I

The man stated that Ghost Hound is his favorite project, which is a pretty good choice even if it lost the script in the last third, and Malice@doll remains his most interesting. Having done Lain and Armitage III years prior, Konaka was hardly new to incorporating transhumanism in his works at the time. But its inspirations and production sets itself apart quite a bit.

For some reason, nearly everything Konaka's been directly involved in has fantastic, thoughtful direction and stylistic choices. The CGI adds immensely to the unnerving atmosphere. The soft shadows in characters models and backgrounds combined with the overall muted, dark colors. I wish it had Lain's level of sound design, otherwise it'd be my second favorite Konaka project production-wise. Konaka's always been an esoteric, eclectic individual but Malice@doll is especially evident of this. It borrows inspiration from a strange combination, including Alice in Wonderland, grand guignols, stop-motion and probably some Philp K Dick. The post-commentary and aforementioned interview are pretty englightening in this regard. Not in the symbolism sense. I couldn't care less to interpret the nooks-and-crannies of the story and neither did Konaka. It's much more valuable and interesting to understand the methodology and thought process behind this peculiarity, even when minding Konaka's standards.

II

The email interview conducted with Konaka entails a lot of strangely random inspirations for Malice@doll but they synthesize surprisingly well to create its murky tone. Most obviously, it borrows from Alice in Wonderland, hence M(alice). Konaka's pretty fond of it evidentially. There's Alice in Cyberland and Lain's pretty Alice-y with the whole Wired thing. Getting back on track, it likely specifically borrows from Jan Švankmajer's 1988 adaptation, whom Konaka cites as another inspiration. Not so much the writing or techniques, as its dreamy, odd ambience. Well, perhaps a bit of the writing with the doll motifs. Stop-motion is unintentionally horrific. Regardless if it's Gumby, Mr. Meaty or Wallace & Gromit, they all have a queerness purely because of how stop-motion looks and works. And it's wonderful. Malice@doll isn't stop-motion, but Konaka replicates the peculiar air perfectly. An abundance of static shots and unexpressive faces convey a robotic rigidity. The CGI models have the same off-putting effect as puppets and claymation models. Konaka spun the essence of traditional puppeteer stop-motion with his mechanized setting.

III

Malice@doll has interesting ideological dichotomies which tie in with its inspirations. Konaka's no stranger to transhumanism and Malice@doll is an interesting specimen among them. Mainly because it's not really transhumanism. You can call it farfetched, but considering Konaka's projects, I think it's a valid interpretation. The characters are inanimate beings then infected into sentient homunculi(?), the roles are reversed. The focus is much more human than technological, with Malice's kisses serving as the transhumanist process. Nor does it carry socio-political implications to the extent of Texhnolyze or Ghost in the Shell. The basic motifs are there, though. A post-apocalyptic world, blurry cognizance between sentience and mechanic, physical augmentations, social consequences of transhumanism, someone turning into a God-esque entity, etc. Konaka gives it a much more interpersonal touch. Malice@doll busies itself much more with sentiment, intimacy and Pandora's Box. He uses transhumanism more as a plot device than thematic. Konaka's methodology involves writing the story before the characters, and he basically wrote Malice@doll's storyline before handing it off to Motonaga and dusting his hands. So I see Malice@doll as Konaka's love letter to Czech stop-motion and Alice in Wonderland. Not to say that it's a meaningless script. As I said, there's interesting dichotomies riddled in it. I love the irony and reversal of mechanization and humanism plot-wise. The whole "inanimate entity seeking to become human unaware of its consequences" thing wasn't new, but Konaka's touch adds a lot of value to it. Being a Lovecraftian fanboy, his projects typically move me with their eerie, ambient charm. However, Malice@doll has a unique, inexplicable sentiment unlike the others that I've watched. Art should ultimately trigger an emotional response from an audience and Konaka achieves that the best with this project by far. I've no interest in suggesting its implications. Regardless of Konaka's intent, I value the creative process and emotional charm much more highly. In those regards, Malice@doll is among the best.