"Memories" is an omnibus of three short films that is collectively about 100 minutes long. "Magnetic Rose" is the first, and while it had some good design work and the animation was great, I felt this short got unnecessarily intense in the last act. "Stink Bomb" is the second, It also has some great animation (There is one shot with spacesuits in a tunnel which contains an incredibly live-action movie like glare effect), though I felt the short only really picked up in the second half with some very fantastic and energetic action sequences which contrast the rather scary atmosphere of the first half. "Cannon Fodder" is the last short, and I think it is definitely the best; I trust Otomo's directing to be very non-gripping, and really liked how the short's focus was simply seeing a day in the life of a fictional world presented very matter-of-fact-ly, this allowed the appeal of the short to come from the environment that was presented instead of the audience's thoughts while watching the short. The movie ends with a nice techno dance piece that plays during the credits roll. "Memories" overall has some uniformly great animation, though the appeal of the film may be limited by a sprinkling of some mature imagery (and some PG-13-level swearing in the English subtitles). I personally think that the films get better as they go on, but I could imagine the argument that "Magnetic Rose" is the best simply due to the engagement factor of the short film. Watching this film was a good time, and I think that it has an appeal to a broad range of audiences, not just Anime fans.Read full review
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned
"Memories" is a DVD containing three short movies that all have to deal with the sunbject of memories. I mainly purchased this item because I wanted to see the first short movie, "Magnetic Rose". I feel that out of all three ("Stink Bomb" and "Cannon Fodder" being the other titles) "Magnetic Rose" was the strongest. All three have wonderful animation and music that go along great with the picture. I strongly encourage people to see this film. The great thing about the work is that both anime and non-anime fans will really enjoy this DVD!
If you think "Naruto" when japanese animation comes to your mind, then this is - perhaps - NOT the product you want. Otomo's storytelling is impeccable, and his art direction flawless. Much in the same way Kurosawa looked for the humanity in characters, Otomo uses the "flash" of fantasy to weave a deeper tale than meets the eye. This collection of short animations is a must for any enthusiast of good animation, a joy to watch again and again.
THE ANIMATION AND STORYTELLING IS TOP NOTCH.MY FAVORITE WAS"STINK BOMB"."MAGNETIC ROSE" WAS A DAZZLING MIX OF OLD(VICTORIAN AGE?)AND NEW."CANNON FODDER"WAS VERY ORIGINAL WITH IT'S QUIRKY STYLE OF ANIMATION.I ORIGINALLY CHECKED THIS OUT FROM THE LOCAL LIBRARY.I HAD TO USE THE SUBTITLES BECAUSE IT'S IN JAPANESE LANGUAGE.HIGHLY RECOMMENDED FOR THOSE WHO LIKE ANIMATION DONE WELL.
Great story telling and awesome animation!
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: New
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