The appeal and evaluation of "King of Thorn": A fusion of abysmal story and visuals

"King of Thorn": Between hope and despair for the future

"King of Thorn" is an anime film based on the manga of the same name by Yuji Iwahara, and was released on May 1, 2010. This work depicts the drama of people fighting for survival as hope and despair for the future intersect. Below, we will introduce detailed information and reviews of this work, as well as recommended points.

story

The story is set in a future not far from the present. A rare disease called "Medusa" has spread all over the world. It has a 100% mortality rate, turning people to stone within 60 days of infection and leading to death. In search of a cure for this incurable disease, the practical application of cold sleep (CS) has been announced. Kasumi, a girl who was selected as one of only 160 CS-qualified people in the world, falls into an unknown sleep in the Cold Sleep Capsule Center (CSCC) built in an old castle in Scotland. She dreams of reuniting with her twin sister Shizuku, who was also infected with Medusa but was not selected. However, her sleep in search of the future is suddenly interrupted, and when Kasumi wakes up, she sees the facility in a completely changed state. In the center, covered in thorns like the fairy tale "Sleeping Beauty," the qualified people are attacked by strange monsters and die. Why are the monsters there? How many decades and centuries have passed since then? What is the situation in the outside world? What is the cure for Medusa? In this extreme situation where all information is cut off, the escape of Kasumi and the other seven people, fighting for their survival, now begins...

Commentary

It has been four years since the project was launched in 2006. The comic "King of Thorns", which has received enthusiastic support from all over the world but was said to be impossible to animate, has finally been made into a movie. For this project, the team from Sunrise, which has continued to innovate the possibilities of animation expression, including "Steamboy" and "FREEDOM", came together. The director is Katayama Kazuyoshi, who directed "The Big O" and worked on the storyboards and direction of "FREEDOM", and has received high praise both in Japan and overseas. Nakajima Tomonari, who worked on "Shin SOS Dai Tokyo Tankentai" and "Steamboy", was selected as the CG director, and Nakamura Gouki, also from "Steamboy" and "Tekkonkinkreet", was selected as the art director, resulting in a detailed and dynamic image. Furthermore, Yamaguchi Hiroshi of "Neon Genesis Evangelion" and "Blue No. 6" co-wrote the script with Director Katayama, Matsubara Hidenori of "Evangelion: 3.0 You Can (Not) Redo", "Sakura Wars", and "Oh! My Goddess" was the character designer, Onda Naoyuki of "Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam" was the chief animation director, Ando Kenji, who is a highly active SIC sculptor, was the monster designer, Yamane Kimitoshi of "Cowboy Bebop" and "Mobile Suit Gundam SEED" was the mechanic designer, and Sahashi Toshihiko of "Mobile Suit Gundam SEED" was in charge of the music. It is a work that truly lives up to the name of next-generation animation, where the highest level of technology and talent sparks off.

The theme of this work is a "hybrid fusion of 2D and 3D" that is fitting for the beginning of a new decade. It seamlessly combines the hand-drawn drawing technique that reached its peak in "Steamboy" with the 3DCG technology that astonished the world with "FREEDOM". As a result, while the total number of drawings is about 80,000, it has achieved a dynamic and smooth visual beauty that is comparable to about 200,000 drawings, exceeding the 180,000 drawings of the number 1 all-time "Steamboy" and the 170,000 drawings of the number 2 "Ponyo". Now, a miraculous animation that conveys even the accelerating pulsation of blood in detail will descend before your eyes.

The ending theme song is "EDGE OF THIS WORLD" by MISIA. Inspired by the message of the film, MISIA herself wrote this song. The grandiose music that only MISIA can express, which starts as a sad and beautiful ballad and changes its appearance freely, and the superb performance filled with love and prayer boost the moving feeling of the film.

cast

• Kasumi: Kana Hanazawa
• Marco: Toshiyuki Morikawa
• Shizuku: Sendai Eri
• Catherine: Sayaka Ohara
• Tim: Akiko Yajima
• Ron: Kenji Nomura
• Peter: Shinichiro Miki
• Pecchino: Yukio Hirota
• Laura: Ayako Kawasumi
• Alice: Misaki Kuno
• Vega: Tsutomu Isobe

