Ranked #5192

Birth

Some two decades before Hiroyuki Imaishi made his directorial debut with the hyper-sexualized, over-stylized, action-packed short film OVA Dead Leaves—a defining work that collected nearly all of the stylistic signatures that would eventually establish him as one of the industry’s foremost young directors—was Birth (released overseas with the subtitle A Legend of Two Worlds). Years ahead of its time and ridiculously well-animated for its age, Birth stands as testament to the post-Macross era of the anime industry; only in that golden age of abundance could so much effort and money be poured into such a ludicrous title. And I mean this with all the heartfelt sincerity and exuberance I possess. This OVA is, quite simply, incredibly absurd. And awesome.

To bite any potential misunderstandings in the bud, I’d like to first make it clear that there is very little by way of plot in this production. A great deal of it seems to be little more than a small but necessary excuse to showcase some incredible and at times mind-bending technical feats of animation and action presentation. This isn’t, however, an inherently bad thing. In fact, the extent to which Birth exercises its action-packed machismo and deliciously fluid eye candy more than makes up for the fact that the film holds absolutely no substance on a narrative level. The characters are defined more or less by their first appearances, and the narrative conflict is focused mostly on defeating mechanical monsters, falling debris, or motorcycle bandits. Things are simple and make no attempt at profundity, maintaining an artistic honesty that’s rather admirable.

That said, the absurd nature of the narrative serves only to highlight the surreal action sequences amidst the surreal settings. It isn’t a story that is intended to make any sense beyond the capacity of its superficial plot. Nonsense, explosions, smoke trails, chases, and falling debris are what comprise Birth from nearly start to finish.

So that brings up the question of what all of this looks like. Stylistically, it’s all rather cartoonish. The characters are ill-defined to the point that it’s difficult to tell when (or even IF) they go off-model amidst commotion. Backgrounds are pale, flat, uninteresting, manipulated images, or blurry textures—something helped no doubt by the mostly static setting. “Antagonists” are all nigh-identical mechanical monstrosities whose only purposes are to provide more exciting chase sequences or to generate a greater amount of falling debris.

But none of this matters in the face of one rather important aspect: the hitherto unparalleled use of animated dynamic cameras and complex tracking shots, influenced undoubtedly by Ichigo Itano’s animation work on the SDF-Macross series. But where the “Itano Circus”, as his technique has come to be called, was used at most three or four times every episode, Birth employs dynamic tracking shots for what practically amounts to a majority of its 85 minute runtime. Simply put, the action never stops moving. Machines burst out of the ground and the camera spirals up their torsos; motorcycles zoom through caverns and the camera follows, twists, and zooms around them like a mosquito; people get into fist fights and the camera jumps back and forth between close-ups of their faces, fists, and body movements all in the same take.

This isn’t even a common practice in modern-day animation works, never mind a twenty-some year old OVA that dwells in relative obscurity. This hyperkinetic depiction of action—if nothing else—establishes Birth as a title worthy of attention especially by modern fans already acquainted with modern-day Gainax titles from the likes of Imaishi.

All of this drooling over animation quality aside, it’s also important to note that although a visual feast, the animation still isn’t even close to ‘perfect’. Lips have a tendency to flap when characters aren’t talking, and sometimes characters talk without flapping their lips. Frames jump around a little, but it’s now worse than any other moderately-budged work from the time period. As should be expected, objects and textures become less detailed as the dynamic cameras kick into play, every once in awhile reducing objects to mere polygons (although this extreme a transformation only occurs in a small handful of scenes). Most of these things are standard fare for a mid-80s cartoon, so there’s really nothing of detriment to be found in this department.

All in all, this remarkably solid, shallow, and enjoyable title has relished in the dustbins for a bit too long. Seeing as how recent Gainax titles and more experimental Production IG, Studio 4C, and Madhouse works have been dwelling on the hyperkinetic and the absurd more and more, Birth no doubt deserves some recognition of a title that—although not doing anything new per se—certainly did hyper-stylized action extraordinarily well. read more

Referenced and revered by such modern animators as Seiya Numata (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=roNIB248mco) and Hiroyuki Imaishi (Dead Leaves, Gurren Lagann, Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt), Birth is considered by some to be master animator Yoshinori Kanada's magnum opus. This might initially come off as a little weird... considering it was directed by the relatively unknown Shinya Sadamitsu. Mere minutes in, however, the reason for this becomes apparent: Birth is, quite unashamedly, a total animators' OVA. With Kanada (creator of his very own unique, frantic and cartoony animation style back in the 70s that still influences many young animators to this day) at the helm, the animators are the real stars that make this silly little OVA work.

I guess it's time to point out once and for all that THIS IS NOT A MOVIE YOU SHOULD WATCH FOR THE STORY AND WRITING. The script has a few funny lines from the characters, and Bao's introduction is an enjoyable little skit, but the visuals are clearly the main event here. If you find the idea of watching a cartoon to appreciate its visual creativity alone unappealing, trust me; this is not your cup of tea by any means. Assuming you're into fast-paced, cartoony animation and can get past the not-obscenely-high-budget production which results in a somewhat messy, unpolished look during a handful of less important scenes, this OVA is a great visual treat with a lot of nonsensical and silly yet brilliantly joyful action. At its best it's like looking at the drawings of a ten year old kid who's grown up on a steady stream of sugar, Looney Tunes and 70s anime, only the kid is actually a very skilled animator.

Some of my gripes would have to be the sound direction (sometimes a sound will come too early and a characters' mouth will start moving BEFORE the lines come out which can be pretty grating) and the fact that the second half of the movie honestly drags for a bit too long. There are some talky bits where the art & animation quality take a serious hit which the movie really could have done without, and most of these are during the final chase scene (which, by the way, could have used a slightly better choice for a 'final boss' enemy). Lastly, despite its overall cartoony, Kanada-style look, this is still an 80s anime made by 80s animators and occasionally some odd glimpses of a more standard, less cartoony anime style will randomly pop up in the middle of otherwise loose and undetailed scenes and you will wonder if you've just accidentally switched channels to an episode of a different show.

But these are all minor gripes with a film that generally succeeds at being precisely what it intends to be: a fun, visually creative ride. All in all, this is an OVA you should definitely watch if you enjoy fast paced cartoony action and can deal with some minor yet undeniable flaws. It's not for everyone, and it certainly shows its age, but I feel that even in this day and age it's a very impressive and enjoyable example of auteur animation. A more cynical viewer might expect something so old and rough around the edges to come off as a decrepit relic of the past compared to the modern works that its influence led to... but despite all odds, it still manages to give the young whippersnappers a run for their money and stands as not merely an interesting old-school example of Kanada-style animation, but also as a genuinely enjoyable experience. read more