Mardock Scramble (Movies)

[Yukimura]

Summary:
Rune Ballot is a down-and-out teen prostitute in Mardock City. One day, she's picked up by an ambitious casino manager named Shell who gives her everything she could want. Renewed by a false innocence, a false past, and now the false life Shell has given her, Ballot feels grateful. However, she can't help but be curious about why he's done so much for her, so she does some research about his past on a computer. This turns out to be a mistake which will change her life greatly. When Shell finds out what she's done, he attempts to burn her to death by blowing up her car.

Due to the high crime rate in Mardock, a new law called "Scramble 09" has given police carte blanche to take extreme and otherwise illegal measures to revive crime witnesses. With this in mind, they allow a professor to bring Ballot back from the brink of death by reassembling her entire body with reinforced synthetic fiber. When she finally wakes up, her confused mental state eventually turns toward revenge as Shell is revealed as her killer.

Full AniDB Info (http://anidb.net/perl-bin/animedb.pl?show=anime&aid=7439)

The movie is the first of three probably coming out one per year in the late fall.

Torrents 4 All (http://www.tokyotosho.info/search.php?terms=Mardock+Scramble&type=1)

THORA links, the ones on TT say 0 seeds/leechers but that's BS
Thora (1080p) (http://www.nyaa.eu/?page=download&tid=265766)
Thora (720p) (http://www.nyaa.eu/?page=download&tid=265800)

This movie flew under my radar until a friend randomly recommended it to me. I just watched it and it was a fantastic experience. It's hard to pin down exactly what I liked about it b/c the whole thing just sucked me in and didn't let go. The action, the characters, the setting were all the sort of slick but gritty vision of sci-fi I greatly enjoy. The movie felt a lot like Ghost in the Shell in terms of setting but in tone it was darker and edgier than Mnemosyne or Denpa Teki. Has anyone else checked this out and if so what did you think?

[neflight86]

I checked it out and I gotta say, this was much better than the sum of its parts. I normally don't care for pseudo psycho-existentialism depicting bland characters detachedly questioning the meaning of their lives like they don't care what answer they get... but this felt more down to earth; despite floating neon freeways, cyborg mouse augmented zombie hookers, and gravity bombs. The characters managed to be both endearing and thoughtful, carrying this film where the lackluster action and animation (by movie standards) would have failed to. Clocking in at about an hour and ten minutes, this film felt much longer, in a good way. Recommended.

[Atheist]

I agree with neflight86, when will part 2 be released?

[Kraco]

Quite a nice watch. The emphasis didn't seem overly scientific, more like psychologic like neflight said. I can't say I'd usually be a great fan of that approach, because it oft produces stories that try to look more artistic than they really are, but it worked in this one. Perhaps beccause, in the end, things were still kept really simple. The main character was an abused kid, in the end, so her struggles were very understandable.

Technically speaking design, graphics, sounds, everything were spot on to serve this story. It's refreshing to watch gruesome no corners cut shows every now and then, after the usual censored shounen shows.

[Archangel]

Oh sweet, i'd been waiting for this one ever since i saw it on anidb

[Buffalobiian]

Yeah, Ghost in the Shell vibes alright. I could almost see this like a "The Making of Masako" type of show that will result in the main girl being turned into a really refined soldier both physically and mentally.

The infinite hacking and the girl's "infinite-hack-plus-infinite-weapon vs telekinesis/gravity" reminds me of this (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com.au/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=150) (which I revisited recently), complete with risqué elements.

[Buffalobiian]

[Shades-Fix][QTS] Mardock Scramble The Second Combustion Limited Edition -Complete Version- (BD H264 1280.mkv (http://www.nyaa.eu/?page=download&tid=335599)

If you had trouble loading the subtitles (like I did), you can download the .ass file (http://www.mediafire.com/?iya6wd55dzguca8) here and load it manually.

