English Dub Review: Human Lost

 

Ya gotta love sci-fi anime. A good portion of the genre is a depressing future where someone fucked something up along the way and we’re all gonna die because of it. In the case of Human Lost, in 2036 Tokyo, we’ve cured death! But that doesn’t make the future any less depressing. Instead, an organization named S.H.E.L.L. has essentially enslaved humankind with nanomachines that can cure any disease and fix any injury. That said, there are a bunch of problems that come along with being allowed to live for 120 years.

For starters, you’ve got to be okay with an increased amount of pollution. There’s also a financial strain on the economy when natural selection isn’t allowed to run its course which leads to an increase in illegal activities in the more dank underworld that is futuristic Tokyo. And as terrible as all of that sounds, it’s not nearly as bad as what happens when you get disconnected from the S.H.E.L.L. network and become part of the “Human Lost” phenom. Long story short, you mutate into a monster that is subject to mind-control from Masao Horiki and he is hell-bent on causing death to all that supports S.H.E.L.L. so that he can control all who are “Lost”. Our star Youzou Oba, becomes a victim after a drag race goes awry that not only sees Youzou get killed by a “Lost”, but subsequently reformed into a demon. It’s here we meet Yoshiko Hiiragi, a young lady that both works for anti-Lost agency H.I.L.A.M and has a magic “touch” in being able to put to rest Youzou’s inner-demons and who becomes a crucial player towards the end of the film.

Unfortunately, the film is somewhat of an unoriginal effort. The cell-shaded 2.5D animated feature-length from Polygon Pictures and directed by Fuminori Kizaki looks great on the surface filled with a morose setting and fantastic action sequences. But, the screenplay from Tow Ubukata has shades of like 50 other anime franchises rolled into it including Akira (including a killer drag race), Garo, and the cyberpunk king Ghost in the Shell. The plot is very confusing and too complex and as such everything kind of sloppily finishes up when we get to the end.

The English dub cast is strong lead by a constantly crying Austin Tindle, but because the dialogue is so dense the performances get muddled and lost in the shuffle. You may wanna tell this one to get “Lost”.