The film is set in an alternate vision of Japan, where things went a different direction after World War II. It seems that Germany won, rather than the allies. After ten years of occupation rule, Japan finally attempts to pull itself from the chaos and restore its economy in order to rejoin the rest of the world. However, the mass unemployment and migration into the cities resulted in large areas of slums in every city and along with that came the usual social problems of crime and unrest. Anti-government groups emerged and protested violently against the state, to the point that the local police forces could no longer handle the crisis, and so the Japanese government created a paramilitary organisation was formed under the authority of the National Security Committee named the Capital Police Organisation or simply Capital Police. Extremely mobile and well armed, the Capital Police soon gained power and publicly proclaimed itself the guardian of public order. The result of this new presence forced the various anti-government groups underground, until they finally joined together to form one group known as ‘The Sect’. The greatly increased violence on the street between The Sect and the “Special Unit” of the Capital Police soon lead to a fierce backlash of opinion against the Capital Police as they became seen as a savage and overly violent group.

The film throws us headlong into a riot, as the local police line up as a barricade in riot gear against an angry mob of a few thousand people, hurling whatever rocks and debris come to hand. Then some of them start throwing Molotov cocktails, supplied by possible members of The Sect, who emerge from the sewers beneath the city. A young girl is given a satchel by one of the men, which later ends up in the hands of one of the rioters – a bomb which does some serious damage to the amassed police forces. The girl proceeds into the sewers to meet the suppliers, takes another satchel and heads for another hand-off. However while the police are dealing with rioters on the streets, the Special Unit has headed into the sewers in search of these men. The girl sees them coming and flees, but her associates are cornered and massacred by the heavily armed Special Unit, who look suitably inhuman with their armour, helmets and face masks that leave a pair of red eyes glowing in the darkness. The girl stops to catch her breath as she hears her comrades die in the distant tunnel, and turns to discover that one of the Unit had been following her all along. Terrified, she pulls the satchel up to her chest and grips the detonation cord. The troop stares, ignoring his superior’s order to shoot, and as more of the Unit approach the scene, the girl panics and rips out the cord. The stunned troop is tackled to the ground by a squad mate as the bomb detonates, causing a blackout in the city above.

The Special Unit's operation was deemed as a failure, and with the Capital Police already under fire from both the local police force and the people, an example must be made. Fuse, the officer who failed to shoot the girl in the sewer, is put up in front of a disciplinary enquiry. Fresh out of training, Fuse is written off as an inexperienced rookie, and unable to explain why he didn’t shoot the girl, Fuse is sent back to training camp indefinitely. Soon after arriving, Fuse pulls some strings with his friend Henmi, who works for the Public Security office. Henmi gets him the details for the girl who blew herself up, and goes to pay his respects in the vault where her ashes were kept. There he meets the girl’s older sister, Kei, with whom he develops a quiet relationship. However things are a great deal more complicated, as Fuse’s superior at the training camp, and his friend Henmi, seem to be keeping an eye on him. They suspect him of being a member of a secret group within the State Police, a group whose motives are unclear but could become a threat to the security of the state. This group is known as The Wolf Brigade.

Okay, Jin-Roh wasn’t the nudge I needed, it was more of a vicious shoulder tackle. Oshii, and this anime’s director Hiroyuki Okiura have created a haunting, compelling, and amazingly realistic thriller. Though there are short, sharp shots of violence on display, this is a film with a emotional depth and a clever twisting plot. The style of animation is distinctive, I have always been a fan of the less cartoonish style Oshii brings to his projects, giving people a more realistic human appearance. Oshii also brings a ethnicity to some of his Japanese characters, something which is frequently missing from anime and manga, and adds to the realism. The quality of the animation was tremendous also, smooth and attractive without being needlessly showy, it further reflects the more realistic style Oshii seems to favour. The image given of Japan is also striking in its dullness and lack of life, giving an image of an urban Japan that has been drained of colour and vitality, its drab colours and pale, miserable inhabitants a reflection of the social state of the Japanese people as they are portrayed in this alternate history.

I must also talk about the musical score for Jin-Roh. Its no wonder the limited edition DVD release of this film included a CD of the soundtrack, as composer Hajime Mizoguchi has crafted a beautiful and moving orchestral score that perfectly fits the images it accompanies. At times the music alone give me a lump in my throat, and so coupled with the images on the screen gives wonderful depth of emotion, reflecting and at times even enhancing the mood and feeling the film wishes to portray. Truly one of the best scores I have ever heard.

The narrative structure of the film is nigh-on perfect. One of the most intriguing aspects of the film is the Fuse character. Despite him being the central character, the story goes out of his way to mask his true feelings and intentions. Throughout the movie his actions go unexplained, and instead we are given hints in the form of surreal visions or dreams. The classic story ‘Little Red Riding Hood’, though in a somewhat darker form to that we’d tell to the kids, is used throughout the film to illustrate the path one of the characters is taking, though you might very well start changing your mind about just which character is taking that path as the film goes on. The fact that the film gives so little away until the last 15 minutes or so kept me totally enthralled, hardly letting myself even guess as to what would be at the end of the winding road the film was taking me down.

It is difficult to go into more detail without giving away too much, and this is a film that I would truly urge everybody to see. While not as violent or revolutionary as the likes of Akira, the story is more plausible, a compelling and tragic tale, beautifully told and superbly animated. Those who are quick to dismiss anime due to its being ‘a cartoon’ would do well to watch this, as it has to be the closest I have ever seen an animation come to real life, managing more emotional depth than just about any Hollywood film I have seen for a while. A truly amazing piece of work, and incredible film which I cannot possibly recommend any more highly.