that his two parents can live. The film ends with Pandy and Retro crashing in the middle of Earth's dystopian metropolis in their escape pod, crushing a previously-victimized bystander.

Main characters

Retro has no real memory of his former life, but doesn't seem to really care. He is convinced that he was either a Mafia don or a ninja hit man, due in large measure to his considerable martial skills and his innate ability to wreak havoc with all manner of weapons. He's very impulsive and violent, which usually gets those around him killed.

Retro has a TV for a head; his original head is shown only in Pandy's flashbacks, having a mop of hair that covers his eyes, akin to Shermie.

The heroine, Pandy (so-called because of her panda-like mutated mark) seems to have some special connection with the prison governor, Galactica. Though ignorant of her past, something about her mutated eye causes her to experience bizarre flashbacks and strange, debilitating precognitive episodes. She is very strong at hand-to-hand combat and excellent at using fire arms. Though often annoyed by Retro's antics she does show that she cares for him, like when she angrily attacked Galactica for ripping off Retro's head.

The Baby

The result of Retro and Pandy having sex in prison, their child is born. Being Pandy's child he too has a mutant gene cluster which gives him extraordinary powers and causes his eyes to be different colors, like hers. Though only being alive for a few minutes, and already having aged from baby to old man, he shows he cares for his parents by sacrificing himself to save their lives. The first and only word he says is "mama," which he says when he takes one last look at Pandy.

Prison workers

The mysterious, tyrannical warden of Dead Leaves prison. Galactica is in charge of the cloning and genetic engineering experiments that have created an unholy menagerie of deformed and infinitely expendable inmates. Something of a cyborg, Galactica has an arsenal of weapons and sinister devices at her disposal built into her body. She actually doesn't do much per se, save for goading Pandy and finally succeeding when she decapitates Retro (who survives despite the lack of a body, a trait shared by 666 and 777).

Product of the Dead Leaves bio-weapons experiments, 666 (three-six, or referred to as "Triple Six" in the English dub) is a tall, skinny character who moves at high velocity when confronted with a challenge. His primary weapons are two long blades attached to his arms.

777 (three-seven, or referred to as "Triple Seven" in the English dub) is also a product of the Dead Leaves experiments and the bulky, powerful counterpart of 666. Says a quick prayer before going into battle, something 666 admonishes him for, stating it's a little late for that. Tends to prefer his brute strength and a wide assortment of guns he has at his disposal within his body.

Inmates

An easily identifiable character with a drill for his penis, similar to the main character from the film Tetsuo: The Iron Man

Tetsuo: The Iron Man

Tetsuo: The Iron Man is a 1989 Japanese cyberpunk film by cult-film director Shinya Tsukamoto produced by Japan Home Video. This, his third film, is an extremely graphic but also strikingly-filmed fantasy shot in the same low-budget, underground-production style as his first two films...

. He is one of the most helpful and loyal followers picked up by Retro and Pandy during their attempted escape. Later brutally killed by 777 when his drill gets stuck in 777's neck.

A curiously knowledgeable inmate when it comes to prison affairs. He too aids in the jail break. Later gets cut into paste by 666. He used to be a doctor, but was sent to Dead Leaves when one of his patients died.

Sarge

Appears later in the movie, and takes command of the tank stolen from the Armoury. He seems to be a leader of sorts as the other prisoners attempt to avenge his death.

Staff

• Planning & Original Concept: Imai Toonz
• Director, Character Designs & Animation Director: Hiroyuki Imaishi
• Screenplay: Takeichi Honda
• Art Director: Hiromasa Ogura
• Produced by: Manga Entertainment

External links

• Production I.G English site
• Review by SciFi Weekly