Night Raid 1931: Complete Collection Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		4.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.5
Overall		4.5

Night Raid 1931: Complete Collection Blu-ray Movie Review

Shanghai Surprise.

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman August 6, 2011

For all the possibilities afforded by its exotic locale and timeframe, precious few films or television series have successfully exploited the allure of the Far East (then usually referred to as the Orient) in the first third or so of the 20th century. Back when Shanghai was as much a verb as a proper noun, there was a roiling political atmosphere blended with a still largely mysterious element (at least to most Westerners) that made everything from Japan to China to Korea and beyond one of the most interesting places on the planet. It’s rather odd, then, that an anime (rather than a big budget live action enterprise) should come along to really explore this era in quite a bit of detail, perhaps even odder that it tries—albeit from a decidedly controversial Japanese perspective—to put Japanese imperialism, specifically with regard to China, into some sort of historical context, and oddest of all that it does so in a sort of proto-noir setting with four super-spies, each of whom have X-Men-esque special powers. But of course anime has long been the refuge of bizarre mélanges of ideas, and in that regard, Night Raid 1931 is no exception. In other ways, the series is a fascinating blend of plots which reference several real life historical events with a slowly unfolding drama of four disparate characters who must learn to work together as a team, despite their radically different temperaments and even motivations for being part of a sort of secret spy organization known as the Sakurai Kikan. This is a series which requires at least a passing knowledge of what was going on vis a vis Japan and China during this timeframe, at least insofar as the show talks about various political and military situations. But even without that background, Night Raid 1931 offers a really interesting storyline with four extremely well drawn (no pun intended) characters who are all distinct and distinctive. With a sort of Ludlum-esque undercurrent running through many, if not most, of the episodes, Night Raid 1931 is a show that should easily appeal to lovers of spy thrillers, even if they couldn’t care less about the political dramas of Manchuria in the years before real unrest exploded and the world was plunged into World War II.

Night Raid 1931’s four principal characters are Yukina, a young woman with telepathic powers who is in search of her older brother, a Japanese army officer who disappeared mysteriously; Matsume, a longtime employee of Yukina’s family who acts as her bodyguard, and who has clairvoyant abilities; Aoi, a kind of rash young man prone to emotional outbursts, who is able to move and/or divert objects via telekinesis; and Kazura, the polar opposite (emotionally at least) from Aoi, a reserved and stoic man who comes from a long line of samurai and who is able to teleport, within certain limitations. In fact all four of these “super-powered” spies have limitations on their powers, limitations which occasionally put them in harm’s way. While many episodes can be viewed as standalone outings, with more or less independent storylines that don’t require a lot of backstory to understand their basics, over the course of the series’ entire arc, relationships between these four develop, and the growing tensions between Japan and China come repeatedly to the fore, especially as the series careens toward its climax, when the forces of Pan-Asianism, the movement to “unite” all Eastern cultures as one, comes into conflict with an incipient nationalism which wants to maintain independence and distinct national identities.

The four comrades find themselves knee deep in all sorts of intrigue within just a couple of episodes, both within their own organization, which may actually not have the best of motives, and perhaps more troublingly from Yukina’s long lost brother, who it turns out may be a super spy of sorts himself, with powers that match if not outmatch not only Yukina’s, but the men with whom she works. Night Raid 1931 is therefore deliberately dense and at times incredibly convoluted, but the good news is, if you simply relax and go with the flow, chances are you can pick up the vast majority of what’s going on, even if some of the sociopolitical nuances may escape your immediate grasp.

The series does a very commendable job of recreating a kind of shadowy world where all sorts of epochal decisions are raining down on a tempestuous time, with no one really certain of what the outcome will be. This proclivity is perhaps best realized in an episode devoted to a notorious real life occurrence in the tumultuous history between China and Japan in those years, known to historians as the Mukden Incident. Without getting into any particulars which would spoil not only elements of this episode but of the larger arc of the series, Night Raid 1931 tries to perhaps not so subtly revise history from a Japanese standpoint that, while probably questionable from an accuracy standpoint, at least makes for some exciting espionage dramatics. (It’s notable that this episode was not broadcast, only streamed, due to its controversial subject matter, and a compilation episode—also included as an extra on this Blu-ray set—was put in its place for mass broadcast consumption).

