Tentacle-Free Anime: "FAKE" (1998) Review

- by Kazekun, 10 November 2014

This way yaoi comes! I have nothing against yaoi, but I never have been one to really watch it. Never say I'm not open to new things though, as I will watch just about anything if it sounds/looks good/entertaining to me. Recently I was shown a very fun movie by a good friend of mine, and yes there was a lot of man-kissing.

"FAKE" (1998); 
Episodes: 1 (movie); 
Director: Iku Suzuki;
Studio: Media Blasters;
Rating: PG-13

Summary: Dee Laytner and Randy "Ryo" Maclane are two New York cops taking a needed vacation in England. Dee has very strong feelings for Ryo and wants to take this chance to advance their relationship (and if he's lucky, maybe seduce Ryo). Ryo doesn't understand his own feelings for Dee, and doesn't know if he wants to (or should) acknowledge them. Their vacation and relationship is suddenly disturbed when murders and missing person reports keep surfacing around their hotel. The only common tie the cases have is that all of the victims were Japanese or Japanese descent. Dee and Ryo have to solve the case before Ryo, who is half Japanese, becomes the next victim. [AnimeNetworks.com]

Fake is a manga series that one of my best friend's has been trying to get me to read for a long while. I just have so many backed up that it wasn't one I was jumping to. He then brought over the movie, and had me watch it. And dear god was it glorious.

DVD cover

One of the best aspects of the movie is Dee's goofy nature, and all the comedy that transpires from him simply trying to get into Ryo's pants. Ryo, however, doesn't understand how even he feels for Dee. By the end of the movie that conundrum is solved, and there's even a bit of a slight love triangle hinted at for future storytelling. You get the sense that these two have been friends & (work) partners for a good long while, they have a history that's been leading to this adventure. However, the movie focuses very little on their history and instead gets right to the nitty gritty. 

This is one area in which I felt the movie could've done better, obviously the manga focuses more on the building relationship between Dee & Ryo; in fact the climax of their relationship probably ends much more differently in the manga than it does here. But since you're supposed to care about their friendship and what its leading to, I just feel we could've gotten more in the way of “here are some of the things these two dudes have been through” flashbacks.

Dee & Ryo.

The storyline itself is pretty weak. Throughout the tale there is this underlying mystery of who is killing victims of the hotel they're staying at, but both Ryo and Dee decide to let the local cops work on it instead of launching their own, personal investigation. I know they're on vacation, but I just feel like it was irresponsible of them to let more people get victimized just so they can try to relax. They're cops, and they should've acted like it.

Love is a fickle thing.

The supporting cast is alright, a couple of kids and a fellow detective round out the cast. These character obviously have a lot of ties to one another, but again it's not really explored. At least they all get to do something in the story, so I felt they were handled better than it could've happened. The supporting characters get to actually be a part of the plot, which, for a one-off movie obviously not feeling hindered by the source material, is pretty damn good.

The yaoi scenes are just fine, though they kind of play out in a stereotypical way, with Ryo taking on the role of the “girl” in this relationship... In all actuality though, Dee & Ryo are pretty precious together. Dee is just the most loveable asshat you could imagine, and it definitely works in the movie's favor.

Who is the mysterious young maiden in the painting.

The animation isn't exactly stellar. It's low-budget, and the look isn't very vibrant. It's easy to pause at any point in the film and find someone making a glitchy face. The designs are very shoujo, with almost bishounen like qualities. For its time, this movie was probably fly under the radar feature. Not really looked at much, and kind of a side project. At least that's how it visibly looks.

Overall though, Fake was a pretty decent little side film. Nothing to write home about, but a lot of fun to just sit down and enjoy. Definitely something to check out if you like sweet yaoi. There is no sex or nudity in this, and you can definitely have some laughs. I will definitely be checking out the manga after this to get the full story. In that sense, the movie achieved its goal.

Also, still not sure why it's called Fake. It's a very curious choice to title something.

 
Final Score: 2.5 Detectives out of 5


Have you seen "FAKE"? How did you enjoy the movie and the review? 

Tagged: Tentacle-Free Anime.

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