[mini-review] Master Keaton DVD 1
Eric Schwartz
Keaton_, mostly because I don't think I've heard anyone of this
newsgroup mention it, and I think that's a shame. I rented it on a
lark from Netflix, since I hadn't heard of it before, and it sounded
very different from what I normally watch. I almost didn't want to,
actually, because I generally don't like action-oriented shows, which
this one sounded like:
"Taichi Keaton is a man of many talents -- a former professor,
Falklands Conflict veteran and SAS agent as well as a crack
detective, archaeologist and survivalist."
When I read that, I expected a modern Indiana Jones/James Bond meld,
but I figured what the hell, I should break out of a rut already, so I
rented it.
And while I suppose I could claim to be right, I can only do so it on
a technicality. Keaton is like what Indiana Jones would be, if he'd
spend more time in the classroom than chasing around after hot chicks
and Nazi relics (sometimes in the same person! hah! I kill me!).
Keaton is like James Bond, if James Bond would really rather have
spent time with his teenage daughter (he's divorced), but had to have
adventures because there was no other way to pay the bills,
unfortunately (the scenes with the two of them together are poignant
in a way I honestly can't remember seeing on TV in general, much less
anime).
Most of all, Keaton-san is a *person*. I can imagine sitting down
with him for coffee and discussing his theory on a pre-European
civilisation in the Danube Valley, or maybe discussing how to survive
in the Amazon, armed only with... A BANANA! If I sat down to eat with
James Bond, he'd be abducted halfway through by SPECTRE, and probably
leave me with the bill, the bastard.
A quick run-down: Keaton is half-Japanese, half-English, raised mostly
in England it seems (he went to an English university, but I can't
recall which one offhand). His first love is archaeology; his second
is his daughter, but it's a very close second. While he's taught
survival classes for the SAS (vaguely analogous to the US Army's
Special Forces), and is deadly with almost anything to hand, I got the
feeling watching him that he regrets having to use violence (but
doesn't shy away from it when it's needed).
His first job that we see has him leaving a university job in the
middle of the day to visit Greece-- a Lloyd's of London member
(Lloyd's is not an insurance company; it's kind of like a clearing
house for insurers, and it's just this sort of detail that the anime
keeps getting right) wants Keaton to check out an insurance policy
taken out by a former member of a Greek terrorist organization on
another man, who just died.
The dead man turns out to also have been a member of the terrorist
group, but he retired long ago, and had eked out a living by selling
historically worthless pottery he recovered from the Aegean Sea.
Keaton helps the old man's girlfriend evade the former terrorists, and
recover his legacy (a box of gold coins) from its hiding place.
This is where I first twigged there was something different about
Keaton. He never once made a move on the woman (who was pretty hot
and actually looked older than 15), not even as a joke. He had a job
to do (investigate the claim), and he did it. He also genuinely
seemed touched when she gave him one of the coins as a thank-you. I
also didn't notice any obvious fanservice; even the scene where she
comes out of the water has her dressed as one might expect, in a
wetsuit top and a one-piece swimsuit.
Other episodes had a similarly unusual plots; in one, he helps foil a
French terrorist group's plot while lecturing at a local free
university that's about to be torn down; although he's calmly
efficient and displays an in-depth knowledge of the psychology of
paramilitaries, he really comes alive at the end, where he stops a
government agency inspecting a mural from disrupting his last class
there, and insists on finishing his lecture anyway. He also is hired
to escort a very young, but quite poised, heiress back to her mother
over the objections of the girl's domineering and wealthy grandmother.
I must admit, now that I'm writing this review, I am impressed with
how much this show touched me, both in its portrayal of Keaton as a
man passionate about archeology (and it's so rare to see any
entertainment give academics any true justice), and its overall
balanced and mature storytelling. Master Keaton is a fantastic DVD,
and I can't imagine why you shouldn't run out, right now, and buy it,
if only to encourage more people to make shows like that. At the very
least, you owe it to yourself to rent this show.
