On April 29th, 2024, Granate Co. Ltd. announced an official 4K restoration of the 1987 Mamoru Oshii cult classic The Red Spectacles on Motion Gallery. With a goal of only 10,000,000 JPY by June 27th of the same year, this project had far exceeded expectations– not only reaching this goal within 24 hours of launch, but this remaster had raked in a total of 59,336,002 JPY with 2,953 backers overall! To see other info regarding this campaign, check out the other articles here on Kaiju United, or follow the 4K restoration’s official Twitter account.
With the fundraiser being so much of a success, this allowed for The Red Spectacles to receive a release like never before. A special private screening was held at Kineka Omori in Shinagawa Prefecture on December 21st for anyone who supported the project (with the correct tier), and backers would receive a very lavish home video version of the film that is loaded with all kinds of content depending on the level of contribution. But with the amount of support this 4K restoration has received, it seems more can and will be done.
For the uninitiated, The Red Spectacles is the legendary Mamoru Oshii’s first live-action feature. The film is an independent comedic “soft-tokusatsu” introspective thriller that follows former Panzer Cop, Koichi Todome (Shigeru Chiba), who fled Japan after a his efforts to rebel against the disarmament of the Kerberos Unit resulted in failure and the abandonment of his comrades. Three years later, Koichi returns to Japan as a fugitive to reunite with his allies, only for things to not be what they seem. The Red Spectacles is also the first movie in Mamoru Oshii’s multimedia meta franchise, the Kerberos Saga, which includes various radio dramas, manga, and feature films, namely 1999’s Jin-Roh: The Wolf Brigade.
On February 6th, 2025, it was announced that after 38 years, The Red Spectacles will finally receive a proper nationwide release in Japan for the first time ever.
This is major news for anyone who was unable to support the restoration on Motion Gallery. The Red Spectacles will be playing in its new 4K 5.1ch remastered form starting on March 21st, 2025 at Kineka Omori before being distributed elsewhere thanks to Tokyo Theater Co. Ltd.
The news also entices all sorts of questions regarding the state of success this has garnered. Are there plans to restore the rest of Mamoru Oshii’s live-action “Cinema Trilogy” (Stray Dog: Kerberos Panzer Cops, Talking Head)? Will there be another home video version? Or, with how much Granate Co. Ltd. was willing to make this project available for overseas backers, maybe there is room for possible worldwide distribution? Us Kerberos fans can only dream and speculate for now.
