Memories (2004)

Featured Audience Ratings

• Anthony L

  
  Memories is a collection of three unrelated Manga animations, each one directed by a different director and with their own unique styles. Magnetic Rose, directed by Kôji Morimoto is the serious short that sees 2 astronauts trapped in a fantastical world aboard an unmanned spaceship.… More
  Memories is a collection of three unrelated Manga animations, each one directed by a different director and with their own unique styles. Magnetic Rose, directed by Kôji Morimoto is the serious short that sees 2 astronauts trapped in a fantastical world aboard an unmanned spaceship. It's beautifully animated and aptly dark and mysterious it's almost a shame that it wasn't made into a feature length film. Stink Bomb, directed by Tensai Okamura seems to be the least popular film of the three among reviewers but I rather liked it. It is full of the odd and surreal humour that many Manga films are known for and it breaks up the two other films rather well - again, a feature length version or even a real life version (directed by either Joon-ho Bong or Joon-Hwan Jang) would be awesome! Last of all, Cannon Fodder, directed by Katsuhiro Ohtomo has a much more serious tone but a more childlike style of animation. It's quite Orwellian in its idea and like an Asian LS Lowry in its style (if you can picture such a thing). It's probably the most thought-provoking and original of the three films but I would say they are all equally good in their own different ways.

• _kelly .

  
  a great troligy of sci-fi animation

• Tsubaki S

  
  Excellent first segment, forgetable second, and perfect third. The last one is probably the most sharp and accurate commentary anyone has ever made about war since George Orwell.

• Drew S

  
  A collection of three anime short films. The first, Magnetic Rose, is easily the best, full of atmosphere and beauty. That in itself is a 4.5 star effort. The second is okay, and the third is basically filler.

• vieras e

  
  SPOILER WARNING Kanojo No Omoide Really beautifully drawn depiction of a dead woman who, wanting never to part from her husband, had created a virtual reality based on her memories in which two space refuse dealers get entangled during a rescue mission. *** -- Saishu Heiki A man is… More
  SPOILER WARNING Kanojo No Omoide Really beautifully drawn depiction of a dead woman who, wanting never to part from her husband, had created a virtual reality based on her memories in which two space refuse dealers get entangled during a rescue mission. *** -- Saishu Heiki A man is called to deliver a package to his superiors containing information that might save Tokyo from a terrible biological weapon. The funny thing is that he is the weapon, but just doesn't know it... And neither do the others until it's almost too late. **** -- Taiho No Machi A day in a town whose only purpose is to fire cannons at an unknown enemy. Really a sad story, in a way. **

• Robotbling -

  
  I love animation collections, and Memories is one of the better ones. It features three animated shorts written by Katsuhiro Otomo (Akira, Steamboy) although I use that term loosely because the episodes are a decent length. Memories opens with the tour-de-force Magnetic Rose, a… More
  I love animation collections, and Memories is one of the better ones. It features three animated shorts written by Katsuhiro Otomo (Akira, Steamboy) although I use that term loosely because the episodes are a decent length. Memories opens with the tour-de-force Magnetic Rose, a ghost story in the great haunted house tradition with a sci-fi twist. Basically the crew of a deep space corporate freighter receive a distress signal and decide to investigate. What they find is a ship in the shape of a rose, a luxurious palace which an opera singer built with her fortune. Once inside, they discover that the ship’s automated functions, including holograms given flesh by gray goop nanomachines, remain eerily active even decades after the singer’s death. Magnetic Rose is really the main reason to watch Memories, featuring a compelling cast of characters, insane production values and dramatic impact. It could serve as a stand-alone film, and I think it would make a brilliant live actioner someday. The next story, Stink Bomb, is a black comedy that fails to rise to the same level. A worker at a pharmaceutical company accidentally takes the wrong pill to thwart his flu, thus activating the pill’s bio warfare properties. He begins emitting a foul gas which promptly kills everyone in the building. He is unsuccessfully assailed by the military as he works his way to headquarters, oblivious of his condition. The production values, like the rest of the shorts, are quite high but I personally felt the gag ran out of steam before the end. If it had been a touch shorter it would have worked really well. The third and final story takes a completely different style to any other animated film. In Cannon Fodder, a city armed to the teeth with cannons of all sizes, all pointed in the direction of the “enemy”, a lowly Cannon loader’s daily routine unfolds. As we watch the ridiculous ceremony involved in loading an individual shell the size of an elephant into its cannon, and listen to the mindless drone of propaganda over the loud speakers, the satirical nature of the film is made clear. I really enjoy the look of this one, and if you watch Cannon Fodder carefully and you may notice it has something in common with Hitchcock’s Rope. This disdain for the military industrial complex would later be echoed in Otomo’s Steamboy. Memories is essential viewing if you are a fan of animation, and makes for a wonderful companion to Neo Tokyo. And Magnetic Rose is worth a watch if you’d like to see a depiction of Bill Joy’s nightmare, though the film actually preceded his famous essay. This review is a repost from my site: www.plasticpals.com

Read all 6 featured audience ratings