Night Raid 1931 is an anime that works on a number of levels simultaneously, usually brilliantly. It’s unusually well written, with extremely well delineated characters who all behave more or less realistically (within the sometimes outlandish context of the story), and the overall story arc has a very literate quality that is both interesting and invigorating. The show also has a very cool look, with lots of shadowy Eastern locations that may remind lovers of B-movies of yore of all those old supposedly Orient-set series like Mr. Moto and the like. And despite these characters being granted superpowers, the show is amazingly realistic, at least insofar as it attempts to recreate a specific time and place. In fact, I personally can’t think of another anime project which delivers such a compelling recounting of history, however skewed toward one viewpoint that recounting may be. By the time the series wends its way to its semi-tragic conclusion, there will probably be few without a lump in their throat but perhaps even more intriguingly, some significant questioning in their minds which will lead to further investigation about what was really going on between Japan and China during this all-important span of years.

Night Raid 1931: Complete Collection Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Night Raid 1931 arrives on Blu-ray with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.78:1. While quite a bit of the series plays out in a sort of monochromatic, black and white color or sepia-toned palette full of noir-ish shadows and glints of light, there are also beautiful flashes of bright and very robust color that only seem more impressive simply by dint of their contrast with the less colorful sequences. Line detail and overall sharpness is largely exceptional throughout the series. While character designs aren't especially innovative, they're very nicely done and work very well within the context of the show. It's the locations here which really are the most interesting, sometimes done in a misty, impressionistic style, at other times presented with crystal clarity. About the only artifacting this Blu-ray suffers from is some slight banding which is perhaps more noticeable than it otherwise would be due to the fact that so many diffuse lighting effects are utilized to create the proto-noir feel of the piece.

Night Raid 1931: Complete Collection Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Night Raid 1931 features its original Japanese language track delivered via a lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 mix, as well as a very good English dub, also delivered via a DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 mix. There's really no going wrong with either of these choices, and overall fidelity and balance is virtually identical between them. In toggling back and forth between these two choices, I really couldn't say I strongly preferred one over the other, and so ultimately it's going to come down to each individual viewer's preference. Fidelity is excellent, with very well delineated dialogue, good use of sound effects, and an appealing (if sometimes weirdly anomalous) score. LFE is mostly limited to the occasional shot or explosion. There are some nice reverb and echo effects applied to the voices to indicate when our heroes are communicating telepathically.

Night Raid 1931: Complete Collection Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Special Episode: The Prophecy (HD; 24:43). This is the recap episode which was broadcast in place of the controversial episode mentioned above in the main body of the review. If you want a quick overview of the characters and their abilities, this is an excellent place to start.
• Clean Closing Animations (HD; 4:36)
• OVA: Demon of the Opium Den (HD; 22:40) offers a brief a prologue of sorts, set in the late 1920's, dealing with hardships that created the socioeconomic conditions which contributed to the issues between China and Japan. The main episode deals with Yukina encountering problems with her special powers and encountering a little girl who seems oddly familiar. This may remind some viewers of a Twilight Zone episode.
• OVA: Panther Atop the Snow (HD; 30:20). This is an interesting epilogue of sorts, taking place several years after the main storyline, allowing for Yukina to wrap up a couple of loose plot threads, as well as offering one fairly major surprise with regard to one of the other principal characters.

Night Raid 1931: Complete Collection Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Night Raid 1931 boasts one of the more intriguing premises of recent animes, and it manages to blend a number of disparate elements into a cohesive and often extremely interesting whole. The four main characters are all very unique and distinctive, the writing is uniformly "adult" (for want of a better word), and the look of the series is interesting and well conceived. I personally wouldn't be surprised to see a live action adaptation of this property coming down the line sooner rather than later. This sort of X Men super-powered spy meets political intrigue in 1930's Shanghai has big budget summer blockbuster written all over it. Let's hope if that happens, the filmmakers don't forget the fascinating characters and equally fascinating history backstory which Night Raid 1931 offers with such gusto. Highly recommended.