At the heightened craze of vampires flicks and blazing gun thrillers, notorious 1990s " pink film" co-screenwriter and director Takahisa Zeze decided to cash in both genres with ‘ Moonchild’ (2003); a 2 hour trope-worthy film filled with an intriguing premise and characters , as well an array of questionable acting performances and narrative execution.

The movie is set in an alternative timeline where in the year 2014, Japan begins to suffer from economic collapse. As a consequence, myriads of Japanese citizens emigrate to mainland China in order to escape economic ruin.

Set against the backdrop of the fictional ‘ melting pot’ Chinese town of Mallepa, the main narrative focuses upon a trio of orphaned boys. Sho ( Kanata Hongō- ‘ The Prince Of Tennis’, ‘ Nana 2’ and ‘ Himitsu no Hanazono’) is the head of the group, whilst his younger brother Shinji and Toshi are fellow members.

Shinji ends up landing the group in hot water when he steals a briefcase filled with money from a notorious hood gang. Fortunately, Shinji, Sho and Toshi are protected by the mysterious vagrant and later-revealed vampire Kei ( L'Arc-en-Ciel and Vamps’ vocalist Hyde- ‘ Last Quarter of the Moon’).

A time-skip several years into the future reveals Sho to be in his early twenties ( idol-actor and screenwriter Gackt- ‘ Tonde Saitama’, ‘ Sengoku Basara’ and ‘ Time Spiral’). Acting as the leader for his own small gang consisting of Toshi ( Yamamoto Taro- ‘ Battle Royale’, ‘ Secret Love’) and Kei.

However Sho ends up running into trouble along the way when he becomes acquainted with Song ( Wang Leehom - ‘ Love In Disguise’, ‘ Forever Young’) and his sister Yi-Che ( Zeny Kwok).

Whilst Sho ends up struggling between his growing feelings for Yi-Che, rising tensions between old friends and betrayals, Kei begins to struggle against trying to resist his bloodlust and vampiric urges also …

Co-written by director Takahisa Zeze, main actor Gackt and Kishu Izuchi, ‘ Moon Child’ attempted to combine the adrenal-infused thrill of shootout movies, sci-fi futuristic worlds, vampiric-horror flicks and pining romance tales in a movie which attempting to appease to everyone, often failed to deliver a cohesive narrative along the way.

Undeniably there are intriguing elements surrounding ‘ Moon Child’ behind the over-the-top makeup and idol clothing aesthetics of Gackt and Hyde onscreen.

Patchy elements surrounding Kei’s creator vampiric Luka ( Kishu Izuchi) were intriguing, the subtext and evident messaging towards an emerging Pan -Asian society ( particularly enforcing a timeless allegory towards the rise, virtues and flaws of fusion cultures, immigration and poverty in other countries) and the reiteration on the horrors of violence are prominent in parts of ‘ Moon Child’.

On the other hand ‘ Moon Child’ and its array of gun-wielding chic gangsters occupying the periphery of the storyline were often absent of cause, sentience and personal drive.

Sho’s seemingly " burning" feelings for main love interest and doe-eyed Yi-Che were tepid to say the least. Aside from some hinted causes of physical attraction, it seemed ironic that Gackt’s onscreen chemistry with costar Hyde was arguably more passionate than his character’s ” soulmate" and costar Zeny Kwok’s onscreen persona. (Often leading to a somewhat unintentional homoerotic subtext behind Kei and Sho’s interactions. Ironically, this relationship probably would’ve been more dynamic than the established lukewarm chemistry between Yi-Che and Sho.)

As suggested, Song is one of the main antagonistic forces in the series. However rather than being a merciless force to be reckoned with or possessing an ineffable charismatic charm for audiences to make him memorable, Song possessed only one quality; to act as a threat and then fizzle out as quickly as he’d appeared onscreen.

Of course Song isn’t the main focus of the narrative. However considering his role in later events of the storyline as well as the notable absence of foreshadowing or drawing attention for viewers towards his onscreen presence, Song was a notably generic antagonist due to his anti-climactic exit by the latter-half of the movie.

The acting performances of the series are admittedly a mixed-bag. It’s wrong to make out these performances were "dire" or entirely "egregious " in the long-run, but it could often become a grating experience for viewers to witness inconsistent line deliverances and acting performances onscreen.

As for the challenge of pacing, ‘ Moon Child’ could often misstep its execution- cramming multiple genres, storylines, constant time-skips and shifts even into a 120 minute film could often feel somewhat overblown. Whilst the narrative was able to attain a certain entertaining edge from
subverting it’s tedious opening to a pacy and adrenal-infused storyline, Zeze rarely placed emphasis upon the art of " less is more".

As a consequence rather than reducing the movie’s length or themes in order to subtly focus upon a limited yet insightful scope of plot and characters, ‘ Moon Child’ became entrapped in its own self-made Gordian knot of cutout cliches, archetypes and incoherent plot logic from beginning to end.

The cinematography of ‘ Moon Child’ under Zeze’s directing reigns is admittedly an odd accumulation of amateurish shaky angles and shots during epic fight sequences, as well as some surprisingly stunning and impactful symbols placing emphasis upon the old cliche of cyclical narrative symbolism.

‘ Moon Child’ is a classic reflection of the culture of throwaway 2000s productions. Whilst Zeze’s move could be entertaining in parts with a particularly bittersweet ending , ‘ Moon Child’ often felt as though it bit off more than it could chew at times. Choppy execution, inconsistent pacing alongside a potentially intriguing premise with a multitude of loose and messy plot ends rarely helped viewers to feel connected or involved with ‘ Moon Child’’s world building. The acting rarely possessed solid deliverance throughout and in between over dramatic line deliverances and dialogue, the generic array of characters rarely left an everlasting impression for audiences either. Overall whilst ‘ Moon Child’ isn’t a bad watch, the movie is easily overshadowed by its lacking definitive qualities also.