English Dub Review: The Remarkable Life of Ibelin

Ibelin refers to the character name of one-time World of Warcraft player Mats Steen. Mats was a lifelong gamer through the age of 25 before he passed away due to a lifelong battle with a rare disease called Duchenne muscular dystrophy which caused the young man to become physically handicapped for the majority of his life. And while during the day Mats Steen was physically unable to take part in normal everyday activities that boys his age would be able to take part in, such as work, make connections, and play sports, in World of Warcraft Mats could do all of these things…and much more.

Leading up to Mats’ funeral, Mats’ parents discover that their son had been keeping a journal via an online blog about his life and after posting an email for condolences on the blog to let any readers know that they can email the family, the inboxes became flooded with hundreds of stories learning about the impact their son had on them via his Ibelin character. Eventually, Mats’ uncle, a school teacher, would write a lengthy article about all of this feedback which would inspire one of his students, Benjamin Ree, to produce this documentary about Mats so to show the world how Mats lived his virtual self.

To help with this, Mats enlisted Rasmus Tukia to help recreate Ibelin’s virtual interaction. What we see is a kid coming into his own trying to come to grips with the fact that he probably will not live very long. But, just like any kid, he makes mistakes as it pertains to friendships and in a very short amount of time, comes into his own. Rasmus and Benjamin showcase these troubles beautifully both in the real world and the virtual one, volleying back-and-forth in the different settings to display a kid that almost was like a virtual take on Superman, having to live two separate lives as both a human and non-human alike.

Tales of friendship, love, and tenderness are presented in a way that is a growth industry. Gaming user-generated-content was being produced decades before the terms were even used and we didn’t even know it, fortunately, Benjamin Ree and Rasmus Takia are of a generation that not only respects these notions but even celebrates much in the same way We Met In Virtual Reality did for HBO. With Grand Theft Hamlet getting international sales for next year, don’t look now, but machinima is seeping into the mainstream and it wouldn’t surprise me to see Benjamin Ree and Rasmus Takia staking a claim as early foragers in this industry for years to come…just as Ibelin would have wanted it.