Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today we’re swerving into the second half of Yasuomi Umetsu’s Mezzo Forte, a stylish slice of exuberant sex and violence from one of anime’s premiere grindhouse titans. The first episode of this OVA featured dynamic action scenes aplenty, from a negotiation prematurely ended by an exploding sex robot to an eight-lane gunfight at a local bowling alley. Along the way, our so-called heroes kidnapped corrupt baseball team owner Momikichi Momoi, only to discover they’d somehow killed him along the way.
I imagine that won’t sit well with Momokichi’s psychotic daughter Momomi, meaning we’re likely in for a Terminator-style manhunt, as Mikura and her companions evade Momomi’s clutches while attempting to divine the connection between them. Regardless, I’m expecting a fresh slate of inventive, smartly constructed, and beautifully executed action setpieces, sequences demonstrating an understanding of cinematic action language that goes far beyond “fluid motion and fight choreography.” Great action scenes tell a story, using their environmental variables to create successions of challenges for their stars to overcome, and perhaps even expressing a sort of visual communication through the divergent styles and approaches of their contenders. Let’s see what madness awaits as Mezzo Forte rides towards its cacophonous conclusion!
Episode 2
We open with an extremely Umetsu-style doctor examining Momomi, a man with heavily defined creases across his face in spite of his lacking much of a chin or any muscle definition. Umetsu clearly loves interesting faces; he doesn’t really extend that privilege of differentiation to his female characters, but his men demonstrate the unglamorous skin folds and distinctive facial structures of lifelong character actors. Of course, this is all profoundly animation-unfriendly; the prevailing wisdom in animation is to go for simplified, iconic designs that can easily be replicated or warped for the continuous redraws inherent in animation. Umetsu is intentionally making difficult choices, but the results cannot be denied: like in the films of Oshii and Kon, his characters parse as genuine human beings, with all the expressive complexity and physical frailty that implies
Momomi leaps up from the examination and scolds her men, one of whom appears to either have a broken neck or an extremely lopsided head
Love how Momomi’s hair flows as she moves, with a clear buoyancy to it that neatly imitates heavy, wiry hair
A held half-profile as she considers her options demonstrates Umetsu’s dedication to detail and volume, with carefully etched shadows illustrating the sharpness of her cheekbones
She swiftly executes the subordinates who failed to prevent the kidnapping
“Get pictures of their faces from my and Hiroka’s memories.” I like how this show’s near-future technology is always incidental, never the focus. I tend to get more invested in foreign worlds where the characters take their unique features for granted over ones where the author is eager to fully explain every single thing they invented; worldbuilding shouldn’t appear as an intrusion to the active characters, it should be assumed, allowing us to see how life would be different for people who take such inventions for granted
Elsewhere, our “heroes” are hard at work burying her father’s body. Ostentatious use of a lens flare here, all in service of Umetsu’s general preoccupation with traditional cinematic language, his desire to make his animation feel like a gritty Hong Kong action movie
Kenichi helpfully explains the threat represented by Momomi as they dig
Such intentionality in every composition; I like this brief cut to Mikura’s feet as she hops off the car, capturing the stars in a pool of water beside her. The imagery echoes her hopeful words; they’re seeking freedom, but only chasing its reflection
Their contractor breaks free and holds them at gunpoint, explaining he is a hitman who was once hired by Momoi
“Not even Columbo would find this.” I really should embark on my own Columbo journey at this point
More fun work with reflections as we cut to the exterior of a diner, with rain puddles reflecting the glow of the diner’s neon signs. Every scene works hard to emphasize this world’s substance, the tactile physicality and cluttered urban imagery of its characters’ lives. It’s a priority that feels all the more stark compared to our modern era of digital background art with no sense of place or texture, which always undercuts the sense that characters occupy a real, living world
Their contractor references the Bloody Pennant Race Case, wherein four batters were gunned down. This was back when Kenichi was actually a cop – another incidental detail that barely plays into the plot, but which nonetheless offers Kenichi a sense of history and trajectory as a person
Oh my god, young Kenichi looks absurd. Like a Miami Vice cop
Their contractor reveals he was the killer. He retired six months ago, but Momomi refused to accept it. He planned to use Momoi as leverage as he escaped overseas, but now requests the team “carry out Haruka’s plan,” which is presumably violent and insane
God, the detail in these compositions! Love the half-translucent reflections of the diner in the window, convincingly overlaid over the city tableau beyond
They’re then interrupted by the two thugs from the exploding sex doll fiasco. I like this intrusively close shot of Haruka’s face as she glances between them, which makes her feel all the more imposing, and like these two idiots have chosen to make a scene directly in a tiger’s face
