View source for Neo Tokyo (film)

{{short description|1987 anime film}}
{{Infobox film
| name           = Neo Tokyo
| image          = Neo Tokyo poster.png
| caption        = Japanese theatrical poster
| native_name    = {{Infobox Japanese
| kanji          = 迷宮物語
| revhep         = Meikyū Monogatari}}
| director       = {{Plainlist|
* [[Rintaro]] <small>(Labyrinth Labyrinthos)</small>
* [[Yoshiaki Kawajiri]] <small> (The Running Man) </small>
* [[Katsuhiro Otomo]] <small> (Construction Cancellation Order)</small> }}
| producer       = [[Masao Maruyama (film producer)|Masao Maruyama]]<br/>Rintaro
| writer         = {{Plainlist|
* Rintaro <small>(Labyrinth Labyrinthos)</small>
* [[Yoshiaki Kawajiri]] <small>(The Running Man)</small>
* Katsuhiro Otomo <small>(Construction Cancellation Order)</small> }}
| based_on       = {{based on|''Meikyū Monogatari''|[[Taku Mayumura]]}}
| starring       = {{Plainlist|
* [[Hideko Yoshida]]
* [[Masane Tsukayama]]
* [[Yū Mizushima]] }}
| music          = [[Mickie Yoshino]]
| cinematography = Kin'ichi Ishikawa
| editing        = Harutoshi Ogata
| studio         =  [[Madhouse (company)|Madhouse]]<br/>Project Team Argos
| distributor    = [[Toho]]<ref name=credits>Original-language opening and [[closing credits]] of the film in question, most of the latter of which are transcribed [here https://auduki.bluette.info/list/mekyustory.html] as of  August 25, 2011. These have been checked as accurate against a transfer of the film though do not fully reflect their order and formatting in it.</ref>
| released       = {{Film date|1987|10|10}}
| runtime        = 50 minutes
| country        = Japan
| language       = Japanese
| budget         = 
| gross          =
}}
{{nihongo|'''''Neo Tokyo'''''|迷宮物語|Meikyū Monogatari|literally "Labyrinth Tales"}}, also titled '''''Manie-Manie''''' on its title card, is a 1987 Japanese [[anime|adult animated]] [[science fiction]] [[anthology film]] produced by Project Team Argos and [[Madhouse (company)|Madhouse]]. The film was conceived and produced by Madhouse founders [[Masao Maruyama (film producer)|Masao Maruyama]] and [[Rintaro]], the latter of whom served as composition organizer alongside [[Katsuhiro Otomo|Katsuhiro Ōtomo]] on the project.

The 50 minute-long film has three segments, each under a different [[screenwriter]] and [[film director]]: Rintaro's "Labyrinth Labyrinthos," an exploration into the maze of a little girl's mind, [[Yoshiaki Kawajiri]]'s "Running Man," focusing on a deadly [[Auto racing|auto race]], and Katsuhiro Ōtomo's "Construction Cancellation Order," a cautionary tale about man's dependency on technology. In addition to original music by [[Godiego]]'s [[Mickie Yoshino]], two prominently feature famous pieces of Western [[classical music]]: the first of [[Erik Satie]]'s ''[[Gymnopédies (Satie)|Gymnopédies]]'' and the "[[Toreador Song]]" of [[Georges Bizet]]'s ''[[Carmen]]'' in "Labyrinth" and "[[Morning Mood]]" from [[Edvard Grieg]]'s [[Peer Gynt (Grieg)|''Peer Gynt'' score]], in an ironic manner, in "The Order."

The film premiered on September 25, 1987, at that year's Tōkyō International Fantastic Film Festival. Other than festival screenings, Japanese distributor [[Toho]] originally relegated the film [[direct-to-video]], releasing a VHS on October 10, 1987, but did eventually give it a general cinema release in Japan, on April 15, 1989. In English, the film was licensed, [[Dubbing (filmmaking)|dubbed]] and released theatrically (as a [[double feature]] with the first ''[[Silent Möbius]]'' film) and to VHS in [[North America]] by [[Streamline Pictures]], the license later being taken up by the now also out of business [[ADV Films]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Lenburg |first1=Jeff |title=The Encyclopedia of Animated Cartoons |date=2009 |publisher=Checkmark Books |location=New York |isbn=978-0-8160-6600-1 |edition=3rd |page=205}}</ref>

==Plot==
===Labyrinth Labyrinthos===
In the film's [[frame story]], a girl named Sachi ([[Hideko Yoshida]]/[[Cheryl Chase (actress)|Cheryl Chase]]) plays a game of [[hide-and-seek]] with her cat [[Cicerone]]. The game leads them to an old longcase clock, which doubles as a doorway to a labyrinth world filled with supernatural oddities and characters. Eventually, Sachi and Cicerone arrive at a circus tent, where they watch the following segments on a viewing screen. After the following segments conclude, the circus troupe performs a show for the two. However, it is then revealed Sachi and Cicerone were watching the entire film unfold on a television in the void of space.

