The Spriggan are the agents of an organisation called ARCAM who are charged with the responsibility of keeping hidden all knowledge of an unknown civilisation who existed before the dawn of time and have since vanished. Yu Ominae is Japan’s number one Spriggan agent who also happens to be a 17 year old high school student.

An ARCAM team found Noah’s Ark in a dig in an excavation in Turkey. Since then ARCAM teams around the world are being targeted for extermination by an unknown force. Against the wishes of his superior Yamamoto, Yu heads to Turkey to investigate.

Upon reaching his destination Yu finds himself reunited with Dr Miesel and his assistant Margaret who help him to uncover a ploy by a rogue division of the Pentagon with aspirations of using the might of Noah’s Ark, which is more than anyone could have imagined, to control the world. However, they’re lead operative Colonel McDougall a genetically enhanced creation hidden in the body of a little boy has his own agenda.

This is an animated film directed squarely at adults, the themes of government, genetic engineering and God are at the heart of this multi layered story where there is more than one agenda and not everything is black and white or good and evil.

My one criticism would lie in the translation from Japanese to English. The subtitle track gives it away, the subtitles which reflect the original Japanese dialogue are often very different from the English voice over to the point where virtually every line is different or omitted altogether. Overall, the effect is marginal as no plot points are omitted and without the subtitle track we would have been none the wiser, however it is an annoyance.

THE EXTRAS

ADR Directors Commentary: Commentary with the English voice director and voice engineer who provide a perspective on more than just the sound design. They also provide a history on the project as well as the casting of the voices and various other aspects of the original project and subsequent English translation.

Character Designs: Slideshow on the various drawings and perspectives on each of the main characters.

Vehicles and Equipment: Slideshow on the technical drawings of the vehicles and equipment in Spriggan.

ADV Previews: Six trailers on other ADV titles, includes Tekken, Gasaraki, Evangelion, Ninja Resurrection, Sin: The Movie and Samurai X.

Easter Egg - Theatrical and Teaser trailers: Hidden trailers for Spriggan.

CONCLUSION

An animated film for adults which works as a straight action flick or a political/mythical thriller about the true nature of Noah’s Ark, this is a thoughtful film.

With thanks to Madman, Spriggan is available now.