The movie resembles Meet Joe Black with both the Grim Reaper being males, in black suits and good-looking. Nevertheless, AOD stands on it own with its though-provoking, at times humorous moments, which leaves me deep in my own thoughts and my views on death even as I am writing now.
The careful details and the open to interpretation concept amazes me the most. The opening scene of a little girl and Grim Reaper (Takashi Kaneshiro) is sadly beautiful and opens the plot of a inter-related 3 acts which leaves you gripping yourself in your seat, asking if you will make the same choice as what Grim Reaper has made. Is death the initial option the solution to the subsequent unnecessary pain and suffering of Kazue Fujiki? Do you dare to own the power to control your own death in your own hands that is supposed to lie in the hands of Grim Reaper once you realise that you have to do all you can to protect the ones around you? Is death the final solution to all our problems when death is just another link to a series of events? To be able to fully comprehend your own understanding of death is the only solution to the ability to dream in this world that we live in?
With comparison to the opening scene where death is just about the wailing and the longing of being together, the story throws in a different aspect and view on the concept of death. As for the constant harassments it may seems in Act 1, just like what happens in our daily lives, may turn out to be a blessing in disguise.
Takashi Kaneshiro gives the character an innocent yet moody touch with his own indulgence in music.Isn't that a true yet sad reflection of our modern society? I love the movie for its theme of death.
The careful details and the open to interpretation concept amazes me the most. The opening scene of a little girl and Grim Reaper (Takashi Kaneshiro) is sadly beautiful and opens the plot of a inter-related 3 acts which leaves you gripping yourself in your seat, asking if you will make the same choice as what Grim Reaper has made. Is death the initial option the solution to the subsequent unnecessary pain and suffering of Kazue Fujiki? Do you dare to own the power to control your own death in your own hands that is supposed to lie in the hands of Grim Reaper once you realise that you have to do all you can to protect the ones around you? Is death the final solution to all our problems when death is just another link to a series of events? To be able to fully comprehend your own understanding of death is the only solution to the ability to dream in this world that we live in?
With comparison to the opening scene where death is just about the wailing and the longing of being together, the story throws in a different aspect and view on the concept of death. As for the constant harassments it may seems in Act 1, just like what happens in our daily lives, may turn out to be a blessing in disguise.
Takashi Kaneshiro gives the character an innocent yet moody touch with his own indulgence in music.Isn't that a true yet sad reflection of our modern society? I love the movie for its theme of death.