Arion | KYOTO VIDEO

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  • Опубліковано 10 січ 2025

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  • @bluespaceman7937
    @bluespaceman7937 Рік тому +37

    As a fan of Greek mythology, Arion was a nice find. Yes, it's not strictly accurate to the letter of the original Greek myths, but it was somehow spiritually and thematically closer than, say, the likes of Saint Seiya. Which was a very sanitized representation comparatively speaking. Arion keeps the rough and dirty parts, so to speak. That includes just how messed up the family relationships are among the Greek gods as well as between them and mortals.

  • @G0thCrayon
    @G0thCrayon Рік тому +14

    That's some seriously legitimate dedication for a late 1980's animation director. Even today, it's no small feat to haul your crew and yourself to fly thousands of miles to the actual location being depicted in your screenwork for proper refencing.
    If we're being straightforward, Grecian landscape and geography is so wildly different from most -if not all- of Japan, so a trip like that is very much necessary... or you're going to wind up with a rather flat, featureless, and distinctly more suburban looking Greece. Sure, the story is unlikely to suffer from any significant issues if he had skipped that trip altogether, but the distinctive direction the film took as a result is, as you also pointed out, almost jaw-dropping.

  • @jasonblalock4429
    @jasonblalock4429 Рік тому +18

    16:26 As great as Hisaishi's later orchestral scores would be, I have such a soft spot for his early synth-rock soundtracks. They're so energetic, and his talent is clear even in a more youthful and openly expressive form.

  • @kiddwong4186
    @kiddwong4186 Рік тому +9

    My parents tried to get me to learn Cantonese growing up with random dubbed anime films. This included all the early studio Ghibli films and eventually Arion. This will always hold a special place in my nostalgia

  • @Firechick12012
    @Firechick12012 Рік тому +11

    Somebody from Discotek (Can't remember who, it might have been Brady but I could be wrong) mentioned that they really wanted to dub this movie into English, but are unable to because nobody thought to preserve the movie's music & effects track, which is required to make a dub in any capacity.

  • @andrewpragasam
    @andrewpragasam Рік тому +8

    I remember Helen McCarthy ranking this among her personal list of greatest anime ever. I caught Arion on Crunchyroll way back in the day and was blown away. Personally the labyrinthine narrative consistently held my attention and seemed fitting for a vast mythological epic. Additionally Arion struck me as more a existentially conflicted hero in the Shinji Ikari more than a passive protagonist. Well done for spotlighting the amazing women animators and designers that contributed so much to this gem. So glad their talent gains some recognition and not overshadowed by the legend that is Yas.

  • @Kolbatsu
    @Kolbatsu Рік тому +16

    I think I said this before but what I love about your videos is how deep you go into the history, productions, and context behind these anime. No matter how obscure and unloved.

  • @nefelpitou
    @nefelpitou Рік тому +10

    There are actually a handful of interesting ways in which greek mythology and culture (as disseminated thru india/buddhism) did influence traditonal japanese culture, but like they are so indirect that any trace of their origin is heavily obscured

  • @otaking3582
    @otaking3582 Рік тому +7

    10:24 "It's animation."
    Insert obligatory Bebe's Kids reference.

    • @JohnnyBurnes
      @JohnnyBurnes Рік тому +1

      Bebe's Kids is grander than any Greek epic.

  • @neilworms2
    @neilworms2 Рік тому +4

    Btw, I just learned this but Venus Wars was not Yas' final film - he came back after 30+ years to do a remake of the badly animated first Gundam episodes into a feature film - Mobile Suit Gundam: Cucuruz Doan's Island (2022). I still need to watch it myself, but its pretty cool to see the guy I consider to be the king of bombastic popcorn anime blockbusters come back after such a long hiatus.

  • @Maioly
    @Maioly Рік тому +6

    Its more relevant than ever for me to beg you to do an episode on saint seiya
    The anime that got my brazilian self into greek mythology

  • @Modern_Robot
    @Modern_Robot Рік тому +3

    14:57 This is where you really cook as a anime reviewer. You've done reviews of the English dubs before sure, but respecting the Japanese voice actors even when most wouldn't see the nuance or even speak the language enough to care, matters. That, and the miraculous combing you do to find the behind the scenes information no matter how obscure and package it within under a half hour (milestone episodes excluded) is kind of an art. Just my 2 cents.

