Voices of a Distant Star
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Movie Reviews of Voices of a Distant Star
Movie Review: poignant + great extras
Summary: 5 Stars
this 25 minute animation ranks pretty high on my list, and it easily out-strips movies 20 times this length. the premise is simple, two lovers are seperated by the span of light years and the only means of communication is via text messaging; however, the implications of the myriad of emotions the two must endure: feelings of loss, hope, despair, love... is captured in a beautifully backdropped package rather compactly. the viewer can see the logical progression without feeling as if the production were rushed or dumbed down.as some other reviewers have been so clamorous to point out, the running time IS only 25 minutes. i bought it thinking it would be a feature length movie but the fact that it is so short leaves THAT much more to the imagination. the impact is powerful, and while sometimes i do wish it were longer, its open-endedness has left me many sleepness nights of dreaming up my own endings. i recommend viewing this feature in the original japanese language with subtitles (i don't understand japanese either) because the english voiceovers seem a bit unenthusiastic. a lot more meaning comes out from the original inflections.
plus, the extras bundled along with the main feature are great as well. watch She and Her Cat on the 3 minute version, it is not so short that you feel bereft of meaning and not so long that it becomes garbled. if you dig poetry, the lines speak like poetry. the interview with the creator was fun too, he's passionate about his work and its inspiring that he created all this from his home computer.
perhaps one of the best things about this DVD is its replay value. with every viewing, i notice more details and catch a bit more of the underlying subtleties. it is fun popping it in when you're bored or want a quick animation fix and it's something i wouldn't mind taking a couple minutes to show a friend and then having a discussion about afterwards, because these kinds of clips BREED discussion.
if you're looking for mindless action sequences, slapstick comedy, or half-naked fembots then this probably isn't for you. but if you're looking for something more thoughtful, a break from "everything else"... then i recommend it 100%.
hope this helps, goodnight.
Movie Review: Looking to the Future
Summary: 5 Stars
"Voices of a Distant Star" won several short anime awards not only in Japan, but in Toronto as well. The unedited directors cut of the short is approximately 30 minutes long, however the DVD also offers another one of Makoto Shinkai short films from 1997, "She and Her Cat", a pleasurable 5 minute short from the perspective of a cat and his love for his mistress. "Voices" focuses on two young "lovers" who are split apart by Mikako's decision to become a mecha pilot to help defeat a strange alien race that had annihilated several Martian cities. As the distance between Mikako and Noboru grow, so too does their need for each other. Mikako has only her memories of Noboru to live through from trip to trip, fight from fight, but text messages Noboru as much as she can. Noboru has the text messages to look forward to day in year out. This frustrated love between Noboru and Mikako shivers with regret on both sides. As each day passes, Noboru tries to move on from his unrequited love Mikako, believing that she will never come back, not in this time, and not for him. Mikako lives day to day, eventually regretting her having ever left Noboru's side for something so trivial and self-satisfying.
The strained relationship between Noboru and Mikako, growing ever distant can leave an empty void in ones belly. The key emotions of the movie are played up so well within the short, that one cannot help but feel the pain of a lost but not forgotten love. Makoto Shinkai elaborates on the distilled love very well, a very emotional film.
I suggest "Voices" for the one who is looking for an impressive 3-D CG graphic anime that focuses on re-inventing direction with characters on a more personal and tragic view. This is a work meant to toy with new filming ideas, and Shinkai has managed to improve tension and bleed regret from animated characters in a stylistic enviroment that is picture perfect. Many ideas are explored in this film, and it is worth any enjoyer of anime's time and money.
Movie Review: Absolutely Beautiful
Summary: 5 Stars
I saw this about six months to a year ago and was blown away. When I read the discription on On Demand, I thought, "It sounds kinda interesting." But it's WAY more than interesting. A better adjective would be PHENOMENAL!
Hoshi no Koe (Voices of a Distant Star) is the story of fifteen-year-old Mikako who is in love with her best friend, Noboru, who has feelings for Mikako as well. However, the two never confessed their love, so they stayed as friends, not knowing that the other is in love with them. Does it sound like an anime you might know? Well, the OVA is more than just a normal romantic-drama.
