Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #17368 in DVD
• Released on: 2007-09-03
• Rating: Suitable for 12 years and over
• Format: PAL
• Original language: Japanese
• Number of discs: 2
• Running time: 125 minutes

Video Description
From Makoto Shinkai, the man hailed as Japan's "new Miyazaki," come two unusual and evocative tales of love and relationships. In Voices of a Distant Star, when a mysterious alien force begins to attack Earth, young Mikako feels compelled to join the resistance. But when she does so, she leaves behind the young man that she loves. As she flies further into deep space, the time between her messages to him becomes days, then months and finally years. While she ages a few days, he grows years older. Can love transcend time and space?

The Place Promised in Our Early Days follows the lives of three young people as they grow from middle school into adulthood. A mysterious tower provides a powerful magnet for their ambitions and dreams, but when Sayuri suddenly disappears, Hiroko and Takyua find themselves on divergent paths. It will take time and the threat of war to draw the friends back together again. But will it be too late? Or will love provide the key to conquer all?

Synopsis
This collection presents a double feature of films from popular anime director Makoto Shinkai: in VOICES OF A DISTANT STAR (2003), a young female pilot lives and fights in the far reaches of outer space while communicating with her earthbound lover via cell-phone text messages; and in THE PLACE PROMISED IN OUR EARLY DAYS (2004), three teenagers are challenged to support each other in a futuristic world that is rapidly changing, altering the kids' perceptions of time and space in beguiling ways.

Customer Reviews

Doesn't quite work
On the positive side:

- This DVD collection is better value than buying the films separately. There is a fair bit of material here for £20.
- Considering that `Voices of a distant star' was produced entirely by the efforts of one man (on a desktop PC), it should be regarded as a major achievement and inspiration to other film makers.

On the negative side:

- His sci-fi story lines are lightweight and underdeveloped (Philipp K. Dick this ain't!).
- The animation is workmanlike, but not spectacular (the CGI bits are the most effective).
- His use of background music is overbearing, and spoils the mood of the film.
- The dialogue is mostly touchy/feely adolescent nonsense, lacking in depth and intelligence.
- `The Place Promised ...' is way too long, and would have benefited from being cut down to 45 mins. I found it hard to stay interested all of the way through.

Judged on their own merits, my own opinion is that Shinkai's movies are a bit overrated. I have no doubt many people will disagree with me. But for me, neither of these two films quite worked. His mixture of sci-fi and friendship/relationship drama is not an effective formula.

`Voices ......' 4 stars.
`The Place Promised ...' 3 stars.

Great Anime
These are great Anime's one short 25min film and a full length film, very good if you love slice-of-life anime. not really exciting but gr8 stories all the same.