Review of Voices of a Distant Star (2002) by Hunter D — 24 Feb 2010

VOICES OF A DISTANT STAR is impressive considering itâ??s all the work of one man, Makoto Shinkai, who went on to make THE PLACE PROMISED IN OUR EARLY DAYS. The concept behind the story is one Iâ??m mildly jealous of, the plot being about a young girl who volunteers to go into space to fight an alien threat, leaving her lover behind, and as the physical distance between them grows as she travels light years away from Earth, so does the emotional distance between them, even though their connection never really goes away and their thoughts are always with each other.

They communicate via what appears to be e-mail on their cell phones, and as she gets further away from Earth, the messages begin to take years to get back to him. Itâ??s like a sci-fi Wong Kar-Wai movie filled with the sentimentality that youâ??ll only find in Japanese anime, mixed with some stock mecha action, which I really couldâ??ve done without.

For a short that only runs 25 minutes, itâ??s really effective in conveying the distance and emotion between the characters, even if it does devolve into the sort of silly stuff you see in overly sentimental anime romances.

The mecha sequences feel like a calling card for Shinkai to show off his skills as an animator, and for that he does it nicely, even if the mecha designs and actions are the sort of beer-can launching, pose fighting youâ??ve seen in every mecha anime since MOBILE SUIT GUNDAM.

Also the idea of a seemingly high school-age girl (still in her school uniform no less) piloting a giant robot for the military in space without giving us a reason is, well, pretty dumb. But what really draws me to this short is the overall concept of lovers drifting apart because of distance, the catch being that distance is literally going across space and time.

Itâ??s a great idea that could be explored further. Flawed though it may be, the good things that this film had to offer made it worth seeking out.