Voices of a Distant Star

 

Summary: 

 

            The year is 2046.  As the story begins, earth is at war with a mysterious alien force that wants to annihilate the human race.   Mikako (the main character) has an indelible bond with a boy named Noboru.  Early in the story, Mikako joins the interstellar battle as a pilot.  The only way to contact Noboru is to use the text message feature on both of their cell phones.  As Mikako is in space, risking her life to save mankind, she texts him, and Noboru texts her back and they keep a relationship from far, far away. 

 

            Text messages are taking an increasing amount of time to send, and receive. As Mikako travels farther and farther in space every day, messages will only take longer to send.  First it takes six months to send, then a year, and then 8.  Noboru ages, and Mikako barley grows older in the timelessness of space.  Though Noboru is ageing, and trying to move on, he still eagerly awaits a message from Mikako.

 

            With nice 3d animation, and traditional animation, and the great story all add up to one great film.  Through space and war, a couple can still love each other, even if it is 8 light years away. 

 

 

My Review:

 

            The relationship between Mikako and Noboru was very strong.  As the time it took to send and receive messages increased, the more each of them eagerly awaited their next message.  Though I thought Noboru could have been a little more emotional for a mostly romance story, it wasn’t that big of a deal.  The overall story and idea is simple, yet very interesting to watch, and makes great entertainment.

 

            Animation in the film was on par with The Place Promised in our Early Days.  With nice 3D animation in the background, and nice looking environments and good character models, this will most definitely keep you watching the movie, whether you completely despised it or not.  Though some of the 3D of some of the short battle scenes weren’t top notch, they weren’t that bad.  Also, the DVD seemed a bit choppy in the first 5 minutes of the film, I don’t know if it was my DVD or just my player, but it wasn’t that big of a deal.

 

            The soundtrack had some very memorizing tracks (meaning it stuck in your head) and it was just overall Good.  Though sometimes I think the music could have been louder, since some music is played during action sequences, and it was hard to hear the sound.  Characters had clean, crisp voices, and I enjoyed the dubbing of this film.

 

            Even though it is a short film (it’s roughly 25 minutes) it’s worth a buy, and if you’re a cheap person it’s a definite rental.  Though not the best work ever created, it’s good.  Very good, in fact it was made by one person, which is very outstanding. 

 

8/10 

 

DVD Extras:

 

• Award-winning short animated film titled She and Her Cat (Very good, I recommend you watch this).
• Interview with the creator, Makoto Shinkai
• Director’s Cut, with alternate vocals
• Original Production Animatic
• Four original Japanese Trailers
• Reversible Cover