Review of Memories
THIS IS A SPOILER-FREE REVIEW Ohtomo Katsuhiro is mostly known for his work on the legendary anime movie "Akira". But if you go deeper and look into his history as a writer and storyteller, you´ll find out that there is so much more to him than just that. "Memories" is certainly one of the more special entries in his filmography. It contains in it 3 short storys that are all between 20 and 45 minutes long, meaning that you can basically finish the series in about 2 hours. These stories are "Magnetic Rose" , "Stink Bomb" and "Canon Fodder". This review will be structured differently thanmy usual ones, simply because of this unusual structure. I´m gonna rank all 3 series individually and then decide on a final score.
1. Magnetic Rose (Science-Fiction, Space, Psychological Horror)
The most well-known out of the three is definitely "Magnetic Rose", mainly because of it´s glaring similarities with Akira. Set in the far reaches of space this story kicked in incredibly strong. The cinematography was out of this world, perfectly capturing the silent and deadly setting. Once the story gets going, the psychological aspects start to kick in, sending our main characters on a journey through their minds, all while trying to escape the massive space-station they are in. This is by far the episode with the most memorable characters. It builds everyone up as good as possible in 45 minutes of runtime. The ending is open, and leaves a lot to the viewers imagination. It can certainly be said that this is a story of love, loss and death wrapped in a sci-fi setting. The animation is simply incredible. If you are into the 80s anime aesthetic like me, you will instantly fall in love with this episode. The movements are crisp and fluent, sometimes even rivalling the likes of Disney. The music is incredible. Space and Opera have never fitted together as well as they do here. The psychological horror is however not for everyone and i thought that the last 20 minutes lacked the sense of urgency that is presented in the beginning. I think this could have very easily been it´s own movie, but it is still pretty damn good as it is.
8/10
2. Stink Bomb (Dark Humour, Comedy)
Well this is truly something that i have NEVER seen anywhere else. "Stink Bomb", in stark contrast to both of the other two movies, does NOT take itself seriously. It´s characters are completely comical and stupid, the plot has no explanation whatsoever and there is no message or deep plotline to hold everything together. The whole insanity of the plot is enough to keep the viewer engaged. You will find yourself laughing while people are being brutally killed. The comedy is very in-your- face black humour and i would say that you definitely need to be someone who can cope with something like that. Our main character has to be the stupidest person that i have ever seen in an anime. After a calm start the episode gets going and never stops, constantly getting more insane and ridiculous until the very final twist which left me crying of laughter. There is no way that a story like this could happen in a live-action format. This is something you can only do in anime, and i am all here for it. This episode gets a bad wrap online, because it is so unique and quirky and not for everyone and i can understand that.
8/10
3. Canon Fodder (Dystopia, Steampunk, Military
This is maybe my favorite short-story ever. Canon Fodder, by far the shortest of the three (around 25 minutes) tells the dark and grim reality of life in an ultra-militaristic totalitarian state that is constantly at war. The main appeal here lies in it´s subtle messaging and the little details thrown in at every location. The whole atmosphere is something special. Rarely has a story pulled me in in such short amount of time. The animation here is outstanding because throughout the whole 25 minutes, there is no cut. It is all one continous longshot with fading backgrounds and slow camera movement. The artstyle fits the themes perfectly and the slow but powerful soundtrack undermine the state of the massive iron city the episode is based in. The ending is subtle and abrupt, but i think that serves the story very well, because it gives the viewer the chance to imagine his own ending.
I genuinely think you can make a full on multy-season anime just with the amount of ideas and arcs presented in this short-film. This was truly something special, and in my opinion, a cut above the other two.
9/10
Well, this was a rollercoaster ride for sure. Although these movies sound, look and feel completely different, they all are unique and stem from the same creator. I encourage anyone to watch them, especially if you liked „Akira“ or are a fan of oldschool animation.
- Marco_Yooo
FINAL SCORE - 9/10