Urda

I am speechless. How do more people not know about this dumpster fire? It's easily one of the worst anime I have ever seen, somehow failing on every front. Though, paradoxically, I had so much more fun watching it than many of the anime immediately above it on my list, because it is hilarious. There are moments of totally unaware comedy gold that I will be thinking about for the rest of my life, and that is in and of itself an incredible feat. Beginning with the story, it is ridiculous from the start. An astronaut from 2112 is flung back into the past to ... 1943 Germany, where cartoonish Nazis attempt to track down her spaceship, while a scrappy team of busty anime women do everything in their power to stop them. I'm not exaggerating, it is every bit as campy and off-the-wall as it sounds. This isn't even to mention the bargain bin tropes used dozens of times in 30 minutes, or the time travel 'twists', or the snarky sidekick. However, the shoddy story is nothing compared to the 'art' that Urda puts forward. This anime, released in 2002, makes the bold decision of making a 100 percent CG anime. I don't think I even have to say more than that, but I will, because it's funny. Nothing, not a single thing, looks good in this anime, even for 2002. There are no discernible facial expressions, the characters move in stiff and unnerving ways, the 'fight scenes' only consist of their arms flailing wildly in different directions, the physics are totally nonsensical, the lighting is garbage, and the backgrounds look straight out of a PS1 game. The sound is somehow just as bad, serenading the ears with a clunky electronic synth that only serves to make literally every scene that much funnier. This is compounded by the voice acting being even worse, sounding like they recruited from and recorded on a porn set. This garbage bag is tied off with a neat bow by the characters, who are so ridiculous and paper-thin that you can't help but laugh. Overall, Urda is unadulterated bottom-of-the-barrel trash, and I highly recommend it. Best viewed with a room full of your closest friends, and possibly drunk.

Firstly I have to say: "Urda" could have been great. Set on the western front of the second world war, a landscape relatively unexplored by anime, "Urda" threw together a bunch of random plot elements like Nazis, UFO and time travel ... and ends up with a surprisingly intriguing sci-fi tale. But alas, the potential went to waste, as the end product felt more like the result of someone experimenting with CG from his home PC than a proper anime. With its short length and undercooked story and characters, watching "Urda" is about as satisfying as getting served a starter when you're hankering for a ... full three-course meal. In fact, the anime could almost be passed off as a multi-part trailer to a longer, greater series.

From "Urda"'s often amateurish production values, I'd estimate its budget to be around the astronomical figure of £5. One of the primary offenders is the cranky animation, which was often so shoddy that I had trouble comprehending what was happening on screen. That said, "Urda" has its moments; at times, the direction felt sharp, and it seems to have a good instinct for handling mood and atmosphere, particularly with its use of music. The action sequences possessed a surreal stylishness, and made me think they took inspiration from movies like "The Matrix" or the cut scenes of some video game. Some of it was pretty cool, but other parts were blown out of all proportions. In one such scene, as two characters dueled on a flying plane - literally "on" it, as in stood on top of it - another plane got destroyed above them, and the battling characters managed to snag a piece of debris each, and promptly started hacking away at each other with the pieces of broken plane. Honestly, I shit you not; I'm not even exaggerating.

Complaints aside, "Urda" deserves some plaudits for being as good as it is given the obvious limitations of its production. The ending is especially brilliant, but if anything made me lament even more that the show was held so far back from its potential. I would love to see it expanded into a longer series by a proper anime studio.

A thirty minute OVA showcasing unbelievably bad CG, and one of the worst storylines ever to be brought to DVD.

Story: 1
The plot's only redeeming factor is that it is present. The show is essentially about a duo of rebels who attempt to stop a group of Nazis from obtaining a time traveling NASA space shuttle with the help of an incompetent astronaut girl from the future. While this may sound like it could make for some mindless fun, the way in which it was presented failed to do so. Furthermore since this is a set of five very short episodes it is covered ... incredibly fast; so much so that if any decent plot points were present you wouldn't have the time to absorb them. Even the shows clincher is incredibly weak and easy to predict.

Animation: 3
The series is almost entirely CG and all the characters in the show are textured using cell shading. This is not to say it looks good however. The processed framerate is extremely sporadic; animation can be smooth one scene, and stuttered in the next. This wouldn't be much of an issue if the show was drawn, but since they chose to use CG they should have kept the framerate higher. Additionally character models move unnaturally, background textures have a low resolution, and facial expressions look incredibly awkward. Some of the particle effects and vehicle models are decent however.

If this all seems a bit critical, keep in mind that this was released in late 2003 and computer animation was very advanced then. In fact less than 6 months after this was released the 2004 iteration of Appleseed hit theaters, also showcasing cell shaded CG, but of an infinitely higher caliber. While Appleseed obviously had a much larger budget to work with, that doesn't change the fact that this looks like it was made in the early 90's.

Visually the show resembles a cumulative project for a computer graphics school, rather than something made by a professional company.

Sound: 4
This is the shows strong point, but only for the fact that you won't hate it. Musical compositions are reminiscent of those you would find in a typical RPG, with both orchestral and piano pieces. There's a wide variety of sound effects but they aren't edited especially well, and you will recognize many of them from other shows. The voice acting is okay considering what they had to work with, but any expressed emotions are usually ruined by the awkward facial animations anyway.

Character: 2
The characters are so cliché it's laughable. From the female protagonist with superhuman combat ability, amnesia and big breasts, to her cycloptic Nazi mentor who can smack rocket propelled grenades out of the air with her bare hands, there isn't much to take seriously. The show does try and use its ridiculous plot to develop the main protagonist (Erna) somewhat, but it's all too predictable and rushed.

Enjoyment: 3
All enjoyment pertaining to this show lies in how terrible it is. It would be best to watch this with a group of friends to get a few laughs. Even the combat scenes are spoiled by awkward character animations and poor music.

Overall: 2
While still beyond redemption this show could have been easily improved by scrapping the CG idea altogether, and slowing down the pacing. Furthermore there are so many things in here that have been done before, it's almost like the show is trying to poke fun at the anime industry in its entirety. If this review seems overly critical you probably haven't seen this show. If you have, you should watch it again with my sympathies.