Change Your Image
Motaba
Reviews
Titan A.E. (2000)
Reviewers show a lack of experience with Japanese Animation
After reading Dark Gryph's review drawing comparisons to Japanese animation and several other reviews describing Titan A.E. as some of the most impressive animation they've seen, I can only conclude that most of these people need to watch more Japanese Animation. Dark's comment about anime plots and animation shows no experience with Studio Ghibli, such as the fantastic movie Mononoke Hime (Princess Mononoke). Anime is not all violence, 30 gallons of blood, and big-breasted women. Dark would do well to watch what is actually popular in Japan. I would refer the interested reader to the IMDB page on Princess Mononoke rather than write a short review here. Those who describe Titan A.E. as the best-looking animation ever would do to watch more theatrical anime - what Japan does on a fraction of the budget of America (Mononoke Hime had a budget of $20,000,000) continues to impress me. Titan A.E. had many animation flaws, for instance the water was several generations behind the cutting edge. Having said that, Titan did a good job integrating CG and cell-based animation, but Ghost in the Shell (which had a wide-spread US distribution) had better back in '95. Titan had some inspired sequences - the best planet detontation I've seen, an inspired cat-and-mouse game in ice crystals, and a good job following the laws of physics. It had an OK story - enough to keep you interested, but you should watch the films for the inspired sequences. And finally, it made the right choice in not explaining everything. Coming back from the theatre we had an enjoyable conversation figuring everything out, and realized that had they explained it with any flaws, we'd probably be ripping the film to shreds.... 6/10. Watch it if you like the genre and/or animation, otherwise skip it.
Chage & Aska: On Your Mark (1995)
6 1/2 minutes that will change your opinion of anime
On Your Mark is a music video created by Miyazaki Hayao for a song by the popular duo Chage and Aska. It tells a story (of sorts) which is a little confusing, owing to how it does not follow a linear time-flow, and has no dialogue. However, the stunning visuals and amazing sound-effects enable the viewer (even if unfamiliar with Japanese) to create their own story. Definitely more entertaining if you are familiar with Miyazaki's work, as certain motifs (the face of the angel, flight, etc.) reappear from his earlier work.
I frequently show people unfamiliar with Japanese animation my copy of this video to change their opinion of what is possible in animation, which usually helps removed those negative pre-conceived notions people pick up from American animation. I have created a number of anime fans with this method.