The prominent, always-considered shading is definitely one of Mezzo Forte’s most crucial scene-setting features. The world feels more substantive and coherent because we can always tell where the light is being projected from, the illumination and shadows alike merging characters and background into a cohesive whole
Momomi’s bedroom is carpeted with smiling panda faces. Anything they can do to play up the contrast between her girlish affectation and psychotic behavior
She is visited by her father in a nightmare, who urges her to get along with Haruka. Haruka is referred to as “Orange Girl,” while Momomi is obviously Peach Girl
Our intrepid heroes have left a ransom note
“The psycho bitch makes the handoff. Open parenthesis, Momomi, that means you, close parenthesis.” Thank you, Hiroka
They even include a “Directed by” attribution on their ransom video. Lots of fun incidental gags in the margins of this production; Umetsu’s style and career track have kept him from being a particularly prolific director, and it seems he’s made the most of that by ensuring every one of his productions is as detail-rich as possible
“We’ll stall them. They won’t kill Papa until they have the money.” Momomi’s clear-eyed analysis sadly missing the fact that her opponents are idiots
Haruka’s trip to the grocery store offers us more lushly detailed compositions celebrating their ramshackle home and the mess of alleys that is their neighborhood. Also appreciate that Haruka has a variety of outfits that all fit into her general style – this varsity jacket/skirt combo is quite nice, and fits her tomboyish personality well
She meets with their employer while Kenichi meets an old police contact. It seems they’re watching a Die Hard film; Umetsu wearing his influences on his sleeve
Yeah, they were actually watching “Ultra Hard 7,” complete with a Bruce Willis lookalike on the poster, which is being advertised next to Dirty Barry 8. I imagine the United States would have devolved into outright fascism a lot sooner if we had the stomach for eight goddamn Dirty Harrys
Kenichi is almost taken in by two of Momomi’s men, but manages to fend them off. Solid, weighted combat fundamentals here, with a focus on grappling and manipulating your mass to put your opponent off-balance. A far cry from the frequently weightless, visually frenetic style of many modern action spectacles; I can imagine why such realistic character action might seem less “glamorous,” but it sure does a good job of making me feel Kenichi actually overpowered two violent men
Haruka is also ambushed by Momomi and her goons, leading to some incredible spin kicks. I see now why they put her in that skirt – it’s facilitating a continuous stream of those strange, erotically inert incidental panty shots that used to be all the rage. I can understand the appeal of “seeing something you’re not supposed to,” but these random momentary shots just seem so… perfunctory? Obligated? I’m not sure who’s getting anything out of this
Their apartment has been wrecked, and Harada is nowhere to be seen. An advantage of this short drama format: you can basically blow up every dramatic variable, as there’s no need to return to neutral for the next adventure
The boys regroup as Haruka is interrogated by Momomi
Lovely color design for both the interior and exterior shots as Momomi negotiates with Kenichi. The late afternoon light drapes a peach-orange hue over the scenery, which seems appropriate for the circumstances
Momomi hands over Haruka to the two sex doll idiots, leading to this episode’s incongruous sex sequence. No surprise that these sequences are siloed for easy removal; they’re tonally out of step with the rest of the production as well, artifacts of the exploitation theater OVA days
The handoff takes place at the Peach Dome, a local baseball arena
The exchange is actually framed as a sort of running of the bases, with each side dashing to the opposite end of the arena. Unfortunately, our heroes’ remote-detonated hostage fails to explode
“You guys again.” The reintroduction of the sex doll idiots here actually makes more sense, as a last-second complication to their escape attempt. This OVA would actually be better without the explicit stuff, both in a tonal/authorial perspective and dramatic sense, but I suppose this is a case where sex was quite literally selling the product
Apparently they actually replaced Haruka with an android back in the torture chamber, further partitioning the scene away from the actual narrative
And at last, Momomi is defeated, as Haruka dives over her android father into a standoff and successful shootout
We’ve got time for one last reveal though, as their contractor reveals he was actually Momoi’s second-in-command Hiroka
Then robo-Momoi explodes, the stadium explodes, Hiroka flies up and explodes down on the pitcher’s mound, and their poor VW explodes last of all, landing squarely on the two sex robot idiots. All’s well that ends in a fiery explosion, I suppose
And Done
Nice work, Umetsu! A shame about the incongruous sex scenes, but Mezzo Forte otherwise offered a generous apportioning of gorgeous art design and high-octane action, benefiting greatly from Yasuomi Umetsu’s all-encompassing clarity of intent. Each new scene was a feast of art design details and delicate character acting, while each action sequence was conceived and executed with a studied eye for physical clarity, impact, and consequence. By intentionally abandoning conventional wisdom regarding animation-friendly designs, Umetsu was able to create an animated drama that genuinely feels like a scuzzy John Woo film, while embracing the offhand ingenuity of worldbuilding and richness of art design that makes animation special. Quite the feat!
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