Let's Talk About: MPD-Psycho Part 1: Introduction

Welcome to my first in a series of posts talking about Japanese movies, television, and even some Anime, Let's Talk About. Most of you are probably wondering where I came up with the title. Because of that, I thought it fitting to review the series it came from for the first four editions of LTA. That series is none other than MPD- Psycho.

Based on the manga of the same name, MPD- Psycho garnered a small cult following due to its intelligent story telling, fantastic acting, and the small fact that it is a TV show directed by Takashi Miike, director of Ichi the Killer, Gozu, and The Audition. On top of that, the series has one of the best Japanese soundtracks that I, personally, have ever heard.

MPD was a six-part miniseries in Japan on TV, and because of that, Miike's vision of it went censored due to the violent nature of the plot. We're not talking Saw violence, or a woman getting her nipples cut off. We're talking about people with their skulls cut open, corpses being used for bingo, and a guy with an eye on the end of his three foot long tongue. Yeah, that's right, bigger than Gene Simmons'. Anyway, being on TV, the plot could be explored more in depth, and more could be done. For example, each episode begins and ends with an Anime girl, symbolizing a soul that possesses people via cell phone, saying, "Let's talk about (blank)." Usually, its one of the three personalities of the main character, Yosuke Kobayashi. Hence, the title of this series as well.

Coming up soon, due to the fact that, while this is a series, its short enough to do a full series synopsis, I will start writing the review in three parts, two episodes each. Stay tuned!