You see, it's set in the future, where scientists have set up a place on Mars. However, aliens--called the Tarsians--attack, annialating the people who live there. Thus, a war breaks out that mankind has never seen before: man against aliens. Mikako signs up to fight up in space at the end of middle school. She fights in a giant robot and keeps in touch with Noboru by text messaging on her cell. However, time is different in space. She ages slowly, and a couple weeks is really a few months on Earth. Not only that, but texts take forever to reach Earth, leaving Noboru to wonder if she's still alive. Will she ever come back to Noboru? Will he move on?
Voices of a Distant Star is one of the most remarkable anime I have ever seen, and it's only thirty minutes long. The creator, Makoto Shinkai, or Shinkai Makoto in Japanese, created this entirely on his computer. And the music is so gorgeous! It's almost completely piano music, and it only has one song that has lyrics: the ending song, "Through the Years and Far Away", performed by a Japanese singer, but sung in English!
It's a touching story of drama, love, giant robots, and sci-fi. I watched this three times in two days, and I nearly cried each time. I urge you to see this; borrow it from a friend, rent it, buy it...it's too good to not see!!
Movie Review: A love story that transcends time and space...
Summary: 5 Stars
For those who say this is eye candy - well, they're absolutely right, but to say it's just that - well, they couldn't be more wrong. "Voices of a Distant Star" is a short 30 minute animation by Makoto Shinkai that uses both 3D and traditional drawings. And while the graphics are visually stunning with otherworldly effects that will keep you captivated, it's the story that did it for me. Although I do wish this film had been longer to give us viewers more insight on the depth and history of their friendship/relationship, quality rules over quantity here and you can't help but feel the strong connection they have for one another right from the start...
Nuboro and Mikako had hopes of attending the same high school together but when a strange alien force threatens the human race, Mikako gives in to her fascinations with the sky above and decides to become a pilot for the UN Forces to help save mankind. But in doing so she was forced to leave behind the one person she cared about more than anything: Nuboro. Their only means of communicating is through text messaging but the further Mikako goes out to space, the longer the messages take to reach him (1 month, 1 year, 8 years...) as he grows older and she remains young.
There's of course a sprinkle of battle scenes here and there with sci-fi imagery but "Voices of a Distant Star" mostly relies on emotional impacts to keep one entranced and Makoto has done that with misty-eyed perfection. In short, this is a breathtaking anime about one couple's heart-wrenching struggles and how they deal with being apart. It shows that no matter the distance, true love can withstand the test of time, despite how difficult it may be.
{This DVD also includes the independently produced "She and Her Cat" which won Makoto several awards}.
LOVE IS FOREVER
Movie Review: Poignent Voices, - A Love Story
Summary: 5 Stars
I have the English / Japanese version.. Hoshi no Koe (Voices of a Distant Star). I first rented this from a video shop, I watched it rather bemused the first time, but I was interested. I let it rest a day or two and watched it again, following the story easier the second time, also had the subtitles on and they helped "fill in the gaps".
I came to appreciate it was not a fun or action movie, more of a study in love and relationships, and on a concept that cant yet exist, but in the future could. Love over time and space and the paradoxs this could bring.
Its only a half hour movie and that is all it needs as a short story.
They a young couple, but space war sees them separated, they communicate via text messages.
He Noboru, on earth, time moves normally,
She Mikako, a mecha pilot, travels into space, first a few minutes separate their messages. Then she space warps away and comunications take a month, The she again space warps - 8 light years away and of course messages take 8 years to travel one way!.
By the time Noboru gets the last message he is 25 years old.. Things have happened in space.. Things have happened on earth, They have one final message to each other transending space and time..
An interesting movie.. a movie to move the heart. I did not feel it was depressing as one reviewer put it, more a Romeo & Juliet type compassion and sadness for this couple. Some could shed a tear...
The animation and music are fine, but not all that important, its the story that get you, its really a dialog between two people, the sole characters are the couple, and thats it! no one else!
Probably not for every one, so try it before you buy it.. but dont be suprised however if you actualy do go and buy it! Its like that.