Toon Review - Voices of a Distant Star(ほしのこえ) (2002)

Title:	The Voices of a Distant Star(ほしのこえ)
Genre:	Sci-Fi, Romance, Mecha
Directed by:	Makoto Shinkai
Produced by:	Makoto Shinkai, Yoshihiro Hagiwara

Before the Review...

I have always wanted to be in a great relationship since I did not have many dating experiences in my youth. I think this is why romantic stories always gives me a sense of joy and anime containing love stories intrigues me.

Anyways, back to the review...

Along with romantic anime, I really love to watch/read Sci-fi Anime/Manga with high tech gigantic robots. So I decided to review one of the various Gundam series or the current Sci-Fi Mecha Anime .

I have searched the Anime that I have watched before, and considered some good romantic/sci-fi animations.

As a result, I have decided to start slow and picked up the old Anime that was released in 2002.

It is called a 'The Voices of a Distant Star'

Must watch it at least twice.

Abstract:

'The Voices of a Distant Star' shows the world with human race VS. alien race called Tarsians. However, the story mainly focuses on middle school student Mikako Nagamine and Noboru Terao. Terao and Mikako were in a relationship, and they thought that they would go to the same high school together.

It seems that this relationship would last until Mikako was selected as a Pilot of a Tracer.
(Tracer is a high-tech military robot)

In order to investigate the space and to destroy the alien species who attacked human race, the fleet goes to the space, and Mikako was one of them. The only method of communication between Noboru and Mikako was through email. As the distance between two of them increases, the time period that Noboru gets email from Mikako takes longer and longer.

Review:

This animation is 30 minute short-running Anime. Since this anime is quite short, Makoto Shinkai mainly focuses on the main characters' relationship. Also, since this Anime is made by one person, Makoto Shinkai, the quality of character is not that great.

I want better quality on character!!

But that does not mean this Anime is terrible. Every scene is a masterpiece when you consider this is a one man made Anime. The Animation director Makoto Shinkai is the one who usually focuses on scenes, backgrounds, etc. You would notice this as you watch Makoto Shinkai's other animations.

There are few Anime that has great impact within a short time, and this Anime is one of those kind. Sure there are better Anime out there but if you like the Makoto Shinkai's style of storytelling, I definitely recommend this Anime.

So watch it, ladies and gentlemen.

-Things to consider watching The Voices of a Distant Star...
1. Everything except music and voice were done by Makoto Shinkai. It took about 2 years to finish this whole 30 minute animation.

2. Not only just anime, but there are several other media mixes that came out with different endings. For example, there are novels,  Manga, and Drama CD. Each may have their own taste, so I would suggest to try those too.

Recommendation:

If you liked 'The Voices of a Distant Star', I would suggest to watch these anime.

• The Place Promised in Our Early Days(雲のむこう、約束の場所, 2004): directed by Makoto Shinkai, this Anime is 90 minutes long. If you liked the romance part of his Anime, I would suggest this along with the 5 Centimeters per Second.

• 5 centimeters per second(秒速5センチメートル, 2007)

• Gurren Lagann(天元突破グレンラガン, 2007) : This Sci-fi Anime has 27 episodes of massive action packed Giant Robot Battle. There's also a Romance part in it, so you would enjoy this quite a lot.

• Code Geass (コードギアス 反逆のルルーシュ, 2007): Sensitive subjects are in this Anime(For example, Terror, some political issues, etc.), but this Anime is another Sci-fi Anime that I would suggest to you. Other than this one, there is several other Code Geass series that came out already(Code Geass: Akito the Exiled, Code Geass: Nightmare of Nunnally, and so on). If you are interested, watch/read those, too.

• Starship Troopers : Invasion(2012): Starship battles, fight with armored suit, and the war against alien is always fun to watch and this animation is full of those.

teTT
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