Labyrinth of Flames

Out of all the movie genres, comedy is probably the most difficult to pull off successfully. Since comedy is mostly dependent on regional expectations of what’s funny, it’s usually hard to take a comedy from Japan, release it in the U.S., and expect to garner a big return on a company’s investment. With that said, Labyrinth of Flames works much better for the American viewer than I anticipated. In Labyrinth, Natsu decides to take her boyfriend, a samurai wannabe named Galan, home to meet her father. While at his future father-in-law’s mansion, Galan uncovers a plot to steal priceless swords from Natsu’s family. If he can defeat the robbers, he will be allowed to marry Natsu. In many ways, this feels like a Japanese version of Meet the Parents, and the same premise remains fresh here. Funnier than I thought it would be.