The Place Promised in Our Early Days - The Detroit News
- The Detroit News
- Eric Henrickson
- 08/02/05
- click here
"...stunning."
'The Place Promised in Our Early Days' (ADV Films) - The title's a bit long, but there's nothing clunky about this stirring animated drama from Makoto Shinkai, who single-handedly created the touching short 'Voices of a Distant Star' a few years back.
Like 'Voices,' 'Days' is about young teens drawn into a war they don't fully understand. In this case, the group is a trio of middle-schoolers. Takuya and Hiroki are best friends who are building a plane in an abandoned building near the factory where they work. They both have a fascination with the enormous tower built near the border of a neighboring country, and both have budding feelings for a girl named Sayuri, whom they promise to take flying to see the tower. In this alternate Earth history, another country, called the Union, has split off from Japan, and tensions are escalating.
After setting up the relationships, the movie jumps three years ahead. The boys are attending different high schools, and they haven't seen Sayuri since that day they made their promise. Hiroki is in Tokyo while Takuya is doing research into parallel worlds.
The team he's on is trying to discover how to replace bits of our world with bits of a parallel world, which is apparently what that tower was built to do. But since Sayuri disappeared, the tower has been inactive. She's trapped in a state of perpetual dreaming, and is somehow connected to the tower - and to Hiroki.
As soon as Takuya started working on that parallel world, I got nervous. It would be so easy to veer into that existential, maddening (but still potentially fascinating) area that's epitomized by the likes of 'RahXephon.'
Smartly, 'Days' doesn't do that. It stays firmly grounded in this world. The tower's purpose and Takuya's research are just part of an arms race, and the people of Japan (allied with the United States) are trying to catch up.
Like 'Voices,' 'Days' is rooted in character, not plot. It moves at just the right pace and tells just enough information. The ending is open to interpretation.
And, wow, does it look stunning. Makoto has teamed with character designer and animation director Ushio Tazawa, and they present a beautiful landscape. Every scene is impeccably lit, and the use of color, especially in sunsets, is breathtaking.
The dub cast - Jessica Boone, Kalob Martinez and Chris Patton - do a fine job, especially Boone. But as much as I like Patton's voice (still love his 'Full Metal Panic' work), ADV (and other studios) could stand to expand its voice talent pools a bit more.
If you enjoyed 'Voices of a Distant Star,' you'll like this even better. If you haven't seen it, grab both at the same time and make a night of it.
Posted on Tuesday, August 02, 2005 (Archive on Friday, September 02, 2005)