Origin: Spirits of the Past Anime Movie ReviewA Story by Carrie Ott A (mostly) spoiler-free review of the anime movie Origin. I simply give a critique on plot, characters, etc. A CHRISTIAN EVALUATION is included at the end, for some viewers and as a parental guide. Origin: Spirits of the Past A (mostly) spoiler-free review of the “green” anime film Title: Origin: Spirits of the Past Alternate Title: Gin-iro no kami no Agito Genre: Nature/Adventure/Action/Sci-fi Episodes: 1 (movie) Running Time: Appox. 98 minutes Warning: Due to the nature of the film, this synopsis contains plot spoilers. If you wish to read the non-spoiler synopsis, read only the first paragraph. That should give you enough info. Synopsis: Agito lives in a world wracked by destruction - a malevolent dragon made from a living plant destroyed the planet many years ago. Since then, the forest has become hostile toward all of mankind. Agito’s village " Neutral " is the mediator between the aggressive woodland and Ragna, the militaristic nation seeking to destroy the forest. Agito and the rest of the villagers in Neutral believe that man can coexist peacefully with the forest. However, when the past and the present collide, he finds that all of his beliefs may be entirely misguided. After a slight skirmish between Agito and the forest druids over a portion of water " a scarce commodity in Neutral " Agito descends into a cave and discovers a strange, shining machine. As he climbs onto it, a glass pod erupts from inside, exposing a sleeping girl. She introduces herself as Toola and Agito’s world is thrown into chaos. Toola reveals that she is from the past. She wears a strange electronic necklace (also known as a Raban) around her neck, which allows her to communicate and perform a variety of other tasks. It is this Raban that draws the attention of Shunack, a powerful leader from the neighboring Ragna. He pursues her in an attempt to retrieve her Raban, with which he can activate the dreaded ESTOC (an “Environmental Defragmentation System”). Knowing that her father was the creator of ESTOC she follows Shunack willingly, wanting to show Agito how degenerate his world is. She knows that if she and Shunack can activate ESTOC, the program will return the world to its previous, intact state before the raging, genetically engineered plants destroyed it. But this is exactly what the forest fears. Calling on Agito, the forest “enhances” him by genetically engineering him with the capability to draw on the power of the trees. Two strange sprites tell Agito that Toola must never activate ESTOC, for the program will destroy the world in order to rebuild it. When Agito and Shunack clash over the activation of ESTOC, it is up to Toola to decide " will she deactivate ESTOC and strand herself in this primitive, impoverished world? Or will she run the recreation program, trusting in her father’s research to save her and return her world to the way it was? And…will the forest be satisfied with her choice? Plot: As you can see, I’ve given the entire plot within the synopsis. Sorry about that. Origins is confusing enough that if I were to be vague it would just make it really confusing. Honestly, I can’t really tell if the plotline is very confusing or very simple. Perhaps its simplicity makes one over-think it too much. It’s enough to say that Origins takes the cliché concept of a post-apocalyptic world and adds some fresh flair to it. There is a lot of information to compact into 98 minutes of screen time, so I felt that at some points the movie was rushed. It seemed like a scene was missing, and a few times I said to myself, “Woah, did I miss something?” But despite the lack of firm continuity, the movie still managed to bring out a nice story that I could still follow well. The concept of genetically engineered plants-turned-evil was really great, somewhat like King of Thorn only a little more logical. While the story was intriguing, its novelty soon wore thin, and by the end of the movie I was ready be done. Not to say it was a bad movie, just that all the dramatic flair and spice of the beginning was lost on a semi-predictable and (in some cases) strange ending. In a nutshell, although this movie does not follow the typical archetypes of filmmaking, it’s still worth watching if you’re a fan of anime. Characters: Despite the small number of actual “main characters,” I enjoyed the cast. Toward the end, Agito became a little bit larger-than-life, but that’s the way heroes are supposed to be, right? Toola was sufficiently confused and naïve for her part, and I liked the debonair and kind of saucy attitude brought to life by Shunack. If I must make one complaint about the characters, it is their screams. Yes, you heard me (no pun intended). The people in this movie don’t just scream, they scream. Agito could start shouting one long, “Toola!” and you could leave the room, pop some popcorn, and come back in and he’d still be on the same line. That got a little annoying, but other than that the characters were enjoyable. Animation: Most anime movies are animated well, and Origins is no exception. While there is nothing quite outstanding (except for the aggravated plants) about the animation, it is still crisp and colorful. I must throw in here the background art for the series, though. This is one of the only anime movies where the still-life artwork caught my eye. Considering Neutral is a totally destroyed city, the artwork portraying the rubble, dust, and debris is gorgeous. It’s like you can feel the softness or hardness of the ground. One side shot in particular that I remember shows the layers of dust and stone that settled after the destruction, and you can actually see the progression from dust to huge boulders at the bottom. It’s very well done. Music: Well, I can’t really be an unbiased reviewer in this area. The music in the movie is largely by KOKIA, who is one of my favorite Japanese artists. She sings with such a haunting voice that is perfectly utilized in this movie. Her music gives a feeling of being in a foreign land…it’s difficult to describe. The directors couldn’t have done better with the music, since KOKIA was perfectly suited for the job. Ending: The ending of Origins is what’s to be expected. It was predictable, for the most part. While it gives a satisfactory close to the movie, it’s nothing out of the ordinary. I do have to say, though, that you should watch through the credits for a little bit extra at the end. Druids show up again, but this time the story behind their significance provides for some interesting thoughts. While the ending certainly didn’t fail by any means, it was simply a nice ending. Nothing spectacular. Recommendation: I would recommend this movie for anyone who wants something nice to watch. It was a good thing to do when I had nothing else to occupy my time. Many anime lovers will probably enjoy this film, even if they don’t choose to own it. Audience: I do not recommend this movie for viewers under the age of 10. The movie is pretty innocent, with very little blood or violence. Those under 10 might find the druids or the large fighting machines a bit scary. Final Grade: 7 out of 10, for a simple yet enjoyable plotline that allowed for a nice, relaxing 98 minutes of my time. A lackluster ending, an deficiency of anything truly groundbreaking, and a gradual decline in intensity keep this movie from getting higher score. For the Christian Audience: This movie has very little of, well, anything. Language, violence, and sex are either non-existent or (in the case of violence) very minimal. The only negative comment this movie gets in the Christian section is its strong portrayal of the connection between man and nature as, eventually, a single entity. This can kind of be considered naturalistic/pantheistic, so be aware that the concept that “humans are the forest” or “humans and the forest are equals” is often presented. Conclusion: View at Your Own Discretion.
Want to buy Origin: Spirits of the Past? Click the links below. I’ve set up the links so that you’ll go to a new page to view the item, then you can click and go to the store to buy the item! Enjoy! © 2011 Carrie OttAuthor's Note
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Carrie OttAboutWant some writing advice? Here's a link to one of my articles - http://www.squidoo.com/understanding-poetry-rhyming-meter-and-form UPDATE: Here's the link to my blog, where I will be recording my .. more..Writing
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