Aachi and Ssipak Film Review

Korean Animation has hit a high in recent years. Between Netflix's Lost in Starlight and Studio Lico's Your Letter, the industry feels more confident than ever in producing its own stories. But that wasn't the case in the early 2000s. While the country had become known for reliable outsourcing of animation talent, producing wholly Korean animated films was a massive gamble that rarely paid off (Wonderful Days). Aachi & Ssipak spent eight years developing in this era, starting right after 1998 lifts anime's ban in the country, then spent an extra two decades streaming uncut in its original language exclusively on DARKROOM. This film certainly isn't for everyone, but it's like watching someone drop Rugrats into AKIRA!

Right out of the gate, this film makes its priorities clear: potty humor and ultra-violence. After a title crawl establishing that this world is literally fueled by doodoo, a gang of diaper-clad blue minions brutally raid an armored truck for its stash of ice pops. These “juicybars” were previously provided in bathrooms in exchange for a good poop, but these mutants lost their ability to defecate (alongside their genitals) after consuming too much. In the midst of their heist, a biker Robocop pops most of them in the head in a matter of minutes. He moves so fast that the bullets have a delayed impact, similar to when a samurai sheathes his swords before revealing the killing blow. One survivor grasps a remaining juicybar with tears in their eyes, only to get casually run over by our two leads: Aachi & Ssipak.

There's an old saying that the people reflect the city, and in this case that's absolutely true. There is not a single character you want to root for here. Aachi & Ssipak are two lowlife crooks breaking into toilets to fulfill quotas from the local mob. They're incredibly shallow and outright sociopathic, only garnering sympathy by being at the bottom of a rotten food chain. The government essentially runs on a currency of mandated drugs, maintained through a militarized police and PSAs that are indistinguishable from its adult video industry. These give birth to an army of monsters dependent on those drugs and a black market for crooks to sell more than one, thus creating a perpetual cycle of one side making hamburger meat out of the other. It's as if breathing in the filth of this city has rotted the soul of its populace.

So when these two meet a gold digger who can literally shit gold (one of them is clearly in love with her), is it any wonder sharing is the last thing on anyone's mind? Nah, these two and their “beauty” just buy their way up the criminal ladder in a three-minute montage. Then when they're at the top, it's simply a matter of who's gunning their way to the top. This nihilistic tinge to how everyone's characterized makes it hard to get emotionally attached to anyone involved. But this turns out to be a good thing: I don't care if anyone dies, so watch how awesome it is when they blow the fuck up! It's in that meat-grinder approach to storytelling that this film excels, throwing multiple factions into one room and counting how many bodies hit the floor. If there's one thing anyone can appreciate in this film, it's the nonstop, kinetic, brutal action.

Director Jo Beom-jin has a strong grasp of both weight and motion, combining John Woo gunfights with Looney Tunes movement. You'll see the camera go through a bullet-ridden car WHILE it's in the middle of being shot at. The Robocop that does most of the fighting achieves superhuman acrobatic feats at a pace no human could keep up with. At one point, he transforms into a human Beyblade X Gatling gun by breakdancing with two pistols. Despite being the title characters, Aachi & Ssipak mostly run away from all the danger. But through a mix of early CG backgrounds and well-timed camera shake, their chase scenes have an immersive quality that feels like you're running from the gunfire with them. And that's not even getting into the Minecart chase where everyone in the film gets involved! There's almost a Video Game quality to how each level escalates as the body count increases. It may not even try to tell a hero's story, but it knows which action scenes to fit into each stage.

The art style sticks out for looking nothing like anime. It looks more like Rocket Power or The Wild Thornberrys (RIP Tim Curry). The mix of oversized heads and beady eyes too far apart reminded me a lot of the deformed character designs of Rugrats. One uncanny detail is that no one keeps their mouths closed: everyone's showing off their pearly whites. It's funny because Klasky-Csupo Inc. did dabble in adult animation with Duckman, but never something this grimy. It's definitely a look that takes getting used to, but it felt like a way to make the characters look as ugly on the outside as they are on the inside.

It's worth mentioning, though, that this film was technically released in the US before. Shortly after its domestic release, a small screening in LA caught MTV's attention. They planned to release the film cut up into TV episodes, but instead they sat on the rights for as long as it took to make: eight years. Multi-Channel Network Mondo Media (Happy Tree Friends) then bought the rights in 2014 to distribute it digitally and on DVD. About four minutes of the film would be cut (the Butt Extraction scene and the stinger), new music would be commissioned, and two of their creators, Ed Skudder and Zack Keller of DICK FIGURES fame, would dub it. On paper, their sense of humor seems perfect for this film. Lines like “their number two makes us number one” or “my junk is a divining rod” don't feel out of place in a movie about literal shit. The problem comes when an adapted script is treated more like a comedian's playground.

Put simply, the English dub feels more like a commentary riff or abridged series than a professional dub. Character motives are rewritten for the sake of a punchline, and plot points get haphazardly spoiled to pick up the pace. The government mole now helps the Diaper Gang for a hang glider. The mad scientist changes sides because he likes spinning rather than the promise of test subjects. Ssipak lusted for Beauty before they ever met, giving his bumbling simp persona a slightly creepier edge. One bit about the ID chips is revealed much earlier than the point at which the villains come up with their plan. These changes seem like an attempt to cram humor at the film's expense. But in my opinion, it's funnier if the staff completely buys into the insanity they're writing.

This difference also shows up in the soundscape, as each has different music. The original by Bok Seung-Ah leans more towards Funk and Rock, while Kevin Seaton's is more reminiscent of Dubstep. Both are loud genres that fit the image of rambunctious rascals entering a violent world, but each paints this chaotic image at a different pace and tone. The original feels more psychedelic, often repeating beats in a hypnotic rhythm. It's also not a constant presence, instead letting gunfire and explosions take its place. Meanwhile, the dub's score seems loud and fast to compensate for noticeably weaker sound mixing. Several shootouts feel less punchy because they're drowning out all the background noise. That's not to say they didn't have fun with it: a character's scream while firing a gun will sometimes make it into the song. But I prefer the immersive element of the original's more dated soundtrack.

Overall, I can see why this struggled to grab an audience. It's too childish and frantic for adults, but too violent and sexual for kids. In a way, MTV was the perfect distributor for something this proudly immature: they just refused to release it and let someone else take over. But I'm here to say this: go watch it anyway. Even if it's not your cup of tea, you'll definitely come out of it going, “WHAT DID I JUST WATCH?!” What it lacks in brains and soul, it more than makes up for in attitude. At a brisk 84 minutes, that's good enough.