After a little more than 10 years since the release of Hana & Alice (2004), Shunji Iwaii brings us his animated prequel, The (Murder) Case of Hana & Alice. Despite its morbid title, his latest film is one of his brighter ones.
Shunji Iwaii has been one of my favorite directors since discovering him through his poetically dark masterpiece, All About Lily Chou-Chou (2001). From the use of natural lighting and piano heavy music tracks, his films have a distinct look and feel to them. The Case of Hana and Alice does more of what we are used to from Iwaii, but this time polished in animation.
The characters are voiced by the original Hana & Alice’s, Yu Aoi (Hula Girls, Rainbow Song) and Anne Suzuki (Steamboy, Initial D). Both of them do an amazing job bringing these characters to life. Of course it would have been very hard to pull off a prequel in live-action as the actors are all 10 years older now. So, doing an animation was actually an ingenious way to tell this story.
The film centers on Alice, as a newly transferred middle school student. She quickly discovers that an odd event took place at her school some time before her arrival, and it may have involved the death of a student. Through a series of events, Alice meets Hana and the two of them attempt to solve the mystery surrounding this bizarre incident. Once the ball gets rolling, the story is quite captivating. I thoroughly enjoyed the 100 minute adventure of how Hana & Alice became best friends.
I had mixed feelings when I heard Iwaii’s next film was going to be an animation. As I said above, the actual look of his films has become one of the elements that I’ve grown to love and expect from him. I was worried whether or not his style would crossover well into animation. I am so happy to say that it worked out beautifully.
The animation may not have been done using the most state-of-the-art techniques, but the style suited the story nicely. The backgrounds all seemed gorgeously drawn and rich in color. Also to my satisfaction, that signature lighting style of Iwaii’s was apparent in several scenes as well.
Right now I can not think of a better prequel or animated film I have seen in a long time (It’s worth noting that I do not get to watch a lot of animation). The Case of Hana & Alice fits perfectly into Iwaii’s filmography. It has everything you want in terms of a movie. A masterfully written story, ace performances from the voice actors, and a beautiful soundtrack. DAY ONE BUY. I can’t wait to add this wonderful film to my home library. Here’s hoping to a nice Special or Limited Edition Set (fingers crossed).
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