Memories (1997)

recommended

one of my absolute favorites!

It's an amazing and heartbreaking story.

This is a must-see and one of the best documentaries - and films - of this year.

Kanojo no omoide 4/10 - Some great music, the rest is only okay"Kanojo no omoide" is a Japanese science fiction animated movie from 20 years ago. A couple astronauts hear strange singing from a place they considered deserted. So they go on a journey to find out who or what is the reason for this strange occurrence. The director here is Kôji Morimoto, who is probably a name to animation fans these days as he also worked on a segment of the Animatrix movie. However, I must say that even if I liked the animation in here, I cannot say that i found the story too interesting. The whole tragedy plot in terms of love, fatherhood etc. was a bit over the top the longer the film went and it was also some weird contrast to the horror elements in here. All in all, I can recommend this film only for the beautiful music used in several parts. I think it would not have been the worst decision to keep this at 30 minutes max instead of 45. Not recommended.Taiho no Machi 4/10 - Never tries to make a statement on (anti-)war, but the storytelling perspective is fairly mediocre"Taiho no Machi" or "Cannon Fodder" is a Japanese animated short film from 1995, so this one is also already over 20 years old. At slightly over 20 minutes, it is the shortest by far from the trilogy of films included on Memorîzu and Katsuhiro Ôtomo is not just the writer as usual this time, but also the director. At the beginning and end, the focus is on a boy and his family and how they deal with life in a place that is vastly influenced by the military. In-between there are tons of war action and army references and we even see a character on one occasion who through his beard may have a bit too much resemblance with Adolf Hitler. Anyway, it's not a Nazi film or anything, but it is much more about the mystery who they are fighting and why, which is an idea I like. Still the exact execution here did not seem too memorable to me and the animation style wasn't really to m,y liking either I must admit, but that's just personal preference and not really because it looks older than mid-1990s. The exact plot and attention to detail, especially about the story rather than the animation could have been a bit better too and as a consequence I found most characters really forgettable, even the key players. About the voice acting I cannot say too much as I focused on the English subtitles, but I guess it wasn't too bad. Still all in all, this is not my favorite from the Ôtomo trilogy. But it's also definitely not bad enough to be a negative deal-breaker that may keep you from watching the entire thing. Nonetheless I give it a thumbs-down as a whole, this one here at least. Not recommended.Saishu Heiki 6/10 - What a difference the wrong medication makes"Saishu Heiki" or "Stink Bomb" is a Japanese anime short film from 1995 that runs for 40 minutes and was written by Katsuhiro Ôtomo and directed by Tensai Okamura, both pretty prolific in their fields. This film is easily over 20 years old already now and the story is about a young man who takes the wrong pills and eventually ends up as an environmental and military catastrophe. It is an extremely bizarre story indeed, but somehow it is actually working. Maybe my preference for this one is that I also liked the animation style here and that most of the characters were interesting enough by just being there and without really in-depth exploration and background elaboration. The twists and how a seemingly harmless story initially becomes more and more dramatic by the minute were both well-handled. You actually get curious about what happens next, to the protagonist and in general. This is not typical anime style, but still successful from my perspective. The voice actors did an okay job as well as much as I can be a judge of that as my focus was mostly on the subtitles which yours should be too unless you actually are fluent in Japanese. I am generally not that big actually on anime that isn't particularly recent, but this felt like a well-rounded effort that never drags and succeeds from all production value perspectives. A little film that is as bizarre as it is entertaining. Go see it.

Memories is an anthology film consisting of three segments. They are all sci-fi anime, but elsewise have little in common. They don't even share the theme of memories! But they're all pretty good, sporting fabulous animation and original ideas.I don't like to go into detail over individual segments, because I think people should go in as blind as possible. Half the fun in these films is never knowing what's around the corner. But I do have an odd piece of advice: Watch the shorts in reverse order. The biggest problem with the movie is that it descends in quality: "Magnetic Rose" is amazing, while "Cannon Fodder" leaves you wanting for more. I didn't hate it, but I didn't take away much from it. "Stink Bomb" deserves its place in the middle as comedic relief.Whenever funny, intriguing, or suspenseful, Memories does a general good job. Its one of the better animated movies out there, and a solid recommendation for anime and sci-fi fans alike.

THis was one of the best animated movies that I've seen in along time . I'm not a big fan of anime ,but I appreciate originality and "Memories " isn't like the Japanese animation that you see on television .Katsuhiro Otomo , the director of "Akira " directs with other two animators this collection of shorts .The first "Magnetic Rose " Takes place in the future , it's my favorite .The animation it's splendid ,full of details and a subtle use of CGI .The opera music was very effective to support the dramatic story .The second "Stink Bomb " ,takes place in the modern Japan ,and works very well like a dark comedy . The animation it's very good ,just like the first .The third ,"Cannon Fodder " it's the most original ( and the most strange ) first of all ,the animation doesn't look like it were anime ,but it had a stylish and interesting appearance .The story follows the every day life of a family that lives in a society were every activity it's connected with the war . This movie it's a must see for every fan of animation .Even if you don't like anime ,I'm sure that you will find interesting material on this movie ,and proofs that animation could be art .

While watching Memories I went to check IMDb.com for some further background information on the short's directors. This film is unique in that it is really three smaller movies blended together to create one of theatre length. I expected them to all be intertwined, and in a way they are, only in substance if not in plot or characters as I had imagined.Anyway, all I can see is this film is a great watch in that it engages the viewer and forces him/her to think, the plots engage you in such a way that makes the overall experience rewarding to say the least.I am only commenting due to the fact that the current user reviewer rates it as forgettable. Although I respect that he is entitled to his own opinion, I do not believe that a review entitled "forgettable" should receive top billing for an 8.1 rated movie on IMDb; and yes it is really that good. Your current commenter thinks scripts such as Donnie Darko are "contrived" (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0246578/usercomments-1089) and that Halloween: Resurrection is a great piece of cinematography, along with Drumline (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0303933/, http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0220506/usercomments-467). He himself states Drumline is so good because it contains "no surprises." To me a surprise or plot twist is the trademark of good cinema, and any director and/or producer worth his salt would agree. I apologize for picking on fellow reviewer Dan from somewhere in East LA, but really, please give such fine works as Memories the reviews they deserve, at least in terms of the top billed review which appears on the main page of each movie. Thank you.