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"Say, we are separated by space and the Earth like lovers, aren't we?"
 Voices of a Distant Star is a 30-minute OVA that tells the story of two high school students torn apart from each other across space and time. Mikako Nagamine was recruited to join a U.N. fleet traveling beyond the solar system to attack an alien race that destroyed a colony on Mars. Noboru Terao is the boy she left behind, who can do nothing but wait for messages from her on his cell phone. It is a magnificently told story that packs more emotion into 25 minutes of animation than many 13 or 26 episode series do in their entirety. It can be related to on many levels by those who have been in love and those who haven't yet experienced love; it touches the sense of wonder inside oneself, leaving you amazed at the power of such a short tale. The brevity of Voices of a Distant Star is actually a key factor to its emotional punch. If it had been extended to span multiple episodes there's no saying it would keep the raw emotion that it exhibits. The only complaint to the brevity of the film is that the entire story may not have been told. In Japan a novelization of the story was created that features an extended "ending" to the story. It has been translated by AoD forum user "Ahjenta" and is available at http://world.std.com/~chadwick/Translations/Hoshi_no_Koe.doc but should only be read after one has seen the film! |
 The plot is only one-half of the wonder that is Voices of a Distant Star. Even if Voices of a Distant Star had been animated and produced by a studio like Madhouse or Production I.G. it could still be considered a magnificent work; but to the amazement of many, the entire piece was completely animated by one man, Makoto Shinkai. He won a major independent animation award for his short piece She and Her Cat (three versions of this film are included on the Voices of a Distant Star DVD) and subsequently quit his job at a computer game company to work full-time on Voices of a Distant Star. Shinkai designed all of the backgrounds, character designs, and CG animation in Voices, and produced all of the animation on his Apple at home. He had his wife (then fiancée) do voice-over for Mikako while he read for Noboru in order to see that all of the scenes fit and that the timings were right. Voices of a Distant Star was then picked up for distribution by Mangazoo who helped Shinkai hire actual voice-over actors and a composer to score the film. |
 The visuals in Voices of a Distant Star are breathtaking to say the least. The vivid colors and amazing use of light and shadows make Voices of a Distant Star a treat to watch even with out the audio. The backgrounds are consistently amazing whether it be a shot of the twilight sky, Mars, Jupiter, or an alien planet 8.6 light years from Earth. The animation is not perfect, but given the nature of the film it might be expected. Still, the CG Tracer scenes are on par with some of the CG shows that Gonzo has produced, and the settings (such as Mikako's cockpit and the planets of the Sirius system) are well thought out and designed. |
 Voices of a Distant Star was licensed for release in Region 1 by ADV Films, and they have done an outstanding job on the DVD. ADV went so far as to obtain the original hard-drive that Shinkai used while creating Voices and used that as the master for the DVD. This means that the Voices of a Distant Star is a perfect recreation of the original piece, and has a video quality matched only by the Pixar Animated films (which use the same technique). One can see it when watching the DVD as well; the visuals are brighter and stand out more than ever. The DVD contains three audio tracks: English, Japanese, and the "Director's Cut" with Shinkai and his wife*. The Japanese track is standard fare, while the "Director's Cut" packs a bit more of an emotional punch. The English track, written and directed by Steven Foster, deviates from the direct translation of the Japanese but essentially tells the same story. What saves it is the emotion Foster was able to pull out of actors Cynthia Martinez and Adam Conlon that matches the Japanese track nicely. ADV has a website for Voices of a Distant Star as well. |
 Also included on the DVD is Shinkai's short film She and Her Cat which in itself is highly enjoyable to watch. A slice-of-life story, it is narrated by a cat whom has been picked up by a young single girl. There are three versions of it: a digest version, a three minute version and the complete five minute version. I recommend watching the five minute version first to get the whole story, although watching them in order can be interesting in its own right. The original production animatic is also included. It is another version of the film made up of story boards, and scenes from the various stages of production. There are also the preview trailers that Shinkai made for the film (which still feature his wife doing narration), and an extensive interview with Shinkai himself. Running eight minutes long, Shinkai talks about his inspiration and the major factors that went into the making of Voices of a Distant Star. While he is speaking there are cuts to the actual locations that Shinkai used as backgrounds in Voices. All in all, ADV put together an amazing DVD for this film. At the reduced price of $19.99, it can easily be picked up by any anime fan. |
At only 30 minutes long, Voices of a Distant Star is required viewing for any
anime fan, let alone anyone else. One doesn't need to have a deep background
in anime or Japanese culture to appreciate the simple yet amazing story to be
told. A modern day classic, Voices of a Distant Star is a film people will
(hopefully) be talking about for a long time to come. If you haven't seen it
already, you need to do so today!
*The original DVD that ADV released was missing the "Director's Cut" audio track and had a few other problems. To check if yours is one of the original copies, in the DVD menu under "Languages", the third option should be "Director's Cut with English Subtitles". If it is not, you can contact ADV at
returns@advfilms.com requesting a replacement.
Text/Layout ©David Rehfeldt, property of Anime on DVD.
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