Manie Manie (1989)

Neo Tokyo (迷宮物語, Meikyū Monogatari, literally "Labyrinth Tales"), also titled Manie-Manie on its title card, is a 1987 anime science fiction anthology film produced by Project Team Argos and Madhouse. Conceived and produced by Madhouse founders Masao Maruyama and Rintaro, it adapts short stories by Taku Mayumura featured in the 1986 collection of the same Japanese title and is executive produced by publisher Haruki Kadokawa.

The 50 minute-long film has three segments, each under a different screenwriter and film director: Rintaro's "Labyrinth labyrinthos," an exploration into the maze of a little girl's mind, Yoshiaki Kawajiri's "Running Man," focusing on a deadly auto race, and Katsuhiro Ōtomo's "Construction Cancellation Order," a cautionary tale about man's dependency on technology. In addition to original music by Godiego's Mickie Yoshino, two prominently feature famous pieces of Western classical music: the first of Erik Satie's Gymnopédies and the "Toreador Song" of Georges Bizet's Carmen in "Labyrinth" and "Morning Mood" from Edvard Grieg's Peer Gynt score, in an ironic manner, in "The Order."

The film premièred on September 25, 1987, at that year's Tōkyō International Fantastic Film Festival. Other than festival screenings, distributor the Tōhō Company originally relegated the film direct-to-video, releasing a VHS on October 10, 1987, but did eventually give it a general cinema release in Japan, on April 15, 1989. In English, the film was licensed, dubbed and released theatrically (as a double feature with the first Silent Möbius film) and to VHS in North America by Streamline Pictures, the license later being taken up by the now also out of business ADV Films.

Synopsis

Trois courts métrages réalisés par ces mêmes noms qui ont apporté Metropolis, Ninja Scroll, et Akira. Tout commence avec "Labyrinth", l'histoire d'un labyrinthe dans l'esprit d'un enfant, réalisé par Rintaro. Ensuite Yoshiaki Kawajiri nous donne «Le courreur». Il s'agit d'une course de formule futuriste on est mis sur une piste mortelle. Enfin Katsuhiro Otomo décrit une lutte pour arrêter une installation entièrement automatisée dans «Stoppez le travail».

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