  • @blaxpoitation8528
    @blaxpoitation8528 Рік тому

    Man, thanks for this vid. I watch this anime periodically. Always brings me back to the good old days of anime. Man I miss this kind of animation.

  • @OreoBrawl
    @OreoBrawl Рік тому +2

    FINALLY, I hope you mention the Lesphoena whipping scene!

  • @XCAltoona
    @XCAltoona 10 місяців тому

    I love how people move in everything Yas animates. So much energy and life that you rarely see, even in his TV animation.
    Worth watching Cucuruz Doan's Island btw.

  • @Cameroo
    @Cameroo Рік тому +1

    This movie looks amazing. I really wanna see it now. Thanks for the heads up KaiserBeamz!

  • @metaltornado3457
    @metaltornado3457 Рік тому +2

    I like Sword and Sorcery, so this sounds really interesting. Also, Arion looks like Marth in his classic design. I wonder if this anime partly inspired Fire Emblem.

  • @aaronorenstein5963
    @aaronorenstein5963 Рік тому +10

    Interesting. I'll have to look into this one. Almost seems like the anime equivalent of the original "Clash of the Titans".

    • @erdood3235
      @erdood3235 Рік тому

      I don't know about clash of the Titans. So how's it the anime version of it?

    • @aaronorenstein5963
      @aaronorenstein5963 Рік тому +1

      @@erdood3235 Both are films that play a bit loose with the particulars of Greek mythology in order to be something of epic cinema--where this film does so in its animated environments, Clash of the Titans (which preceded it by about six years) did so partly through the great stop-motion effects by the legendary Ray Harryhausen.

    • @erdood3235
      @erdood3235 Рік тому

      @@aaronorenstein5963 thanks

  • @Josh_Greathouse
    @Josh_Greathouse Рік тому

    These are always amazing videos. I hope we get this translated over here. I do feel like this should have been an OVA series. Crazy to think he did this well while coasting. Thanks again!

  • @MrMingui
    @MrMingui Рік тому

    Thank you for the video! Great to know more about this forbidden classic and all the curiosities.

  • @geoentronecromancer
    @geoentronecromancer Рік тому

    I'm so, SO glad I took a chance on Arion when I bought the Discotek BD release (since trying to scope out info on it beforehand was a bit difficult), because yeah, while it's flawed, it really is a fantastic epic with phenomenal art, voice acting, music and themes.

  • @NarutoNeko293
    @NarutoNeko293 Рік тому

    Great review!! I just subbed love how you reivew old anime!

  • @katiaplantscientist
    @katiaplantscientist 6 місяців тому

    I love the Robert E Howard style sword and sorcery vibes in this!

  • @QuinntheDruid
    @QuinntheDruid Рік тому +3

    Arion looks like Marth Fire Emblem I wonder if Kaga took inspiration from his design for Marth

  • @WhoCares-j6b
    @WhoCares-j6b Рік тому

    I wanted to write to you and say thanks for your awesome anime breakdowns and inside information. I am an amateur artist and I fully engage with the masterful art on display in the majority of the anime industry/manga however I wondered if you might make a video with all (or at least most) of your anime suggestions!? It is a small, small criticism that I sometimes find it difficult to get invested in an anime when it comes to your videos that are about anime you didn't particularly enjoy. I do my best to watch whatever you make a video about and decide for myself if it is available. Yet sometimes I have no idea where to find , or indeed, where you found copies of some of your anime, but I am getting off topic. If you could make your videos pro or con, I would really dig it! For example, Arion was FANTASTIC, and I was so excited to watch it due to your recommendation and I have pretty much learned to trust your "thumbs up," and this is a perfect example. The art and fluid animation is sometimes enough for me to still enjoy a bad anime, but if the art AND the plot line suck I'm really having a bad day. Perhaps you might separate the library of video essays you've created into good and bad, recommend and don't watch, or thumbs up and thumbs down, because I attempted to find an anime to watch yesterday based on a recommendation you've made and actually had a hard time finding one that you liked or that I could watch streaming right now. At any rate, I still want you to know that you're my favorite anime channel on UA-cam and I love your content! Keep making em and I'll keep watching em! Thanks for everything!

