The Burning Buddha Man (2013)

China, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, Thailand, etc
Post Reply
User avatar
HungFist
Bruce Lee's Fist
Posts: 11704
Joined: 14 Dec 2005, 15:50
Location: Japan
Contact:

The Burning Buddha Man (2013)

Post by HungFist »

Missed in Yubari, but caught in cinema thanks to a friend's recommendation. Brief review:

The Burning Buddha Man (2013)

Debut director Ujicha animation gem is bound to be the year’s most unique cinematic experience.

The storyline begins when the young Beniko discovers her parents have been brutally slain with half of their torsos missing. It turns out the sculptors are some kind of terrorists who steal Buddha statues to protect them. The hits are done using a teleport, however, failed attempts result in both the statue and any living begins close to them being transported and reconstructed into mutated man-stone statues. After a mysterious monk takes Beniko under his protection she is introduced to a world of bizarre monsters and spiritualism.

The brief summary above is only the starting point in the film that gets increasingly imaginative. No less unusual is the technical execution, which utilizes cardboard characters moved against hand-made backgrounds in front of a camera. The style is known as gekimation, and hasn’t been used in cinema for decades. It takes a while to get used to, but works wonderfully. A moody soundtrack completes the package. Live action scenes are utilized for the opening and closing sequences, featuring popular anime seiyu Yuka Iguchi who voices the main character.

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

Trailer (which isn't half as good as the film):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tG32FNc1Fdk
User avatar
HungFist
Bruce Lee's Fist
Posts: 11704
Joined: 14 Dec 2005, 15:50
Location: Japan
Contact:

Re: The Burning Buddha Man (2013)

Post by HungFist »

Japanese DVD and BD came out recently, and seem to have English subs, too!

Image

edit: several sites list English subtitles for the BD, but don't mention about subs for the DVD. Probably the DVD is also subbed, but I can't be sure. If I happen to see this in a shop I'll take a look at the back cover
Guro Taku
King of Beggars
Posts: 658
Joined: 29 Apr 2014, 16:37

Re: The Burning Buddha Man (2013)

Post by Guro Taku »

I can confirm the BD has English subtitles for the main feature.

Image
Image
Image
Image
User avatar
HungFist
Bruce Lee's Fist
Posts: 11704
Joined: 14 Dec 2005, 15:50
Location: Japan
Contact:

Re: The Burning Buddha Man (2013)

Post by HungFist »

Great, thanks.
RFL
Jackie Chan's Little Toe
Posts: 7
Joined: 21 Feb 2019, 15:32

Re: The Burning Buddha Man (2013)

Post by RFL »

Hello! :)

Does anyone know if the japanese Blu-Ray is region free/all region? I've seen contradictory information about this ... And does the DVD have english subs?

Oh, I'm new here, by the way. Hi! :)
User avatar
HungFist
Bruce Lee's Fist
Posts: 11704
Joined: 14 Dec 2005, 15:50
Location: Japan
Contact:

Re: The Burning Buddha Man (2013)

Post by HungFist »

Welcome to the forum.

Unfortunately I don't know, but perhaps Guro Taku can shine light on the BD region code question.
Guro Taku
King of Beggars
Posts: 658
Joined: 29 Apr 2014, 16:37

Re: The Burning Buddha Man (2013)

Post by Guro Taku »

I can't, unfortunately. There is no mention of a region code on the BD's back cover, I'm not aware of any software being able to identify BD region codes and I lack the hardware to check the disc's compatibility with players set for other regions.
RFL
Jackie Chan's Little Toe
Posts: 7
Joined: 21 Feb 2019, 15:32

Re: The Burning Buddha Man (2013)

Post by RFL »

Thanks! And thank you for your answers. I'll give it a shot, should the disc turn out to be encoded I'll work it out. Thinking about it, I might actually have a friends old PS3 with the right region coding set in a box somewhere.
User avatar
HungFist
Bruce Lee's Fist
Posts: 11704
Joined: 14 Dec 2005, 15:50
Location: Japan
Contact:

Re: The Burning Buddha Man (2013)

Post by HungFist »

I would say the BD is most likely region free. Companies don't region code for fun (it hurts their sales), they region code because of contractual demands aimed at selling rights to multiple different markets. This being a minor (in terms of commercial potential) film released domestically by a Japanese company, it would seem unlikely they would need to region code it.

That being said, I know next to nothing about anime markets, so I could be wrong.
RFL
Jackie Chan's Little Toe
Posts: 7
Joined: 21 Feb 2019, 15:32

Re: The Burning Buddha Man (2013)

Post by RFL »

Makes sense. Most disc of this kind ("minor" movies with less commercial potential) I've encountered has turned out to be region free. If I remember correctly, even Mamoru Oshiis Tenchi no Tamago (Angels Egg) is region free (worked for me here in Sweden, at least).

I'll get the movie and we'll see.
RFL
Jackie Chan's Little Toe
Posts: 7
Joined: 21 Feb 2019, 15:32

Re: The Burning Buddha Man (2013)

Post by RFL »

I can now confirm that the Blu-Ray disc is indeed region free/all region.
Guro Taku
King of Beggars
Posts: 658
Joined: 29 Apr 2014, 16:37

Re: The Burning Buddha Man (2013)

Post by Guro Taku »

Great to hear! I mean, I was assuming as much, since they included English subtitles and it'd make little sense to do that and then region lock the disc, but it's still good to hear you got a disc that's playing for you.

Now, where's the home video release for VIOLENCE VOYAGER?!?
RFL
Jackie Chan's Little Toe
Posts: 7
Joined: 21 Feb 2019, 15:32

Re: The Burning Buddha Man (2013)

Post by RFL »

Yes, like you said, it was kind if expected, but still a relief considering I had to import it and all :)

Ah, yes, been keeping an eye out for Violence Voyager, kind of hyped after reading reviews.
Post Reply