Main Staff

• Producer: Kazumi Kawashiro, Kenji Uchida, Yoshimasa Mori, Tamotsu Shiina, Akihiko Tamura, Yoshio Takada, Yoshifumi Kezuka
• Original story: Yuji Iwahara (published in "Monthly Comic Beam" (published by Ender Brain))
• Screenplay: Hiroshi Yamaguchi, Kazuyoshi Katayama
• Character design: Matsubara Hidenori
• Monster design: Kenji Ando
• Mechanical design: Kimitoshi Yamane
• Chief animation director: Naoyuki Onda
• Effects animation director: Takashi Hashimoto
• Art director: Gouki Nakamura
• CG Director: Nakajima Tomonari
• Color design: Terumi Nakauchi
• Director of photography: Mitsuhiro Sato
• Edited by: Shuichi Kakesu
• Music: Toshihiko Sahashi
• Sound Supervision: Yota Tsuruoka
• Storyboard: Kazuyoshi Katayama, Tsukasa Sunaga
• Directed by: Hirotaka Endo and Shingo Uchida
• Animation Directors: Takeshi Yoshioka, Takao Maki, Tatsuya Suzuki, Takahiro Chiba, Hiroyuki Horiuchi, Katsumi Matsuda, Kumiko Kawana, Kodai Iwata, Daiki Harada, Yoshikazu Takiguchi, Hiroaki Noguchi, Koichi Suenaga
• Illustrations: Irie Atsushi, Inose Fujio, Imoto Ryumori, Harada Daiki, Yamano Masaaki, Komatsubara Kiyoshi, Abe Kunihiro, Ishihara Keiji, Kato Yasuhisa, Takatsu Osamu, Murata Mitsunori, Kimura Takahiro, Hosogoe Yuji, Mitsuda Fumiaki, Saito Hisashi, Ofunai Mitsuru, Teraoka Gen, Yokobori Hisao, Iwata Kodai, Shigeta Atsushi, Shigeta Satoshi, Fukuda Noriyuki, Kosuge Hiroshi, Nakaya Masaki, Nakajima Toshihiro, Takase Kenichi, Yasuhiko Hideaki 2. Tagashira, M., Kamiya, T., Suzuki, S., Hashimoto, T., Chika, Y., Hashimoto, K., Yanuma, K., Yagami, K., Kato, R., Shimizu, Y., Shimizu, Y., Morishita, H., Yoshida, F., Noma, Y., Dangi, Y., Nakayama, Y., Sakamoto, S., Maeda, K., Matsuda, S., Abe, J., Goto, K., Murase, S., Hashimoto, T., Maki, T., Chiba, T., Horiuchi, H., and Matsuda, T. Katsumi, Keizo Ichikawa, Tomoshige Inayoshi, Hiroshi Arisawa, Yuko Hirasawa, Koji Kase, Yukie Sakamoto, Takahisa Kudo, Masahiko Kaneda, Hiroshi Yamamoto, Shinya Nishizawa, Yukiyo Omito, Fumika Hasegawa, Akira Miya, Takashi Ono, Takashi Kojima, Yuhei Murota, Norihiro Itagaki, Naruki Iwasaki, Satomi Watanabe, Akiko Toyoda, Kumiko Abe, Sakurako Mitsuhashi, Mika Suzuki, Yukiko Aike, Yukiko Aike, Satoshi Kimura, Hiromi Sahara, Makiko Fujiwara, Eriko Iida, Aiko Ohura, Hi Kinminami, Sakiko Uda, Kentaro Azuma, Masahiro Kataoka, Studio Kuma, Oz Inc., Yumeta Company, Anime Toro Toro, Studio Live, Studio Line, Studio L, Wombat, Anime R, C-Station, Studio Gimlet, UNION-CHO, Triple A

