Mike Yokohama: A Forest With No Name
Director: Shinji Aoyama
Year Released: 2002
Rating: 1.0
Eccentric detective Mike Yokohama is hired by a concerned father to get his daughter out of a commune that insists "freedom is an illness" and that one should renounce earthly desires (a no-so-subtle reference to the Aum Shinrikyo sect), but finds himself under their sway as well (Mike-san, aside from being a snazzy dresser, is apparently feeble-minded). Slight in its 70 minute running time, there isn't any character development at work - Mike Hama's apparently a pre-established character in Japan (making them more familiar with his character than I), and this is more or less a TV Special. Aoyama's visual flair - so evident in the moody Eureka - is missing here, though it could be due to the rather cruddy transfer to home video.