[Buffalobiian]

Mardock_Scramble_The_Second_Combustion_(2011)_[1080p,BluRay,flac,x264]_-_THORA (http://www.nyaa.eu/?page=download&tid=265766)

[Ryllharu]

It's been so long since the last one, that I actually forgot that the previous one ended on a cliffhanger.

I was so completely entranced by the casino scenes. The way it was presented, that Balot got to use her abilities in a non-violent manner, and the roulette spinner who was at the top of her craft and was as determined to crush those she draws in as much as Balot and Dr. Easter were determined to take the casino for as much as possible...

On occasion, I forgot to read the subs.

I think that's only happened with a few films before. Kumo no Mukou, Yakusoku no Basho (http://anidb.net/perl-bin/animedb.pl?show=anime&aid=469) and Evangelion 2.22, to name two.

The Paradise scenes were a bit underwhelming, but Balot trembling onboard the egg on the way to the casino, terrified that Oeufcoque wouldn't forgive her made up for that. He was so completely casual about it, and she was probably more afraid than she had ever been, including the time she all but died.

[Yukimura]

Movie two didn't have the same awesome action packed finale as one but I felt it still did a good job at the philosophical or existential or whatever stuff. Paradise was an interesting, if rather abstract place, and Balot's development with Oeufcoque and the other test subjects was nice. Something about the roulette scene really appealed to me despite it still not making complete sense even after two viewings. However one thing that a friend noted when I showed him 1 and 2 back to back is how does Boiled seem to get away with so much criminal activity throughout the show with no one ever seemingly coming down on him. It was one thing when he was hiring assassins and threatening/actually attacking a witness, who could place him at the scene of her attempted murder with her attempted murderer but now we find out he is known to have gone on a killing spree in the past an is just walking the streets like it was nothing.

Anyway, much love to Balot's casino outfit especially with the Oeufcoque gloves to really make it pop. It sucks we'll have to wait another year plus for the final installment.

[Buffalobiian]

Hah.. and that's why they banned calculators at casinos. :p

All in all, nice movie. Immersion lacked a little for me towards the beginning because I was trying to work out what happened in the last movie while this movie flashed across my screen, but it was a nice interlude to tell us why they'd be (hopefully) fighting again for the final part.

[Kraco]

Anyway, much love to Balot's casino outfit especially with the Oeufcoque gloves to really make it pop.

Indeed. It was a really nice and stylish outfit. I also liked the casino part a lot more than the abstract Paradise, which seemed like a veritable black hole for budget money to sustain, yet still seemed like it was half abandoned by the government and not really used for anything practical anymore.

All in all I think this casino incident should serve Balot well in her later life if they ever succeed in defeating Shell.

[Yukimura]

I'll admit I was helped along a bit by a review I read of the actual novels this is based off but I think I have a better understanding of the roulette scene now, and it touches on what you were saying Kraco. In that scene Balot actively challenged someone for purely self-motivated reasons without malice or fear by simply as part of living life. From what we've seen of her in the past she had been either passive or violently reactionary but generally led but her emotions when dealing with people who presented her with difficult situations, however at the roulette table she showed she had developed the confidence and determination to actively engage and stand up against someone using her will rather than running away/retreating into herself or lashing out with anger and fear. I think this new sense of determination is going to be put to the test in the finale where she'll probably come face to face with Shell at a poker table.

[Kraco]

Hmm... Yes. I was all the time thinking their confrontation with Shell would be highly violent but now that you said it, I'd now actually expect it to have a large element of something else, such as the poker match you mentioned. Balut managing to keep her cool face to face with Shell, and Shell failing to do that, would be the ultimate mental/spiritual victory - as long as they also gain a concrete victory.

[Buffalobiian]

All 3 movies:

[Coalgirls]_Mardock_Scramble_(1920x1080_Blu-ray_FLAC) (http://www.nyaa.se/?page=download&tid=478751)
[Coalgirls]_Mardock_Scramble_(1280x720_Blu-ray_FLAC) (http://www.nyaa.se/?page=download&tid=478750)