===The Running Man===
Zack Hugh ([[Toshiyuki Morikawa]]/[[Jeff Winkless]]) has dominated the Death Circus racing circuit for 10 years. Journalist Bob Stone ([[Masane Tsukayama]]/[[Michael McConnohie]]) discovers Zack possesses [[Telekinesis|telekinetic]] abilities, which he uses to destroy the other racers. After winning his latest race by killing the competitors, Zack hallucinates being overtaken by a spectral racer and destroys himself when he attempts to use his powers on the hallucination. The Death Circus is shut down afterwards, with Bob theorizing spectators wanted to see how long Zack could outlast death.

===Construction Cancellation Order===
A revolution in the fictional [[South America]]n country of the Aloana Republic results in a new government that refuses to accept a contract for the construction of a city-sized project called Facility 444 in an inhospitable swamp. [[Salaryman]] Tsutomu Sugioka ([[Yū Mizushima]]/[[Robert Axelrod (actor)|Robert Axelrod]]) is sent to stop the construction, which is being performed by robots under the command of an increasingly erratic robot designated 444-1 ([[Hiroshi Ōtake]]/[[Jeff Winkless]]). Witnessing the destruction of several robots and 444-1's refusal to cease operations, Tsutomu begins to lose his patience and is nearly killed by 444-1, who was programmed to eliminate anything that poses a threat to the project. Tsutomu retaliates by destroying 444-1 and follows its power cord to the energy source of the robots in an attempt to finally end the construction. Unknown to Tsutomu, the old government has been restored and is again honoring the contract.

==Production==
===Labyrinth Labyrinthos===
{{Nihongo|''Labyrinth Labyrinthos''|ラビリンス＊ラビリントス|Rabirinsu Rabirintosu}} is written for the screen and directed by [[Rintaro]], with [[Model sheet|character design]] and [[Animation director|animation direction]] by Atsuko Fukushima and [[Art director|art direction]] by Yamako Ishikawa.<ref name=credits /> It serves as the anthology's "top-level" story, a [[framing device]] that leads into the other two works.

===The Running Man===
{{Nihongo|''Running Man''|走る男|Hashiru Otoko}} is written for the screen and directed by Yoshiaki Kawajiri, with character design and animation direction by Kawajiri, mechanical design by Takashi Watabe and Satoshi Kumagai, key animation by Shinji Otsuka, Nobumasa Shinkawa, Toshio Kawaguchi and Kengo Inagaki and art direction by Katsushi Aoki.<ref name=credits /> The segment appeared on [[List of Liquid Television episodes#Season 2 (1992)|Episode 205]] of ''[[Liquid Television]]'', which featured Rafael Ferrer replacing [[Michael McConnohie]] as Bob Stone.

===Construction Cancellation Order===
{{Nihongo|''Construction Cancellation Order''|工事中止命令|Kōji Chūshi Meirei}} is written for the screen and directed by Katsuhiro Otomo, with character designs by Otomo and animation direction by [[Takashi Nakamura]]<ref name=credits /> This segment's depiction of South America as a dangerous, unstable place is comparable to other depictions in the Japanese media during the 1990s such as [[Osamu Tezuka]]'s 1987 [[Comics|comic]] ''[[Gringo (manga)|Gringo]]''.

==Reception==
In a 2021 list of the "100 best anime movies of all-time", ''[[Paste (magazine)|Paste]]'' magazine ranked ''Neo Tokyo'' at #11, writing "though for the most part absent of any real thematic connectivity, ''Neo-Tokyo'' is a concise and powerful example of the dizzying heights of technical mastery and aesthetic ambition anime can achieve when put in the hands of the medium's most inimitable creators."<ref>{{cite web|last1=Egan|first=Toussaint|last2=DeMarco|first2=Jason|url=https://www.pastemagazine.com/movies/best-anime-movies/the-100-best-anime-movies-of-all-time/|title=The 100 Best Anime Movies of All Time|work=[[Paste (magazine)|Paste]]|date=27 April 2021|accessdate=24 May 2021}}</ref>

==See also==
{{Portal|Anime and manga|Speculative fiction}}
* ''[[Robot Carnival]]''
* ''[[Memories (1995 film)|Memories]]''
* ''[[Short Peace]]''

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* {{IMDb title|0185481|Neo Tokyo}}

{{Katsuhiro Otomo}}
{{Rintaro}} 
{{Yoshiaki Kawajiri}}
{{Madhouse films}}

[[Category:1987 anime films]]
[[Category:1987 films]]
[[Category:1987 anime OVAs]]
[[Category:1987 science fiction films]]
[[Category:Animated cyberpunk films]]
[[Category:Cyberpunk anime and manga]]
[[Category:Cyberpunk films]]
[[Category:Films based on multiple works]]
[[Category:Animated films based on short fiction]]
[[Category:Films directed by Yoshiaki Kawajiri]]
[[Category:Films directed by Katsuhiro Otomo]]
[[Category:Films directed by Rintaro]]
[[Category:Animated films set in South America]]
[[Category:Japanese anthology films]]
[[Category:Japanese auto racing films]]
[[Category:Japanese animated science fiction films]]
[[Category:Madhouse (company)]]
[[Category:Animated films about auto racing]]
[[Category:Animated anthology films]]
[[Category:Japanese robot films]]
[[Category:Films about telekinesis]]
[[Category:Toho animated films]]
[[Category:ADV Films]]
[[Category:Japanese adult animated films]]
[[Category:Adult animated science fiction films]]