  • @mafeuk
    @mafeuk Рік тому +1

    The main character of this reminds me of Marth from the Fire Emblem series.

  • @goldenboy23s
    @goldenboy23s Рік тому +2

    Got this when discotek released it not knowing much about it but yea i always l8ke when anime would portray this kind of thing

  • @tracyburnham604
    @tracyburnham604 9 місяців тому

    The Kid Icarus music was a nice touch

  • @BenetteG
    @BenetteG Рік тому +3

    2:04 philippine creation myth where the first man and woman came out of a bamboo.

  • @MayumiC-chan9377
    @MayumiC-chan9377 Рік тому

    this artist is classic i love his manga and one time movie Venus Wars

  • @Riley-uy5pe
    @Riley-uy5pe Рік тому

    oh my god I think Rick Riordan might have seen this and lifted some of the ideas for Percy Jackson. it's very loose but the son of Poseidon with a giant companion really makes me think he at least saw this back in the day

  • @joshjoson27
    @joshjoson27 Рік тому

    Well, time to pop in my Blu ray and give Arion another rewatch

  • @candidgamera
    @candidgamera Рік тому

    Another one I need to check out!

  • @user-rc3cm1zv4j
    @user-rc3cm1zv4j Рік тому

    I really love Yasuhiko sensei's historical manga works

  • @karlmueller1980
    @karlmueller1980 Рік тому

    I actually bought the Aryan anime, knowing very little about it, but loving it just the same. It was a nice little gym of a movie.

  • @ClockWorkKairi
    @ClockWorkKairi 2 місяці тому

    2:03 holyshit Malakas at Maganda, (Filipino mythology) mentioned!

  • @krono5el
    @krono5el Рік тому

    This one gives me great nostalgia : D

  • @CartoonTriper
    @CartoonTriper Рік тому +4

    Funny how Arion looks like Marth from Fire Emblem, specially with the early games

    • @aaronorenstein5963
      @aaronorenstein5963 Рік тому +2

      Makes me think the 1997 Fire Emblem OVA would be a prime candidate for Kyoto Video.

  • @StCerberusEngel
    @StCerberusEngel Рік тому +2

    Well, now I have to go play Kid Icarus...fucking earworms.

  • @AnAverageGoblin
    @AnAverageGoblin 11 місяців тому

    Airon is so eerily similar to Marth from Fire Emblem.
    Blue Hair? check
    tunic? check
    gold sword? check
    almost no personality? check
    leads an army? check

  • @CrabMusicCrabMusic
    @CrabMusicCrabMusic 7 місяців тому

    5:09 original film? ive read the manga for this which originally came out 1979. tbh I've never heard of the anime film til now

  • @retroanimemike
    @retroanimemike Рік тому

    I actually watched Giant Gorg a while back, good stuff! Plays like a true adventure anime, and you can easily miss the deeper points that are made at the conclusion if you want just a mecha adventure. Also Arion looks a lot lie Tagami Yuu in my opinion.

  • @tipulsar85
    @tipulsar85 Рік тому

    I can do you one better, Hades and to put it simply, "Spot" I'm familiar with beyond the usual treatment we've seen in most depictions. To the point that God of War is not the only time that Hades has encountered other mythologies, especially Odin and British faerie courts.

  • @qxz9p
    @qxz9p 6 місяців тому

    I was thinking about adding this to my list until you mentioned Joe Hisaishi and now I have to watch it

  • @Haydenthemaker1000
    @Haydenthemaker1000 Рік тому

    I was hooked in second

  • @GANSO_KERAUNOS
    @GANSO_KERAUNOS Рік тому +1

    Arion look a lot like Seabook from Gundam F91

  • @beansnrice321
    @beansnrice321 Рік тому +1

    Anyone else getting a few Dark Souls 1 vibes from this anime?

