Zipang: Future Shock, Vol. 1 (2004) (DVD) (Second-Hand)

The broadcast series Zipang (2004) plays like an extended episode of The Twilight Zone: when The Mirai, the most advanced ship of the Japanese Self Defense Force, sails for routine training maneuvers, it is somehow transported back to June 5, 1942--the battle of Midway. Gunnery officer Masayuki Kikuchi warns the crew against doing anything that might change history. But executive officer Yosuke Kadomatsu saves the life of a Japanese officer whose plane crashes near the ship. Everyone aboard wants to keep The Mirai's presence a secret and return to the 21st century, but they may have already altered the course of history. Director Kazuhiru Furuhashi takes full advantage of the dramatic camera movements the CG models of the ships offer. He and co-screenwriter Yuichiro Takeda, working from the manga by Kaiji Kawaguchi, describe both the Japanese and Allied forces as men fighting to defend their homes, a dubious assertion at best. The battle of Midway was a turning point in the War in the Pacific, and a Japanese fantasy about changing its outcome may disturb some American viewers.