Roujin Z

Although it's filled with robot battles, sexual jokes, and sinister-sounding acronyms, Roujin Z, written and designed by Katsuhiro Otomo, the director of Akira, has a humane warmth that sets it apart from run-of-the-mill anime features. Not rated, but minor nudity and sexual jokes are unsuitable for small children. --Charles Solomon

The DVD itself is quite sparse with only a language choice and chapter select. The only annoyance I had was the movie starts without going through the menu first. But the excellent story makes this one worth owning regardless.


Roujin Z, big robots and old men make strange bed fellows   August 18, 2001
4 out of 4 found this review helpful

It's an unspoken rule in film production that any movie with an all star cast or crew is going to be terrible, take the recent movie "A.I." for example. Roujin Z manages to break the mold. The film was designed by Katsuhiro Otomo, (famous for his previous work AKIRA)directed by Hiroyuki Kitakubo (worked on Patlabor-The Movie with Mamoru Oshii) and animated by Fumio Iiada (Wings of Honneamise). The visual style is an interresting blend between Iiada's and Otomo's artwork, the animation is very high quality (though somewhat outdated), and the character designs and motion capturing are some of the best I've ever seen. The story takes place in Japan, where the government is having difficulting dealing with it's aging population. The solution? The new Z-001, a robotic bed to cover a patients every need. Elderly invalid Takazawa is volunteered by his family to test the new bed, and is thus stripped from his volunteer nurse, Haruko. When Takazawa's bed sends out a distress signal Haruko and her friends race to the rescue, but the bed has become more than just a simple care unit. Now the bed has become an unstoppable robot, imbued with the personality of Takazawa's deceased wife and hell bent on visiting the beach! It should be noted that this film was published in the US by USMANGA Corps, the sorriest bunch of adled sods that have ever disgraced the animation industry (disney aside). The dubbing is, of course, horrible beyond belief, so stick to the subtitles.


"Old Man" Z -- Original DVD Review (Not Special Edition)   August 20, 2002
H. Thompson (Wisconsin, USA)
4 out of 4 found this review helpful

INTRO: To start, I was kinda' dissapointed when I figured out this wasn't the DVD release with the extras on it. But then I found out that the "movie" itself wasn't too bad either. :)

DVD: The DVD basically was easy enough to get to the movie so I can't say anything bad about the menus or anything. The basic - Jap/Eng audios are available, which is always a must for anime or foreign films.

EXTRAS: There are none on this version of the DVD so I can't complain too much since its my own fault...by the Special Edition for extras.

STORY/PLOT: This movie is very good. It almost (but not quite) beats Akira (also by Katsuhiro Otomo) in the fact that it mixes a lot of aspects from Akira and incorporates it into a PG-13 (at most) rated movie. Even though they say this movie is about PG-13, I could show this to a kid with no worries really. But then again, that's just me...The movie explains about taking care of the elderly and manages to mix in some great action as well. Its too strange to explain, so just see it to believe me.

OVERALL: Overall, I really liked this movie/dvd. I recommend it to anyone that likes Anime, AKira, or works by Katsuhiro Otomo. I will still get the Special Edition for the extras, but this version (the one that started it for me) will always remain in my DVD library.


Entertaining, light early 90's chase anime   July 16, 2005
J. Hardy IV (Snohomish, WA United States)
4 out of 4 found this review helpful

Friday, July 15, 2005 / 4 of 5 / Entertaining, light early 90's chase anime
While at once amusing and alarming prescience, this early 90's anime tells a tale of the aging of Japan and the issues the elderly will impose upon the care giving industry. Not the typical anime subject matter, but things kick into gear as a veiled group introduces a super-mecha bed that will tend to the needs of the elderly, bathing, feeding, taking care of their waste, etc. all controlled via a super computer and nuclear furnace. The bed has some hidden capabilities however, and the first test case, an old man, is taken along for a wild ride. The man's human nurse and her friends give chase along with the bed's company when it takes on the personality of the man's deceased wife. What ensues is a chase as the bed tries to take the man to the beach. Must be seen to be believed. Funny and breezy, it's highly recommended.


A very, very funny anime...one heck of a ride!   December 26, 1998
StormRyde1@aol.com (Pittsburgh, PA)
2 out of 3 found this review helpful

Roujin Z is the story of Haruko, a young nurse caring for Takazawa, an invalid. A corporation, wishing to rid the world of the care the elderly, builds the Z-001, a hospital bed capable of tending to Takazawa's every need. Haruko decides it's her responsiblity to save him, and things go nuts when the Z-001 begins believing it is his dearly departed wife, which is what Takazawa really needs. This film is written and designed by Katsuhiro Otomo (Akira) so you know it's gotta be cool. Even if you're not a big fan of anime, or cartoons in general, you owe it to yourself to check it out...it's a jewel.