So tonight we had some folks over and watched a new anime movie we picked up about a month ago – Origin: Spirits of the Past. The movie is very good in several ways. The story itself is not especially original at its root. It centres on a world in which humanity becomes the architect of its own destruction via environmental suicide. In an attempt to develop forests that can survive under extremely inhospitable conditions through genetic engineering on the lunar surface something goes wrong and the moon is split when forest explodes from he labs and plummets to the earth raining destruction across the surface. Most of humanity is destroyed and the forest reigns supreme with a sort of intellect. The film is set 300 year later as part of humanity attempts to find a way to live in harmony with the forest while another part seek its destruction the military means (we never learn).

 

The animation is fantastic with some computer animation cell shaded to blend very well with the more traditionally animated majority. I think the music is particularly well done…especially the opening and closing themes although it tends toward the over-dramatic at times. English voice acting is good and offered in Dolby 5.1. The movie has a serious environmental moral along the sam lines of the Miyazaki classic Princess Mononoke and would be better received if Mononoke had never been done. All in all a very enjoyable film and definitely worth seeing.

 

The film was directed by Keniichi Sugiyama in 2006 and produced by Gonzo. I have never heard of Sugiyama before but if this film is any sign he’s got a bright future ahead of him.