The theme of Little Red Riding hood and the wolf are woven throughout this tale. This anime film is set in an alternate post WWII Japan. Little girls known as "little red riding hoods" act as couriers for terrorists, carrying bombs to fight against the police. Kazuki Fuse is a member of the police who chases one of these "hoods" into the sewers. He hesitates to shoot, and she blows herself and most of the pursuers to oblivion. Fuse is blamed for this incident and sent to be retrained. The rest of the film involves Fuse interaction with Kei, the older sister of the little red riding hood that Fuse failed to stop. There are quite a few twists and turns in this one, and I am not even sure I could properly explain them so I will leave it to you to figure out for yourself.

Jin Roh is obviously pretty violent and complex and quite interesting, though not really what I would call a "feel good" film. If you are in a thinking mood, and up for a realistically animated film, pop this one in, just don't expect the woodsman to save the day in the end. Jin-Roh is a compelling tragedy worthy of an A-.