Not Just another Superhero
Jack is a retired superhero and the single-father of elementary schooler Mari after his wife passed away. Dealing with his angsty daughter, he soon finds out that his ex-colleagues have secretly discovered that she has inherited his superpower: The God Liver. The Alc-Man is the story of a superhero who unleashes his superhuman abilities by drinking alcohol. With an old nemesis on the loose, will Mari be able to replace her father?
Breaking the trend of multimillion invested superhero tragedies, here is a piece that lightens the aura surrounding the genre. Mixing the family-bonding atmosphere of Spy Kids and the parody humor of KickAss, we can hope for a truly unique experience. For a little more insight into what inspires such a feat, we interviewed the man behind the clapperboard Himself, Hiroki Ohsawa.
What is the intent behind The Alc-Man, is it supposed to be a one-time meme or a prolonged web series?
There must be a huge potential to make a feature film or a TV series with the concept of “The Alc-Man”. I created the background stories of each characters and the thousands of years of history of the battle between the evil god of alcohol and the human race when I wrote the script. I pitched and explained the idea to the producers to the actors. They all said it should be longer than just a short film. Now people ask me when I start to make the sequel. Well, stay tuned!
How confident are you about your work? Is it a masterpiece or just something you felt like adding to your long resume?
Whenever I direct a movie, I do more than my best mentally and physically to make a masterpiece, the best work in my life. So is “The Alc-Man”. I was a director, writer, editor, executive producer, production designer, costume designer, visual effects supervisor, and casting director. No one puts that much effort just to make an “OK” movie.
Did your experience in the Video Games and Toys Industry play any role in influencing your work?
I used to play video games when I was younger. However, the biggest influence on “The Alc- Man” was my experience as a Consumer Toy-Sales Operation Manager in Japan. I was working at Bandai Namco Group and managing the sales of toy products including Power Rangers. I had watched the TV show of Power Rangers every Sunday morning for years and perfectly studied the story structure and the business model. I used some the essences of it into my work. So the biggest influence in my work is the Power Rangers Series.
Why did you choose the genre to be comedy or parody instead of going with the melancholic superhero trend?
My brain works in comedic way. I do not know why, but I always come up with something stupid and funny when I create a story. People call it my style like the gore action films by Quentin Tarantino or the dark fantasy films of Tim Burton. On the other hand, I believe genre is just a Film Industry jargon. The emotions put into every film is unique, the political and social landscape of every era shapes the films more than classifications. Directors work on themes, I first look for a theme and then just carry on with it naturally and see where it goes.
Our Thoughts on Hiroki
Our in-house film critics see Hiroki as an oddity. In Hollywood, that is the best quality to have. Hiroki’s resume connects the dots into how he came up with such a unique idea. This piece of art holds great potential but he will have to expose himself completely with personal philosophical insight and esoteric innuendos. Even break the 4th Wall in his work sometimes. As a solo director, he will have to force out the messages hidden deep within his soul into his work. All great movies and series have that quality. Observing from the effort put-in by Hiroki, we can feel that he is up to the challenge. We wish him luck with The Alc-Man.
Conclusion
The Alc-Man brings back a 2012 vibe that suddenly went missing from Hollywood. And if the lore is deep enough, we might have a great series on our hands. The Alc-Man makes promises of a great “back’n’forth between Good-and-Evil” series commonly seen in Japan. However, such an ambitious step has not yet been taken in Hollywood. The characters are funny and unnervingly goofy. The sound, scene and camera all add to the intended comedic atmosphere usually seen in Hollywood comedies. It brings two very distinct perspectives of superhero movies together, the Japanese and the American. Undoubtedly, The Alc-Man is a worthwhile project. It deserves all the support it can get.
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