Қарты Ересектерге Арналған З 001 Төсегі

1991 Japanese animated film

The first patient to be "volunteered" to test the bed is an 87 year old dying widower named Kijuro Takazawa. He is an invalid who is cared for by a young nursing student named Haruko. The electronic elements within the Z 001 somehow manage to transcribe Takazawa's thoughts through Haruko's office computer, and he uses the communication to cry for help. Haruko's fears are then justified, as it is discovered that the bed is actually a government designed, experimental weapons robot. !English The film was directed by Hiroyuki Kitakubo, who previously directed the "A Tale of Two Robots" segment in the APPP anthology film Robot Carnival. Katsuhiro Otomo provided the film's story and screenplay. He used his now current wife as a model for Haruko. Eguchi also played part in some of the film's animation, such as its smoke effects, alongside key animator Takeshi Honda. Both Otomo and Mitsuo Iso were responsible for the mechanical designs. Kon previously wrote the script for Otomo's live action black comedy World Apartment Horror, though Roujin Z was the first anime on which Kon worked. Otomo opted to not direct the film, as he was more eager to work on World Apartment Horror. The closing song "Hashire Jitensha" (走れ自転車) is performed by Mishio Ogawa.

Roujin Z premiered theatrically in Japan on September 14, 1991. The film debuted in the US at an international film festival in Fort Lauderdale during November 1994. It was screened in more than 30 cities in the country such as New York City's Angelika Film Center on January 5, 1996. Manga Entertainment marketed the film in English speaking regions as being "by the creator of Akira". An "HD Master Edition" DVD was released in the region on April 13, 2005. The English dub was initially released on VHS by Manga Entertainment in the United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand in 1994. Image Entertainment distributed the English version on DVD in the US on August 26, 1998. Central Park Media re released the movie on DVD on April 9, 2002, then again on April 27, 2004 under the US Manga Corps label. The home video version is currently out of print in the US. The film has also been broadcast on numerous television networks worldwide, including the Sci Fi Channel, ImaginAsian, the International Channel, and the Funimation Channel in the United States. The Roujin Z Original Soundtrack was made available for sale in Japan by Epic Records on November 21, 1991. Roujin Z was adapted into a manga titled ZeD (ゼッド), featuring the story by Otomo and illustrated by Tai Okada. It was originally serialized in the Kodansha publication Mr. Magazine from March to December 1991. A single tankōbon bound volume was published in Japan on December 12, 1991. No official English version exists, but Glénat published a French edition on January 22, 1997. Manga Entertainment UK re released Roujin Z on Blu ray in June 2012 in conjunction with Kazé UK, the European subsidiary of Viz Media as they hold the rights to the English dub, which they produced in house in 1994.

From contemporary reviews, Roujin Z won the Mainichi Film Award for animation in 1991. From Western critics, Stephen Holden of The New York Times called it an "amusing futuristic morality tale," noting how it "takes sharp digs at yuppie medical students who welcome a device that will enable them to discard their aging parents and concentrate on their careers." Roger Ebert, writing in the Chicago Sun Times, observed: "I cannot imagine this story being told in a conventional movie. Not only would the machine be impossibly expensive and complex to create with special effects, but the social criticism would be immediately blue penciled by Hollywood executives." Tony Rayns (Sight & Sound) felt the film was "engaging entertainment, not least because it so resolutely counters the expectations of the adolescent males who made up the core audience for Akira." In 2001, Wizard Entertainment listed the film at number 42 of its top 50 anime to be released in North America. The publisher's magazine Anime Insider listed Roujin Z as the seventh best anime comedy in its January 2004 issue.