Moon Child (2003 film)

Did You Know?

• The theme song 'Orange no Taiyō' is a duet written and performed by Gackt and Hyde, and its lyrics are continuously recited throughout the movie.
• The song was released on Gackt's studio album Crescent (2003).
• The film was re-screened nationwide in Japan in November 2023 for its 20th anniversary.

Plot

In 2014, Japan's economic collapse forces emigration to mainland China. Two vampires, Kei and Luka, are introduced; Kei was likely turned by Luka, who later ends his existence by watching the sunrise. Three orphaned boys—Shō, his brother Shinji, and Toshi—live by pickpocketing in the fictional Chinese city Mallepa. During a failed theft, Shō finds Kei amid debris and brings him to their hideout. When a man they robbed attacks, Kei kills and feeds on him, revealing his vampirism; Shō approaches unafraid. Years later, Shō leads a band of thieves including Kei and Toshi. The four become friends; Shō awkwardly falls in love with Yi-Che, though she seems to favor Kei. Toshi is murdered by the local mafia for using drugged pizza in heists. Son and Yi-Che learn Kei is a vampire. Nine years on, Kei has left; Shō heads his district, married to Yi-Che with a daughter named Hana. Son has joined opposing mafia leader Mr. Chan. Kei, in prison for murder, makes death sentence pleas. Shō visits him, revealing Yi-Che loved Kei and that he proposed multiple times. Kei, silent, finally says he feared Shō was dead and is glad he is not.

Critical reception

Derek Elley of Variety described Moon Child as a half-chaotic, half-entertaining mix of dystopian romance, gunplay, and vampirism, suggesting it would benefit from further editing. Jasper Sharp of Midnight Eye noted the film demonstrates director Takahisa Zeze's technical ability with large-scale action and comic book fantasy worlds, but found it all flames and no fire, with a sense that Zeze is not fully in control of the material.