Ranked #3438

Windaria

If you want pure literature in anime, something along the lines of Shakespeare and a true anime classic, then this it. It was previously released by Streamline and Harmony Gold in 1987, a year after its release in Japan originally under the title Once Upon a Time, but later re-named back to its original title. This anime tells a great tale of not just love and war, but about duty and loyalty to your family and yourself. The characters are captivating and unique, but I don’t like what the Streamline version did with Izu. In the original Japanese version, Izu is more care free and doesn’t really fear for the worst, while in the dub, he’s presented more as serious and is more idealistic and an older version of him narrates the story in the dub while there was no narration in the original Japanese version. Even though the changes present are significant in relation to the context, it doesn’t overall deviate the intentions or violates the quality of this anime.


The style and design for 1986 was far beyond its time. Though considered old school by our standards today, when you view it from the point of view of its original release, it just truly amazes me of how well detailed the characters and settings are. The designs like I said are not only detailed, but you’re getting a huge range that isn’t stylistically one-dimensional though they are archetypical. Of course you got the pretty looking girls like Marian, Izu’s wife, and you also have the testosterone-taking Queen despite having a beautiful daughter. So I’m glad there’s really no repetition to the design. Though I wouldn’t say the art and animation is the same league of Akira, which came out a few years later, the execution of its respective concept just truly made it breath taking. But then again, they are different styles so you really can’t compare them in that approach. The battle sequences aren’t really at the levels of something like Braveheart but they do a good job of conveying how pointless and trivial the war between the two nations is. But some of the mechanical concepts in context to medieval setting of the story brings a Miyazaki like quality to it in both presentation and story telling.

Despite significant script changes and characterization, the acting in the dub is still very superb and masterful. I say it’s far superior to a lot of dubs to this day. The selected actors do a tremendous job of bringing their characters to life and you feel their portrayals. I don’t really know the names of those involved in the dub, but I feel that these are the best-unknown dub actors you’ll ever hear regardless of what was changed. But if you want to watch Windaria for the story it was intended to be told in, naturally you’ll have to go to the Japanese version. I was able to distinct some iconic names. To start off, Izu is played by Furuya Tooru, most famous as being Amuro from Gundam, Seiya from Saint Seiya, and Tuxedo Mask from Sailor Moon. He’s excellent in Izu’s portrayal of being carefree and optimistic, while the English actor does a great job of portraying him as serious and realistic in context to the situation. And Inoue Kazuhiko, who is famous to casual fans of Naruto and to Narutards alike as the voice of Kakashi, also plays a huge role as Prince Jill who brings a unique kind of charisma to the character as he does with all of his roles. For the English dub, rather than script and dialog change as mentioned earlier, the execution is enough to be convincing that Windaria still shares its unique distinction in Japanese anime and animation as a whole.

The soundtrack also accurately depicts the timeless romanticism that is demonstrated throughout this series as well as its fantasy setting. The Japanese track has a few insert Japanese pop songs that still capture what Windaria is all about.

To conclude, I will address the outrage that some fans would have over the changes and omissions the English release has, and this goes for other anime throughout the 1980s such as Robotech and Voltron. You have to keep in mind that when those series came to America, there was really no official anime market at the time and this was the only way to have any direct exposure to Japanese anime. Fansubs weren’t yet conceived and who the hell heard of subs vs dubs debates? I feel that Carl Maceck is in no ways an Al Kahn or a Haim Saban. Granted that Robotech upon initially watching it during its heyday didn’t exactly tell you what anime was nor was it 100% a true American adaptation of its Japanese counter parts, I felt that Robotech nor was the American version of Windaria dumbed down to a point where it loses their unique distinctions rather than the fact they are from Japan. I still feel they tell excellent quality stories with realistic characters and a new way to view animation, though the why wasn’t really there. While with 4Kids, they want to omit every Japanese reference as possible and their edits are just of course stupid and trivial to a point where it truly loses its distinction as an anime. But look at Ronin Warriors and Sailor Moon in English. Granted there were some changes, but Japanese references and settings weren’t edited out. And hell, those two animes in their English versions kept their death scenes. I felt the English Windaria still retains its distinguishing qualities such as the presentation of Japanese values such as giri ninjo meaning duty and obligation in a more universal presentation with its fantasy setting.
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ANIME MOVIE DEPOT SERIES
Full list of the review series can be found on this page, 3rd post from bottom:
http://anidb.net/perl-bin/animedb.pl?uid=251338&show=userpage&do=blog&blogid=29009&page=0

Windaria is one of those movies that really turned people to otakus back in its time. It was different, it was grim, it was sad, it was full of magic, it didn’t have a forced Walt Disney f*ing ending. It was gooood! Yet, its major problems are also trademarks of its time.

ART & SOUND SECTION: 8/10
It looks aged, as technology has gone to the moon and back since then and production values were generally low back then, as each new title was not scheduled to have a sequel and two videogame adaptations before even the brainstorming section was over. So, you can’t help but think that the scriptwriters were not given enough time to depict everything smoothly and properly and the animators had to work with short scenes. The result is still superbly good for its time and if you are not some ungrateful prick, you can easily enjoy the movie despite its years. The action scenes are almost a legend of their own as you rarely get to see armies of normal people fighting in anime. Voice acting is just decent and nothing to write about. Yet, the music and the depiction of the world are very atmospheric and quite similar to a fairy tale (a sad one). So, yes, the external shell does win your interest although it loses you in the finer details.

STORY SECTION: 6/10
In the story department you get a rather simple and linear plot. There is a war going on between two kingdoms because of water reserve exploitation. In a Romeo and Juliet fashion, the prince of one kingdom and the princess of the other are in love but their families force to wage war against one another under the pressure of politics and national needs. There is also another couple, where the young male wants to become rich and famous thanks to his war achievements and secure a happy life for his sweetheart. He descends to inhuman acts in order to achieve that.

Although the premise sounds simple, it is actually quite multi-layered while watching the movie. The story involves lost ideals, tragic romances, war drama, political intrigue and lots of metaphysical symbolisms around life, harmony and happiness. The major problem is the short duration. You can’t show all the magnitude of such a story or the dramatic escalation of the characters in only two hours. It needed more. The plot moves too fast for you to bind with the characters or feel the tragedy of the story. So, although the story is masterful on paper, in practice it is running so fast that you lose the feel of the moment.

CHARACTER SECTION: 6/10
Being a character-driven story, the shrapnel damage even them, as you get the feeling everyone moves mechanically and dualistically. Although they are all quite tragic and do get plenty of character development or die by the dozens, the fast plot makes them change moods too quickly and act almost predictable.

ENJOYMENT SECTION: 7/10
Of course, if you don’t know the story is not a fairy tale and you haven’t watched many shock-effect anime, you are going to be surprised plenty of times; as I was the first time I watched it as a little kid. The whole setting is quite fairy-tailish and leaves plenty of room for a dozen side stories and sequels. You get huge magic trees, haunted forests, steampunk cities, beautiful running water towns, a flying fortress gathering souls in the shape of glowing birds, action scenes, war scenes, you name it. If you look at the entire world from afar, it looks gorgeous. Still, as I said already it does hurt that almost nothing is exploited further than its basic use and many things are left unexplained. What the hell was that flying fortress?

VALUE SECTION: 5/10
Honestly, this is a one-time to watch movie. It is so linear that there is nothing more to gain from a second viewing. Plus, it does feel somewhat similar to Romeo and Juliet and nothing to brag in comparison to other war dramas or tragic romances. Still, it is quite magical and can easily become memorable for a one-shot, quick watch (despite being about two hours long).

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