Without hope, without direction, without eyes that sparkle with life... No, I'm not talking about your average Cornell student, even though we do qualify. These wonderful descriptions are reserved for the Japanese people. They are the ones without hope, without direction, without eyes that sparkle with life. Believe it or not, Sanctuary the movie is based on that assumption.

Before I go any farther, I'd like to make a disclaimer. You will be seeing very graphic comparisons of the human anatomies with other human anatomies, doing various strenuous exercises. Don't worry, it's always with the opposite genders. If you are uncomfortable about this, please don't complain. You have been warned.

Anyway, without too many spoilers (ya, right), let's start. Our two main heroes are Asami and Hojo, equally handsome and ambitious. Light and Dark, Asami's day to Hojo's night. Coming back from the war-devastated country of Cambodia, they saw the Japanese people as mindless peons (yes, too much Warcraft) working away with nothing to dream about, nothing to envision for the future. So what if Japan is a major economic power? So what if Japan is rich and makes such amazing animation? If you see a child's eyes, they sparkle with life, but if you see a Japanese adult's eyes, brrr... it's like looking into the void of a black hole, where no light can escape. Why do you think the anime and manga artists draw such wondrous and bright eyes? Certainty not for realism. Our heroes saw this flaw, but what could they do? They were without money, without family, and should be without hope. However, by living and escaping the killing fields of Cambodia, it taught them lessons us mere mortals can't hope to understand.

They decided it was time for a change, a change of not only Japan but also the Japanese view on life. If one can find out what it means "to live," then one's life would have meaning. Their plan is... I'm not going to tell you. But in order to carry out their plan (whatever that is), they need money. So what's the fastest way to earn money? Crime, of course. By using the forgotten and forbidden art of rock-paper-scissors to decide one's fate, Hojo joined the Yakuza, a Japanese crime organization, and Asami joined politics, another Japanese crime organization. Is there an echo here? From both sides of the fence, they intend to follow their grand design until they climb the mountain and reach their sanctuary.

Sanctuary the movie is based on the first graphic novel of Sanctuary the manga written by Sho Fumimura (Fist of the North Star) and art by Ryoichi Ikegami (infamous artist of Crying Freemen, Mai, the Psychic Girl , and others). And just because the guy in Fist of North Star is invincible and always, and I mean always, wins, Sanctuary has quite a different feel to it. Yes, there are times when everything goes right for Hojo and Asami (about the first four graphic novels), but there are times when you'd think, well... Go find out yourself. The first three graphic novels are in the campus store. Right now, there are a total of seven.

By the way, I've been told it was difficult to understand a certain joke in the movie. All I can say is, look for the tomato can and read the graphic novels.