This film brings animation to a new level by showing that understatement can work outside the arena of live-action art films. "Jin-Roh" is film on the level of a Bergman, or Tarkovsky, with an appealing convoluted story that is able to delve into the deeper reaches of the human condition.

An offering that definitely demands patience. The action gets bogged down by the complexity of the plot, but all elements weave together perfectly in the end.

"Jin-Roh" gets an A for effort when it comes to character development. Some critics have complained about the amount of time spent showing what makes Fuse and Amamiya tick. Nevertheless, in a film that is essentially about individuality and what separates human beings from animals, it's time well spent.

Real photographs of post-war Japan mixed into the animated Japan blur the line between "Jin-Roh's" fabricated universe and modern day Tokyo. At times the drawings appear photographic, and the photographic images appear drawn. Facial expressions are as true as they would be in any live-action performance, and the mix of anachronisms in alterna-post war Tokyo is both surreal and amusing.

Our hero Kazuki Fuse looks like a cross between a younger Ken Takakura and "G.T.O." hunk Takeshi Sorimachi.

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