Mamoru Oshii is a famous Japanese filmmaker whose career has spanned over 40 years. He's directed a myriad of media, ranging from movies, television series, to OVAs and radio dramas. Oshii started his career working on comedy anime like Yatterman and Ippatsu Kanta-kun, before directing Rumiko Takashi's hit anime Urusei Yatsura and the mecha series Patlabor. Oshii's upcoming 2021 anime, VladLove, goes back to his roots -- though not without some serious elements, VladLove is being marketed as a slapstick comedy and features flamboyant character designs. But comedy isn't the genre that made Oshii famous: Oshii's most famous work is the cyberpunk classic Ghost in the Shell, a film which solidified his dark style.
As many of his first shows are comedies and gag anime, Oshii had to steer his career in a different direction to earn the reputation he has today. While working on retro hits like Urusei Yatsura and Patlabor, he would delve into deeper subjects: Urusei Yatsura's 2: Beautiful Dreamer explores philosophical issues like reality manipulation, and the Patlabor movies center around political issues. Ghost in the Shell's source material is actually somewhat humorous, with protagonist Motoko Kusanagi not nearly as serious as her anime counterpart and the adorable Tachikomas as comic relief, but Oshii voided his movies of the manga's comedic elements.
Similarly, the first few moments of VladLove's trailer look rather dark, starting off with military personnel trying to kill a dragon and seemingly sharing futuristic elements of Ghost in the Shell... but the trailer then dives into humor, with the protagonist Mitsugu strangling a nurse character immediately after rapid missile fire. The various character introductions are also filled with gags and preview many humorous skits, and the visuals and character designs are very bright and colorful.
VladLove is about Mitsugu, a girl who loves to donate blood and frequently donates to a blood bank. Mitsugu soon meets a pretty foreigner named Mai at the blood bank and befriends her -- only to find out that she's a vampire that can't bite people. Mitsugu takes Mai home and establishes the Blood Donation Club at her school, ensuring a high school life of wacky hijinks. VladLove doesn't have many prominent male characters, instead opting for an all-female cast, and may promise a yuri romance between the two main characters.
Aside from Ghost in the Shell and Urusei Yatsura 2: Beautiful Dreamer, Oshii worked on Angel's Egg, an enigmatic, dream-like story that barely contains dialogue. Angel's Egg was a collaboration between Oshii and the surrealist artist Yoshitaka Amano, who did the concept art for various Final Fantasy games and Vampire Hunter D. Angel's Egg precedes Ghost in the Shell but shares its dark and somber atmosphere. Oshii and Amano are also collaborating again on another film called Chimera, though its release date hasn't been announced -- but we can expect it to be just as surreal as Angel's Egg.
After these films, Oshii also worked on the aviator war movie The Sky Crawlers, another film lined with angst and tragedy. Oshii hasn't just directed for animated films -- he's also worked on a number of live-action movies, like Polish-Japanese sci-fi film Avalon and the Assault Girls series. Nonetheless, no matter what medium, many of his well-known works share the common trait of austerity -- though his obscure 2017 Adult Swim miniseries Sand Whale and Me may point to his general attitude shifting in a wackier direction in recent years.
From the series' trailer, VladLove looks like it may have some dramatic plot elements but mostly focuses on comedy in a high school setting. It's very different from Oshii's landmark works, but the director's career started with humor and has repeatedly shown adaptability and talent during his decades of work. Oshii's return to humor looks like a cute and promising series, so let's hope it delivers.
