Let’s start with the good. Shinkai is a master of animation, arguably the best in the business, and Voices of a Distant Star is no exception. While it may have been made by one man on his laptop, it is superior to the work of some studios. Even at this early stage in his career, you can see Shinkai’s obsessive attention to detail that brings his worlds to life in a way that few others have accomplished. This stunning world is set to a beautiful soundtrack that features some timeless piano pieces. Tenmon is to music what Shinkai is to animation, and together they make a team few can rival. And if nothing else, Voices of a Distant Star‘s attempt to tell a moving love story in under half an hour is ambitious.
Alas, now for the bad. While the animation is gorgeous, the limitations really show. The 3D scenes don’t stand the test of time and stick out like a sore thumb, and the character designs are so bad they’re comical — welcome to the land of the square heads. Tenmon’s also not so great when it comes to the climactic space/action tracks, which are instantly forgettable. And although the original Japanese voice cast (which includes Shinkai) is good, the English voice cast is ruined by Cynthia Martinez, a woman notorious for her role as Hermes in Kino’s Journey. Even if you can stand Martinez’s voice, the dub is essentially worthless because it departs so significantly from the original dialogue.
“So?,” you might say, “I’m a real anime fan and I only watch subs anyway. And I can get past the square heads.” Well, good for you — now about that story. Anyone who has seen Shinkai’s works knows his theme is love tested by distance and time, and Voices of a Distant Star is where it all began. In a sense, Negamine and Terao are the perfect characters to illustrate the concept: they’re torn literally light years apart by circumstances beyond their control and try desperately to stay in touch, even if it means waiting years for that next short text message. The problem is the characters and their relationship are remarkably undeveloped. They’re introduced, we’re told that they’re deeply in love (nevermind that they’re junior high school students), and suddenly Negamine is off into space, longing to be reunited with her soul mate.
This all felt terribly melodramatic to me, and it’s an issue that frequently arises in Shinkai’s works. The basic idea is beautiful, but if you want the audience to actually feel for the characters and their separation, you need to sell the premise that they’re genuinely in love. Otherwise, it becomes impossible to empathize with them, and what’s left is a dime-a-dozen plot with pretty slow pacing to boot. Granted, the film is only 25 minutes, but Shinkai has fallen into the same trap even when given more time (5 Centimeters Per Second). He does much better when he gives the characters and their relationship the attention they deserve, and fortunately his latest work, Garden of Words, suggests he is improving with practice.
Voices of a Distant Star is a unique work, essentially one man’s labor of love, but it’s tough to do it all by yourself. Shinkai deserves credit for his hard work, but he’s received way more than is warranted. There are a lot of good love stories out there, and this one doesn’t come close to making the list.