I'm running out of superlatives, so I'll stop now. But seriously, see
it. It's That Good(tm).
-=Eric
--
Come to think of it, there are already a million monkeys on a million
typewriters, and Usenet is NOTHING like Shakespeare.
-- Blair Houghton.
A. Gerard
> When I read that, I expected a modern Indiana Jones/James Bond meld,
> but I figured what the hell, I should break out of a rut already, so I
> rented it.
>
> And while I suppose I could claim to be right, I can only do so it on
> a technicality. Keaton is like what Indiana Jones would be, if he'd
> spend more time in the classroom than chasing around after hot chicks
> and Nazi relics (sometimes in the same person! hah! I kill me!).
He also doesn't look terribly handsome, his nose being slightly large.
> Keaton is like James Bond, if James Bond would really rather have
> spent time with his teenage daughter (he's divorced), but had to have
> adventures because there was no other way to pay the bills,
> unfortunately (the scenes with the two of them together are poignant
> in a way I honestly can't remember seeing on TV in general, much less
> anime).
>
So is his daughter Yuriko a quarter Japanese? His separated wife I
believe is english like his mother.
> Most of all, Keaton-san is a *person*. I can imagine sitting down
> with him for coffee and discussing his theory on a pre-European
> civilisation in the Danube Valley, or maybe discussing how to survive
> in the Amazon, armed only with... A BANANA! If I sat down to eat with
> James Bond, he'd be abducted halfway through by SPECTRE, and probably
> leave me with the bill, the bastard.
>
> A quick run-down: Keaton is half-Japanese, half-English, raised mostly
> in England it seems (he went to an English university, but I can't
> recall which one offhand). His first love is archaeology; his second
> is his daughter, but it's a very close second. While he's taught
> survival classes for the SAS (vaguely analogous to the US Army's
> Special Forces), and is deadly with almost anything to hand, I got the
> feeling watching him that he regrets having to use violence (but
> doesn't shy away from it when it's needed).
>
I wonder if his SAS training occurred after his education at the
English University. Come to think of it, for what reason did he go to
survival classes? I don't find the fact unrealistic mind you, but I
would like to know.
> This is where I first twigged there was something different about
> Keaton. He never once made a move on the woman (who was pretty hot
> and actually looked older than 15), not even as a joke.
And it looks like he still bears a torch to his soon-to-be ex. He
seemed pretty shocked about hearing Yuriko's lie about her mother
getting remarried, and in the next disc, his daughter believes that
her parents still love each other (unless Yuriko's in denial, like
most divorced kids). Does the anime or the manga ever deal with Mrs.
Keaton?
>
> I must admit, now that I'm writing this review, I am impressed with
> how much this show touched me, both in its portrayal of Keaton as a
> man passionate about archeology (and it's so rare to see any
> entertainment give academics any true justice), and its overall
> balanced and mature storytelling. Master Keaton is a fantastic DVD,
> and I can't imagine why you shouldn't run out, right now, and buy it,
> if only to encourage more people to make shows like that. At the very
> least, you owe it to yourself to rent this show.
>
> I'm running out of superlatives, so I'll stop now. But seriously, see
> it. It's That Good(tm).
I've seen two discs. I wouldn't consider it the greatest anime ever
made, but it's a fine show.
A.Gerard
leo86
great deal. It's more STORY-oriented than anything else. Each episode
is DIFFERENT from every other episode. No case is quite like any
other. It's a real WRITER'S show. A rarity in anime. Keaton is an
archaeologist who puts those skills to all his detective/investigator
cases, peeling things away to get at the truth, digging through
layers. His goal is always to restore, preserve, reunite, and
rediscover. It's a real thinking-man's (and woman's) anime. And it
takes place in a wide range of countries, among a diverse range of
people. There are occasional bursts of action, but it's not an action
show. The music, often of a Celtic or ethnic European flavor, is
great, too.
Eric Schwartz <emsc...@pobox.com> wrote in message news:<etohdyv...@fc.hp.com>...