Main Characters

• Kasumi Ishiki
  • Nationality: Japanese
  • Age: 15
  • Occupation: High school student
  • An introverted high school girl. After her parents were taken by the world-wide rare disease Medusa, she lived huddled with her identical twin sister Shizuku. After being infected by Medusa, the two of them applied for cold sleep, which is only available to 160 people in the world, but she was the only one selected. She feels ashamed to have survived while her sister was not. The identification code on her indicator bracelet is KHM050.
  • Past events: A childhood accident determined their relationship. Shizuku saved Kasumi at the last moment and was unharmed, but Shizuku suffered a permanent scar on her leg. This prompted Kasumi to decide to live in Shizuku's shadow, while Shizuku decided to live her life acting strong so as not to worry Kasumi.
• Shizuku Ishiki
  • Nationality: Japanese
  • Age: 15
  • Occupation: High school student
  • In contrast to her twin sister Kasumi, she has an outgoing and efficient personality. Although Kasumi, who was also infected with Medusa, has earned the right to enter a cold sleep facility, she is worried that she feels ashamed to survive alone, so she accompanies her to the facility. Even though they are in a situation where they cannot avoid death, she is always positive and kindly encourages Kasumi. She has a large scar on her right leg.
  • Past events: A childhood accident determined their relationship. Shizuku saved Kasumi at the last moment and was unharmed, but Shizuku suffered a permanent scar on her leg. This prompted Kasumi to decide to live in Shizuku's shadow, while Shizuku decided to live her life acting strong so as not to worry Kasumi.
• Marco Owen
  • Nationality: United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
  • Age: 24
  • Occupation: Prisoner
  • A rough and strong man with tattoos all over his body. He was selected for cold sleep and was escorted out of the prison. Ever since he lost his sister, Laura, he has been burning with hatred towards the people who try to use Medusa, and he takes advantage of the tragedy at the facility to take action...
• Laura Owen
  • Nationality: United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
  • Age: 19 (at time of death)
  • Occupation: University student
  • Unlike her brother Marco, the younger sister was a bright young woman with a bright future. However, after being infected with Medusa, despite her brother's persuasion, she committed suicide by jumping from a building in New York three years ago while studying abroad. Her death was the first case that made the public aware of the existence of the rare disease "Medusa," which had been kept secret by various governments until then.
• Ron Portman
  • Nationality: United States
  • Age: 28
  • Occupation: Police officer
  • A cold sleep qualified person with a bullet scar on his back. He was formerly a capable police officer on the West Coast of the United States. Although he boasts a strong sense of justice and responsibility and a well-trained physique, he has only been doing desk work for the past few years. Because he was in a job that upheld the law, he often clashes with the thug Marco.
  • Past events: In the past, he was confused by the fact that the criminal he had cornered was a small child, and his best friend was shot and he was shot in the back. Although he barely managed to shoot the criminal, he was removed from the scene due to the media making a big fuss about him being a "police officer who massacred children," which led to him hating the media.
• Katherine Turner
  • Nationality: Commonwealth of Australia
  • Age: 30
  • Occupation: Nurse
  • A woman is engrossed in reading the fairy tale "Sleeping Beauty" on the bus to the cold sleep facility. She exudes a calm demeanor and dotes on young Tim, perhaps out of affection for her own son, but sometimes she suddenly changes her attitude and becomes hysterical when interacting with him.
  • Past events: She had a child with her love in her student days, but after graduating from university, she and her husband began to have conflicting feelings. Her frustration turned to domestic violence towards her child, and she lost custody of him. She is tormented by memories of the happy times when she read her son's favorite story, "Sleeping Beauty."
• Timothy Reisenbach
  • Nationality: Federal Republic of Germany
  • Age: 8 years old
  • Occupation: Elementary school student
  • Nicknamed Tim. He grew up without the love of his parents. He was selected for cold sleep after a lawyer applied on his behalf. He is innocent, but he never lets go of his game console, and we see a glimpse of a side of him that sees even life and death as if they were a game. After the disaster at the facility, he loves Catherine like a mother. For some reason, he knows all about the nature of the strange beasts that lurk within the castle.
  • Past events: The cause of family discord is his own existence... In order to avoid this reality, he indulges in games alone, but his parents' anger escalates more and more. As a result, he is separated from his parents and lives in an institution. Even as a child, he unconsciously feels the pleasure of indulging in a world he loves and the guilt of turning a blind eye to reality.
• Alessandro Pecchino
  • Nationality: Italian Republic
  • Age: 59
  • Occupation: Politician
  • A powerful Italian senator who became a major sponsor of Venus Gate and bought the rights to cold sleep with money. Even after the disaster at the facility, he is arrogant and talkative, and has a strong attachment to money and life. On the other hand, he is troubled by the suicide of his younger brother, who was ashamed of his own corruption.
• Peter Stevens
  • Nationality: United States
  • Age: 33
  • Occupation: Engineer
  • After the tragedy at the Cold Sleep Center, he is one of the survivors who attempts to escape with Kasumi and the others. For some reason, he is familiar with the inner workings of the castle, and he also makes the puzzling statement that he met Kasumi in a place where they should not have met...
• Ivan Corral Vega
  • Nationality: Russian Federation
  • Age: 45
  • Occupation: CEO of chemical manufacturer
  • CEO of chemical manufacturer Venusgate. He was once a first-class investigator in charge of scientific incidents at the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs, but changed after coming into possession of an important secret. For his own grand purpose, he used a cult to raise funds, and with their power behind him, he quickly rose to the top of Venusgate. Using the best of technology, he developed a cutting-edge cold sleep system center and recruited qualified personnel.
• Walter
  • Nationality: United States
  • Age: Unknown
  • Occupation: NSA officer
  • An elite member of the NSA (National Security Agency). He has marked Venus Gate as an organization plotting bioterrorism based on cult ideology. He also believes that there is a high possibility that the company's CEO, Vega, has developed and concealed a miracle cure, as he has not been infected while working on Medusa research. Immediately after the death of the US president, he launches a joint US-UK operation called "Sleeping Beauty" to seize the cold sleep capsule center. As the vanguard of this operation, he sends a volunteer soldier to the facility disguised as a cold sleep qualified person.

