The first segment of this "trilogy," Magnetic Rose, is my favorite of the three. However, it's extremely derivative of the early 70s sci-fi film Solaris, directed by Andrei Tarkovsky. In the story of Solaris, a space station near a newly discovered planet falls prey to the bizarre nature of the "sentient ocean" on the planet surface. Somehow, this ocean is able to sense the memories of any human in the vicinity, and manifest those memories physically in white foam which hardens into a recognizable form. Dead loved ones return, etc. When you see the first segment of Memories, it should be quite clear that Otomo must have been very heavily inspired by Solaris when he created the original manga as well as this animated version.
The second segment, Stink Bomb, is an amusing black comedy piece. Perhaps pointless, but I don't mind that. Not everything needs to shove a message into your face.
The third segment, Cannon Fodder initially knocked my socks off with its unusual style, I was sure they were saving the best for last... but it quickly petered out and didn't really go anywhere. Typical of animated shorts of course, but for some reason I was expecting more from it. A small side note, I wondered if perhaps Cannon Fodder had influenced the makers of Final Fantasy VII, since that game features a city which is built around a gigantic cannon. It may have been my imagination, but I could have sworn I saw several visual similarities between the anime segment and the RPG. It wouldn't surprise me too much, since there are many blatant similarities between FFVII and another of Otomo's works, the classic and extremely well known Akira.
I can't say I didn't enjoy this movie. If only I'd kept my expectations lower.
The second segment, Stink Bomb, is an amusing black comedy piece. Perhaps pointless, but I don't mind that. Not everything needs to shove a message into your face.
The third segment, Cannon Fodder initially knocked my socks off with its unusual style, I was sure they were saving the best for last... but it quickly petered out and didn't really go anywhere. Typical of animated shorts of course, but for some reason I was expecting more from it. A small side note, I wondered if perhaps Cannon Fodder had influenced the makers of Final Fantasy VII, since that game features a city which is built around a gigantic cannon. It may have been my imagination, but I could have sworn I saw several visual similarities between the anime segment and the RPG. It wouldn't surprise me too much, since there are many blatant similarities between FFVII and another of Otomo's works, the classic and extremely well known Akira.
I can't say I didn't enjoy this movie. If only I'd kept my expectations lower.