  • @andreoda332
    @andreoda332 Рік тому

    Waiting for the anual Slayers video

  • @elbarto6668
    @elbarto6668 Рік тому

    Nice

  • @Fairyslash
    @Fairyslash Рік тому

    20:20 looks like ya forgot to edit in the time, kaiser
    it lookslike a awesome anime, tho

  • @CraftsmanOfAwsomenes
    @CraftsmanOfAwsomenes Рік тому

    Ancient middle eastern mythology had a greater impact on the modern world obviously and it's not even close. People just don't like to admit it's mythology because it's their personally held religious beliefs.
    Rome didn't copy the Greek deities for the most part. The vast majority of Roman deities were already counterparts of the Greek deities and simply had aspects and myths grafted onto them from their Greek counterparts. That's because both religions are derived from the same core Indo-European tradition. Many of the traditional aspects we associate with the Greek gods were also innovated by the Romans themselves and aren't representative of earlier traditions.
    Greek mythology is also heavily intertwined with general Eastern Mediterranean polytheistic religious culture to the point that it's honestly hard to consider it uniquely "western" since "Western cultural tradition" is more of a post-hoc concept derived from the study of the classics in Europe much later that downplays that the Mediterranean was a cultural sphere in and of itself and the "western tradition" part is arbitrary. The Greeks had significantly more to do with the cultures of the ancient near east than the various tribes of Europe they had basically fuck all to do with. Deities like Apollo and Aphrodite are evidently borrowed from the east for one.

  • @retroanimemike
    @retroanimemike Рік тому

    Can you count the episodes of Star Trek (TOS) that reference Greek myth?

  • @bornanime3255
    @bornanime3255 Рік тому

    So what happened to Yasuhiko after Venus Wars?

  • @tailsprower25212
    @tailsprower25212 Рік тому

    I know the movie is pretty weird but I enjoyed it!. Im actually making my own manga based on greek mythology! :)

  • @hemidas
    @hemidas Рік тому

    Before Kratos there was Arion.

  • @saintsheepy6682
    @saintsheepy6682 Рік тому

    I wonder if this anime was an inspiration for God of War somewhat, while I feel it should have been a TV series adaptation of like, 40-50 episodes instead of a film, it's still an uncovered gem and an interesting takes on Greek mythology. Also never knew of Yasuhiko's beliefs, but he demonstrates a good example of how one can put political viewpoints into film without it being pandering or irritating, because he understands storytelling. Although, in the original Greek myths, Prometheus was a Titan, not a god.
    Apollo wasn't the only character voiced by a Gundam voice actor though (RIP Suzuoki, you left this world too young 😢); Arion and Athena were voiced by Kamille and Reccoa from Zeta Gundam respectfully.

  • @The_flatline
    @The_flatline Рік тому

    great video, where can I watch or get this?

  • @wooper9344
    @wooper9344 Рік тому

    "man-GAH-kuh"

  • @nicolaerrico4031
    @nicolaerrico4031 Рік тому

    Can I ask where did you find that video of Ryoko Yamagishi?

    • @KaiserBeamz
      @KaiserBeamz  Рік тому +1

      Special feature on the Arion blu-ray

  • @babel116
    @babel116 Рік тому +1

    Holy crap! Marth’s NES/FAMICOM design is stolen from Arion!!

  • @erdood3235
    @erdood3235 Рік тому

    Where did you get that translation for arion?

    • @Firechick12012
      @Firechick12012 Рік тому +1

      If you're referring to the subtitles specifically, that's how they look on Discotek's blu-ray release, and Kaiser probably just ripped them from the BR.

    • @erdood3235
      @erdood3235 Рік тому

      @@Firechick12012 yes, I meant the subtitles

  • @literaldeville5382
    @literaldeville5382 Рік тому +7

    Actually no, Greek mythology did impact China and India via impacting Buddhism and by extension impacted Japan *very indirectly* for centuries. Seriously, look it up.

  • @brucewatkinson5254
    @brucewatkinson5254 Рік тому

    I remember reading a lot of old articles that talked about this film, and it's production history was very fascinating. It was also one of those films that was featured in several books in the era (A Viewer's Guide to Japanese Animation being an example), so it's a shame this film had fallen to the wayside over the years.
    At the very least, it's worth a watch for those who might be interested with an anime film that focuses on Greek Mythology as it's narrative backbone.

