Starring Chisa Yokoyama, Yoshiko Sakakibira, Ichirō Nagai, Kyouko Tonguu
Directed by Hiroyuki Kitakubo & Masamune Shirow
The title of this anime has always confused me. First off, there is no magic at all; black, yellow, turquoise or any other color you can think of. This here is a sci-fi film. Nor is there any significant usage of the color black in a non-magical fashion. In fact, the M-66 robots the film is about are far closer to white than black.
Even the second half of the title is confusing. As the film opens, it states that the “M” stands for “Mario.” Is there a significant character named Mario? Of course not. Is there anyone playing a Nintendo, even in the background? Not a chance. The Mario reference is never mentioned, and it is only in the title screen that we ever see it at all. Thankfully I did luck out in searching for info on this, and it seems that Mario is actually short for “marionette.” Why they shortened it, though, is anybody’s guess. I’m just happy that I won’t have an aneurysm trying to figure it out now.
Fortunately the rest of the film is very straightforward and easy to comprehend, although that in itself makes the title even more confusing. If the film had been a nonsensical art house mindfuck, I wouldn’t expect the title to make any sense. But no, it’s just a run-of-the-mill action film ripping off The Terminator, but with less time travel, more half-naked girls, and a dash of goofy comedy.
The plot starts off when a helicopter carrying some fancy high-tech boxes crashes in the woods. A reporter named Sybel (or Shebel as her name tag spells it), who is so dedicated to her job that she forgets to put on her clothes, intercepts a military radio signal about the event and rushes out to investigate. She soon finds that the super secret M-66 is on the loose, and it’s kicking the army’s ass pretty hard. It turns out that the M-66 robots accidentally got activated in the crash, and now they’re out to kill someone. Their target happens to be the granddaughter of the robots’ designer, and so Sybel sets out to rescue her in typical heroic fashion.
The early action scenes are where the film really shines, as they are well animated, fast paced, and pretty damn interesting to watch. Unlike the T-800, the M-66 doesn’t have any ability to talk. Instead, the programmers used all that processing power they saved to add in awesome kung fu moves. And if there’s anything more terrifying than the Terminator, it’s got to be a Terminator with the skills of Bruce Lee. Add in some laser eyes and you’ve got yourself one hell of a badass assassin.
It also feels a little absent of climactic tension. There are some pacing issues that don’t really build up the action to a crescendo the way a film should. I think this has to do with Shirow doing the directing himself. As a manga artist, he’s used to working in a static medium, one where the audience determines the pacing at least as much as the author, either lingering over a single panel or rapidly flipping through pages at whim. In a film the pacing is much more deliberately controlled, and that makes for a very different tempo of rising and falling tension. That difference could easily trip up someone working across that divide, and that may have happened here.
As much as I found a lot to complain about, Black Magic is still a pretty entertaining film. It’s got some cool action and not much else, but sometimes that’s all you really need. It’s short and sweet, and I would certainly take it over any of the Appleseed movies.