King of Thorn is an animated movie based on the manga by Yūji Iwahara that draws liberally on the Sleeping Beauty story, while setting its action in an apparently post-apocalyptic Earth ravaged by a disease known as Medusa. The film draws attention to Iwahara's themes - Sleeping Beauty is referred to on several occasions in different circumstances - while also changing the storyline to suit the purposes of adaptation, which makes for interesting comparisons. 

As the Medusa epidemic spreads across the globe, a desperate plan is hatched to preserve 160 randomly chosen people who have contracted the disease in suspended animation within an island castle off the coast of Scotland. The hope is that once a cure is found they can be revived and treated. The organisation behind the project - Venus Gate - heralds Medusa as a religious event, a divine test designed to force the human race to evolve (something of a confusion of ideologies there, but never mind). Founder Ivan Coral Vega is seen as a possible cause of the disease by the intelligence community, who suspect it of being a bio-weapon designed to fulfill his religious fundamentalist views.

Kasumi Ishik (voiced by Brina Palencia) is one of the chosen infectees, a emotionally overwrought bespectacled Japanese teenager. Before entering the castle, she bids a tearful farewell to her twin Shizuku, the only surviving member of her family. Kasumi is placed within a pod and is lulled to sleep by the castle A.I. Alice, who will protect and monitor the 160 patients while they sleep.

When Kasumi wakes she discovers her pod surrounded by giant vines covered in sharp thorns. The computer systems appear to be long dormant. Moments after she comes to, the other pods also open - just in time to attract the attention of monstrous winged creatures that have somehow got into the castle. Kasumi and several others - including a tattooed criminal named Marco, a former New York cop, bereaved young Australian mother, corrupt US Senator, a scientist and a game-obsessed German boy - barely managed to escape the massacre. They find the castle filled with nightmarish monsters, that appear to have evolved during the centuries of their suspended animation. Running from these unnatural predators, the group fight to stay alive and uncover the secret behind the end of the world itself. 

Fans of King of Thorn will notice straight away that the film condenses much of the material, transforming a slow-building mystery into a frenetic race against time. Another major chance is the removal of a key antagonist, which makes sense as part of the streamlined approach taken to the adaptation. Instead the main threat is the deadly environment itself that Kasumi and the others find themselves in. The rapid pace of the plot also means the characters barely get the chance to get to know each others' names. The near-catatonic Katherine (Stephanie Young, essaying an amusingly broad Australian accent) is referred to as 'that woman' given her refusal to speak to anyone except for the young boy named Tim. Due to the constant running from threats, the survivors are also suspicious of one another out of confusion and fear at what is happening.

Thanks to these storytelling changes, the narrative's forward momentum excuses some  inconsistencies, instead drawing attention to the lurid monster designs with imagery appropriate to this dark modern reinvention of a classic fairy tale.

King of Thorn is available from Madman Entertainment.


© 2012 YUJI IWAHARA / PUBLISHED BY ENTERBRAIN, INC./ Team IBARA