Today the spotlight falls on ADV’s R1 DVD release of the 2002 OVA Hoshi no Koe (release title: Voices of a Distant Star), part of the two-volume Shinkai Collection first launched in 2005.

DVD BLURB

An extract from the blurb on the back of the DVD jacket follows:

It is 2046 when a mysterious alien force begins their annihilation of the human race. Leaving behind the one person she loves, Mikako joins the interstellar battle as a pilot. As Mikako flies further into space, her only connection with Noboru are text messages sent from her mobile phone.

And so – while Mikako risks her life to save mankind – Noboru waits. At first days, then months, then years for each new message that will let him know whether Mikako is still alive. And, while she barely grows older in the timelessness of space, Noboru ages. The two lovers, worlds apart, desperately strive to remain connected as the gap between them widens at a frightening pace.

PACKAGING

The DVD case has a reversible jacket (top) with the side featuring Hoshi no Koe shown by default. The other side of the jacket (visible in the first image under the “DVD Contents” section below) features director Shinkai Makoto’s 1999 OVA Kanojo to Kanojo no Neko.

Reversible jackets are always a welcome bonus, but I’m especially pleased with the inclusion of one in this particular release as it draws attention to Shinkai’s first OVA. While Kanojo to Kanojo no Neko’s length – a mere five minutes – and lack of associated material (trailers, full soundtrack, promotional items, etc.) make a separate DVD release impractical, this debut work certainly deserves a bit of extra recognition to make up for its relegation to the extras menu of another film.

DVD CONTENTS

As described earlier, this DVD release contains two films on a single disc (above, left): Hoshi no Koe, the 25-minute feature presentation; and the shorter Kanojo to Kanojo no Neko, which is included as one of the disc’s extras.

Extra features:

The language set-up menu offers three options: English 5.1, Japanese 5.1 with English subtitles, and the “director’s cut” version with English subtitles.

An extra audio CD (above, right) contains the soundtrack of Hoshi no Koe. Each of the twelve pieces on the CD has a corresponding entry in the “Soundtrack Notes” section of the companion booklet (page 27), where composer Tenmon briefly outlines his thoughts on the score (and reveals his favourite track).

BOOKLET

The 27-page companion booklet covers some of the major steps in the production process and supplies a wealth of detailed background information. Shinkai’s introduction (appropriately titled “In the Beginning”) offers some valuable personal insights into the origins of Hoshi no Koe and acknowledges the contributions of all who helped him during the making of his project. (It also briefly touches on Kanojo to Kanojo no Neko.) After the illustrated “Explanation of Terms” and a few “Making of” pages, Shinkai’s friend Tenmon chimes in with a few thoughts of his own on the score that he composed for the film.

IMPRESSION

Hoshi no Koe is a fine example of what can be accomplished when a mediocre story is beautifully told. The ideas and themes that underpin the plot – friendship, love, isolation – could have supported a more compelling treatment than the weak science-fiction vehicle that ultimately carries them in the finished project. Better results might have been achieved with a 13-episode series, a multi-part OVA or perhaps even a full-length feature film, but when you’ve got less than 25 minutes to tell the tale there isn’t nearly enough time to sketch out the background elements in sufficient detail to lend the story more credibility.

Yet for all its weaknesses, the story does manage to engage the viewer with its portrayal of the building uncertainty and sense of loss that accompanies the ever-growing distance between the two central figures, separated not merely by space but also by time. As each day passes, Mikako’s e-mails take longer and longer to reach Noboru, at one point requiring more than eight years for the briefest transmission to be completed. And all this time Noboru continues to age, in the course of the film progressing inexorably from youth to adulthood even as the Mikako of the messages remains a teenager. Distance, isolation, a lack of certainty about the future – powerful feelings that Shinkai himself experienced in his youth and later served as an inspiration for his work (including his unique animation style), as he writes in the introduction to the companion booklet:

Around the time I was about Mikako and Noboru’s age, I had the feeling that I was always looking up at the sky. Just like a lot of other kids, from an adult’s point of view, my problems were probably a matter of course and trivial. In my opinion, though, I harbored many truly serious problems. . . . Back then I didn’t know how to deal with those types of problems efficiently. I just gazed at the passing clouds and the star-filled sky, and thought, “These problems of mine are small things not worth taking note of in this world.” . . . Even now, the distinctly prominent outline of the scenery from those times remains strongly impressed upon me. That strong feeling of, “I have a feeling that I am alone in this vast world, but I am here” . . .

Themes and feelings of this kind require a special treatment, one that inspires contemplation rather than suspense or excitement. Shinkai rises to the challenge by deploying the hauntingly beautiful set animation style that has become the hallmark of his work. Backgrounds are painted with extraordinary detail in rich, vibrant colours that seem to surpass in depth and delicacy any landscapes one might expect to see in real life, contributing to the dreamlike, almost meditative atmosphere of Hoshi no Koe. Unlike his character designs, Shinkai’s set animation is more or less already fully developed at this stage, to the point where it seems as if some settings might blend seamlessly into the two films he made after this one.

Character animation is the film’s weakest point. Like the story, it’s not bad but one feels it could have been handled better. Tracking the evolution of Shinkai’s art from Hoshi no Koe through to his most recent project, Byousoku 5 Centimeter, one notes that even though his renderings of human figures have improved quite considerably in the five years between the two films, they still leave something to be desired.

Tenmon’s score is a worthy companion to Shinkai’s animation, relying on gentle piano-based compositions that perfectly match the wistful mood of the film.

Final assessment: A flawed yet singularly beautiful work of art, Hoshi no Koe is a fitting entry in the corpus of the gifted animation director Shinkai Makoto, and this DVD release presents it in a suitable manner with a fine selection of supplementary material.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, January 27th, 2009 at 5:34 am and is filed under Anime, Reviews.You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.