  • @alex.9398
    @alex.9398 Рік тому

    Thanks for doing this I've been wavering about Arion since I first saw it IDK a year and a half ago.
    I loved the animation and felt it gave it its own unique identity but was just not a huge fan of the story overall, felt it was all over the place with too many twists, too many characters and none with enough depth.
    I also don't think you can really call it a Marxist story because an oppressed underclass rebels against authority because that describes tons of stories it's not uniquely Marxist and it only gets more muddled when we have Arion being the son of Prometheus, you can interpret that in a positive way carrying on his legacy but at the end of the day we still have a kid from the upper class leading the peasants to overthrow other elites. Even in the "avatar of humanity leads humanity" interpretation that's still a result of his lineage, his special blood, it reaffirms the divine right to rule. It's the classic story of the true prince returns and overthrows the man who usurped his father, that's even less Marxist. The outcast royal returned to claim his birth right and change things for the better is a classic story but it's the antithesis of Marxism really.
    I just don't see these themes anywhere in the movie. Even in Arion's speech the perfect place to summaries the point of the movie he never says how he intends to make life better for the common people or even address the tyranny of the gods, he literally says he's just going to fight in order to free another god he loves. I will fight for Lesphoena's sake. That is my only intention".
    In his debate with Apollo Arion does say some stuff about people wanting/needing the basic necessities and that's cool but again even some liberals get behind that stuff, it's not especially radical.
    Also this is 100% a nit-pick but I feel all the gods dye too easily.
    I liked it in places and loved your analysis but felt it was a bit too generous, I can't overlook these flaws.

    • @knightmarepilot4832
      @knightmarepilot4832 Рік тому +1

      I would argue you can interpret it from a Marxist perspective, but certainly rebellions against the powerful have existed in stories and legends since forever.

    • @alex.9398
      @alex.9398 Рік тому

      Exactly that's why I have a hard time calling it Marxist, it's a story of one royal overthrowing other royals not really about seizing the means of production. Which is part of the problem of basing a "Marxist" story in preindustrial society.@@knightmarepilot4832

    • @KazuyaMithra
      @KazuyaMithra Рік тому +1

      ​@knightmarepilot4832 I think its possible only because Yasuhiko was a Marxist when he was younger. But a lot of these broader themes are definitely not uniquely Marxist and I know KaiserBeamz being an outspoken leftist might make him biased as to take a Marxist stance on anything he reviews.

  • @HYDRAdude
    @HYDRAdude Рік тому +2

    Great film but your interpretation of there being a marxist under-text is way off the mark. The film is actually a fairly standard nietzchean tale, with the ubermensch (Arion) rising above the antiquated gods of Olympus. It's very similar to the works of Robert E. Howard, so much so that I'm convinced Yas took inspiration from him.

  • @LiveAnotherDaveActually
    @LiveAnotherDaveActually Рік тому

    You mistake Heracles for Hercules three times in this video. It's an easy mistake to make considering Disney and Marvel have interpreted Heracles by the name of his Roman counterpart, but still

  • @erdood3235
    @erdood3235 Рік тому

    I disagree with Arion being a not good character. His lack of agency for a lot of the film *is* what makes him relatable to me.

  • @Kirkklan
    @Kirkklan Рік тому

    Sorry... but... your pronunciation of one character's giving me flashbacks to how some people pronounce "Nevada".

  • @otaking3582
    @otaking3582 Рік тому

    I honestly feel like Greek mythology has been used so much that it's become really boring. The fact that Kingdom Hearts insists on using Olympus Coliseum in almost every single game doesn't help any.

    • @WhitzWolf92
      @WhitzWolf92 Рік тому +2

      I am inclined to agree that it's more fun when modern works pulling from mythologies other than Greco-Roman. But, credit where it's due, I can't think of any other mythology in history that was so influential that another culture pulled up, said "we'll take your entire stock...over your dead bodies" and reworked their own original mythology to mesh with it [/dramatization].