Voices of a Distant Star by Makoto Shinkai
I’m not a huge Manga fan, I find most of the storytelling absurd. I did enjoy certain things like Captain Harlock and one other show that was similar in that it had space-faring ships that were kind of like big battleships. The characters wore red and white suits (No, not Macross or Robotech) - if you know what I’m talking about leave a comment.
You can see I obviously have always enjoyed space-themed story lines. Anyway, one of the most amazing little manga films I have ever watched is a short film called Voices of a Distant Star by Makoto Shinkai.
This wonderful film was not produced by a studio, but was done entirely by Shinkai himself. He wrote the story, did the animation, production - everything but the music I believe. It’s a story that conveys incredible emotion and uses technology as a foundation for that story. In other words, the technology itself isn’t the story, it’s a supporting character as it were. That’s one reason why it succeeds so well. Too much you see over the top technology being the story and that gets old fast.
The story begins with Mikako and Noboru being separated at the beginning of high school in 2046. Mikako gets accepted into the training program for mecha pilots to fight the aliens who attacked human settlements on Mars (must have been some other mean aliens other than Ugo). The story evolves as she moves further out into space, where time becomes a factor. She continues to try and contact Noburu as he patiently waits for her.
The story is powerfully presented and delivers a keen emotional punch. The cream on the top is the amazing music composed for the film, which fits absolutely perfectly (in fact I bought the soundtrack).
Do yourself a favor and rent or buy this great little film, you will not be sorry. Let me know what you think! Maybe later I will share some of my favorite parts of the film, but I don’t want to ruin anything for those who have not seen it yet. You can get the film at Amazon.
August 8th, 2008 at 11:15 am
you should see ‘death note’. it’s also very good.
August 8th, 2008 at 11:18 am
Looks interesting, thanks for the tip.
August 10th, 2008 at 7:57 pm
Tom, the battleship show you’re thinking of is Space Battleship Yamato, also known as Space Cruiser Yamato. The dubbed US version was called Star Blazers.
August 10th, 2008 at 8:01 pm
Yes! Star Blazers - that was it. I really enjoyed that as well.
August 10th, 2008 at 8:28 pm
I’ve gotta be honest - I never actually saw it! It’s the mental archive, y’know… It’s strictly Ghost In The Shell 1&2 for me. Beautiful animation, mind-bending Blade Runnerish storylines and phenomenal spine-tingling music. This one looks good, I’ll have to give it a whirl.
August 14th, 2008 at 2:17 pm
I saw this a few years ago and I nearly cried, it was so sad. Great film, but sad.
August 14th, 2008 at 2:21 pm
My daughters and I just watched it last night. My older daughter cried a bit and she cried the first time she saw it. The music is just perfect for it. I bought the special DVD set that includes “The Place Promised in Our Early Days” which I am also looking really forward to seeing, I haven’t seen it yet.