Anime off the Beaten Track

Phew! Been a while since I’ve managed to post here – life sort of got in the way. I’m actually jealous of those people who have the time and ability to blog everyday. Still, hopefully my avid reader(s) who’ve been patient (sorry, Mum!), will understand that it’s quality, not quantity that counts (er… hopefully this fills one of the criteria) and they should realize by now that I’m not going to blather on about currently running series (well, maybe occasionally… Kaiba is one that’s due a ramble, so I’ll mention that now, before I’m called a lyin’ filth again) – there’s enough bloggers out there doing that as I speak.

So, what’s on the menu this time round? Well, I thought I’d have a look at some of the more unusual productions I’ve managed to pick up during my trawls through animedom. They’re strange, somewhat rare – having escaped the attentions of the legions of fanboys and -girls out there, and generally very, very good. They also seem to straddle several genres, or none at all, which is probably another reason why they’ve flown under the radar – Western reviewers do like to compartmentalise their anime so.

I’d also like to think that one day, if I’m ever asked “Why do you still watch anime?” I can reply in all honesty, “Because of these…”

The Diary of Tortov Roddle

Yes, I know, I’ve already spoken about this one here and I’m not one to repeat myself needlessly. Still, it deserves it’s place in this post, so there’s a few more screen shots above to whet the appetite.

Angel’s Egg

By far the strangest of the offerings here has to be the dark and surreal “Angel’s Egg”. It’s also probably the oldest, dating back to 1985. In it, we meet an unnamed girl, living in an abandoned planetarium within a dark, gothic and equally abandoned city. She is the protector of a large egg and spends her days roaming the area, collecting glass bottles, which she occasionally uses to drink out of.

At the same time, a large “spaceship” lands nearby, covered in thousands of statues. A soldier, carrying a large cross-like sword disembarks and eventually meets the girl. Few words are spoken, except for an often repeated “Who are you?” and although he protects her during a surreal incident where giant shadow-carp swim through the streets of the city, pursued by harpoon-wielding statues that come to life, he eventually smashes the egg while she sleeps. We are never shown what was in it, but the girl, distraught, chases after him, falls into the river and drowns. Her dying breath’s bubbles turn to eggs as they reach the surface. The soldier returns to his ship and as it departs, we see a new statue of a girl clutching a large egg, has joined the others. http://www.blogsurfer.us/

On the whole, this can only be described as an “art-house” anime. It’s surreal, bizarre, silent (maybe 10 lines of dialogue in an hour), but the artwork is beautiful, possibly even more so given its vintage. Propelled by a haunting, choral soundtrack, it draws you into its world, regardless of the fact that you really do have no idea what’s going on. It’s one of those anime, like Haibane Renmei (which I’ll be writing about soon) that raises far more questions than it answers. Most people will hate this, but if you like your art movies, or you want to watch something totally out of the ordinary – have a look for Angel’s Egg.

Kigeki

Ok, simple question: Can a ten-minute anime be good? Simple answer: If it’s “Kigeki”, then yes. Oh, hell yes. It’s not just the lovely artwork, or even the story, or the music (there’s a rendition of Ave Maria that would bring even the most hardened atheist to his knees) – it’s the fact that it does so much in 10 minutes, you feel you’ve been watching something that’s lasted much, much longer. Strangely, “Kigeki” means comedy and yet, a few scenes aside, this is anything but.

Set in Ireland in (I assume) the middle ages, a young girl – whose village is being threatened by English troops – runs off in search of the mysterious “Black Swordsman”, who only accepts books as payment for his services. Upon finding him, she hands him a book she took from home, knowing “it was the book he’s been looking for all his life”. There follows an almost-amusing interplay between the two, as the young girl, clearly in awe of this mysterious stranger, silently pesters him, while he peruses her offering. Finally, he smiles and agrees to help her.

The English duly arrive and are beaten back by the stranger and this is where things take a darker turn. It’s apparent that not only have the English been beaten, but something rather unwholesome has happened to their bodies. In addition, before leaving the swordsman makes a terrible promise to the girl, ensuring her silence. It ends as we see her, now grown, reflecting back on that day, as she stares at a field of red flowers.

Another largely silent offering, but which doesn’t need much dialogue anyway, and once again with only two characters shown on screen. It is the interaction between these two, as well as the story’s ability to stretch time, that make this a worthwhile project to watch.

Hotori – The Simple Hope for Joy

I saw a forum posting on ANN that described this as “AI without the suck” and whilst it made me chuckle, I also thought just how much the makers of that clunker would have benefited from watching this first. It’s a gentle and touching story that deals with the trauma of loss and hope rising from despair.

We start off meeting Ryou, who is actually an android, designed to have memories implanted in him, so that he will one day replace a couple’s lost son. He is currently undergoing this process as the story starts. He meets Hotori, a human girl (and the institute director’s daughter) who has the opposite problem – she has a disease that is gradually eroding her memory. The two become a symbol of hope (especially once Ryou’s “parents” see how far he is progressing towards becoming their “son”) and despair, as Hotori becomes more fearful of forgetting those dear to her. Finally, she decides that she would rather die with her memories intact and enlists the naive Ryou to help her.

Obviously I’m not going to give the ending away, but this really is a powerful piece of storytelling, beautifully acted and written. You sympathise with the characters (once again, the two central characters dominate proceedings, which occasional appearances from others) and the interaction between the boy-robot, who only knows what he’s been taught and the girl, able to see the bigger picture is masterful, especially as at no time does either slip out of their child persona.

Pale Cocoon

I think I’ve been gradually wandering closer to the beaten path as I’ve written this, so probably best to end off with one that’s right next to the well-trodden track. Pale Cocoon is not without its flaws – too much use of a voice over and wildly-swinging camera shots make up most of those – but they shouldn’t detract from what is a special little story.

Set at some point in the future, it’s an apocalyptic tale based on the premise that humanity has reached the point where they have been forced to live in an artificial structure constructed round their planet, as the planet’s surface has become uninhabitable. Over the years, the historical records have been lost or become corrupted and the story revolves around a couple (hmmm 2 characters again…) who work in the archives (Ura in reconstruction and Rika in analysis), trying to restore images and information to a usable state. However, it would appear as if humanity is giving up on itself and people no longer care. More and more employees are simply not arriving at work and interest in what the archives contain is waning.

At this point, they find and start to restore an old video clip (interestingly enough, they don’t recognise a book shown in the clip as a book – everything has become digitised in their world). As the restoration progresses, Ura (who might be described as an Earthophile – he keeps copies of every image he decodes) realises there is a very important message contained in the tape. Realising that the current crop of humanity are wrong about why they are living where they are and that all their history has been forgotten over time, he races for the upper levels of their living space, to be confronted with a symbol of hope (not to mention one hell of a plot twist. (Here’s a spoiler-intensive picture for you – open at own risk and don’t blame me if it spoils the story for you).

Despite the flaws mentioned earlier, the graphics are sublime (Shinkai-esque in a way), the soundtrack sparse and beautiful and the storytelling sound. Another to look out for, if you want to take a stroll outside the norm.

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