Who here has seen the 1984 Kenya Boy 「少年ケニヤ」movie?
Let’s just say I’m surprised this is still on YouTube for reasons I won’t spoil beyond the plot summary.
This movie focuses on an eleven year old boy called Murakami Wataru who lives with his parents in Kenya in 1941 when it was still under British control. As war had just broken out between the Allies and Japan, his father was planning to take his family back to Japan. As he was preparing to do so, Wataru runs off in the Kenyan savannah and gets lost. Then one day, he finds a dying Black tribesman that he saved and was welcomed to the tribe.
It’s considered one of the worst anime movies ever made. I consider it more of a “so bad it’s good” type of movie. I recall there are scenes that might cause seizure though so be aware as the anime industry did not deal with this problem until the
Pokémon‘s Porygon episode forced the industry to deal with this.
The movie uses several art style. It starts and ends with live action sequence. The first instance of animation believe it or not used rotoscoping which gives it an aged 1940s style. It quickly changed to a traditional 1980s anime art style which it keeps for most of the rest of the movie. I would have liked to see more fluid animation given that it was a full-fledged movie and not just on TV. The most bizarre part is how there are certain parts of the movie where the scenes that act as bridges to the next part of the story look like moving storyboards. I don’t know if this was for aesthetic purpose or if they ran out, but it looks unfinished. I liked the two live-action scenes, but the rest of the film should have been traditional animation.
I will say that I enjoyed the score for this film. It’s clear that this is the part that got the most effort, which is surprising since this is otherwise a B movie. Here’s the vinyl record if you want to give a listen.
The writing on the other hand. Oh boy, you’re in for a treat if you like insane writing because this movie has it in spades. My summary of the plot into only scratches the surface to how much shit happens. Just when you think things can’t get any weirder, the film manages to escalate the insanity. By the time it’s over, you’ll ask yourself how they packed so much shit in what is a house of card. Yet despite all of the plot holes and mistakes in writing, it’s still a fun popcorn movie to laugh your ass off at. It’s also very politically incorrect as you’ll find out soon in the movie.
Your mileage may vary. If you like bad B movie to take the piss out of, you’ll enjoy this ride.
Fun fact, but this is based on a 1960s (I think) manga. Apparently it’s popular enough to get a movie, but I’m surprised no one has done a fan translation of the manga yet since one was done of the anime. So little is know about it that it does not even have a MyAnimeList page.
Link |
Archive