Theme songs and music

• TM1
• EDGE OF THIS WORLD
• Lyricist: MISIA
• Composer: Sinkiroh
• Arrangement: Gomi
• Sung by: MISIA

Rating and Recommended Points

"King of Thorn" is praised for its epic story and beautiful visuals. Below, we will introduce the specific evaluation points and recommended points.

Evaluation points

1. Depth of the story <br> The story of this work depicts the drama of people fighting for survival, with hope and despair for the future intertwined. In particular, the background of each character is carefully drawn, such as the sisterly love between Kasumi and Shizuku, Marco's desire for revenge, and Tim's innocence but the deep darkness behind it, and it has the power to draw viewers in. In addition, by focusing on the theme of an incurable disease called Medusa, it also contains profound themes that question the preciousness of life and the work of humans.

2. Innovation in Visual Expression <br> This work is based on the theme of a hybrid fusion of 2D and 3D, and is characterized by its visual beauty that seamlessly combines hand-drawn drawing techniques and 3DCG technology. Although it has a total of about 80,000 drawings, it achieves dynamic and smooth images equivalent to about 200,000 drawings, making a strong visual impact. In particular, the monster designs and the power of the battle scenes are stunning, overwhelming the viewer.

3. Music and Theme Song <br> The music by Toshihiko Sahashi effectively brings out the tension and tragic feeling of the story. In addition, MISIA is in charge of the ending theme song "EDGE OF THIS WORLD," a sad and beautiful ballad that adds to the emotion of the movie. MISIA's singing voice and performance deeply express the theme of the work, and resonate with the viewers' hearts.

Recommended points

1. Elements of suspense and horror <br> This work has strong elements of suspense and horror, drawing the viewer into a tense world. The facility covered in thorns and the presence of strange monsters will scare and excite the viewer. The unpredictable development of the story will keep you glued to the screen until the very end.

2. Diversity of characters <br> The characters in this work have diverse backgrounds and personalities, and each has their own drama. The multifaceted characters, such as the contrast between Kasumi's introverted personality and Shizuku's outgoing personality, Marco's brutality and Laura's excellence, and Catherine's maternal and hysterical sides, enrich the story. In addition, the psychological portrayal of each character, such as Tim's innocence but the dark side behind it, and Pecchino's obsession with money, is carefully drawn, evoking deep empathy from the viewer.

3. Philosophical Themes <br> The film is based on the theme of an incurable disease called Medusa, and contains philosophical themes that question the preciousness of life and the human condition. It encourages viewers to contemplate deeply through the drama of people living between hope and despair for the future. It also includes themes that reflect the challenges of modern society, such as the issue of ethics and progress in science and technology, and the conflict between individual survival and collective interests, providing many suggestions to viewers.

Conclusion

"King of Thorn" is a work that has been praised for its epic story, beautiful visuals, and profound themes. It is full of elements that will draw viewers in, such as suspense and horror elements, diverse characters, and philosophical themes, so we highly recommend watching it at least once. MISIA's ending theme song "EDGE OF THIS WORLD" is also a wonderful song that will further enhance the excitement of the work and will resonate deeply in the hearts of viewers.