Odin: Koushi Hansen Starlight

This movie cost a huge amount to make and it shows... if you watch the proper 42 mins longer version which is sadly only available subbed. It gets panned by anime viewers but I can only assume most of them have only seen the dub. Odin was planned as the first in a trilogy so there are questions left unanswered, but considering this the film feels very self contained apart from one strand.

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WHY THE 2 HOURS 19 MINUTES VERSION IS WONDROUS

The film starts off with a sequence that sets the tone for ... the whole movie. This is a film about exploration and discovering the unknown. This is a film about the excitement and significance of being an explorer. (there is then a long scene where people run a lot which you'll just kinda have to accept is going to take the duration of a whole song to do :P) Space anime reliably leaves me cold, but this was an exception.

The music is mostly by some japanese glam rock band who have a great theme tune called Searching For Odin. The music really adds a sense of dramaticness to the proceedings which is just perfect.

The visuals are where this film really shines – they make the ship stunning and the things that are discovered really interesting because plenty of care has gone into making their design wondrous.

Anyway, this film is an experience. It has a plot which has some good twists and turns, and you very much feel like you're one of the crew members experiencing everything as they are, with the same sense of being in the dark and discovering things for the first time ever as they have. The slow pace really helps build up the excitement of these things and the pay off is usually well worth the wait and made all the sweeter by it as you go through the emotions of anticipation and unknowing along with the rest of the crew.

Characterisation is this film's weakest point. In the rare instances there is characterisation, it's cliched. It's a good thing this film isn't about the characters but rather the voyage.

The end credits are the most entertaining end credits I've ever seen. By miles. I won't spoil it but wow it pays off the whole film so well in such an unexpected and hilarious way.

There is one element which is totally not sufficiently explained and I can only presume was intended to be explained in the sequels that never were... but whatever. I love this film, it is really really unique. There's a lot of people pushing buttons, which sounds boring but it somehow pulls it off because you know that every push of a button gets you closer to finding out more.

WHY THE 97 MINUTE DUB IS AN ABOMINATION

I just watched this version expecting a more punchy version of this fantastic film. I can only presume that whoever is behind this dub hated the original because they've changed the film so much.

The voices are actually pretty good compared to the original for the most part, and dialogue has been made better... sort of. But the film never takes a breath or any time to build up – all such things have been purged. FORTY TWO WHOLE MINUTES WERE REMOVED. The dialogue which they have is sometimes more engaging in the moment but makes you more disconnected from what's going on because the dialogue bits were never intended to be the focus of the film so when squished together they often just feel a bit disjointed, sudden and distracting to the plot.

The new more engaging dialogue is easier to understand and makes everything a lot more clear which would usually be a great thing and I understand why they did it, but for some reason it feels like it robs one of the experience of being on a historically significant voyage where no one is too sure of anything. I love things being spelled out so it's cool to have the dub doing that, but it just steals from the experience of the film. This film was about 'what will they do next?' but it has been changed to making the viewer ask 'what happens next?' I know it sounds like an insignificant distinction, but in the original you really feel yourself as part of the crew and you're as in the dark as everyone else as to what's going on or what will happen next. In the dub things move along at quite a rate so you're never left wondering anything coz it never gives you time to think. This film is now about experiencing the plot and people's interactions rather than the experience of a voyage, so in this new form it fails because it was not designed this way

The once incredible visual effects this time left me flat in this because of the lack of build up, which was a big surprise to me. From what I can tell they came up with new sound effects, which also contributed to the visuals seeming rubbish because the sound effects were brash and over the top.

I did not enjoy the dub. It was a weak, confusing and boring film. It somehow managed to even take the visuals and make them not work.

And to think I stumbled upon this while trying to find the PS1 and PS2 Star Blazers games... So I watched the 2 hour 19 minute subbed version, which after watching I found was the good version. Oh my...

Before the main review, let’s get some things out of the way: this was originally supposed to be a trilogy and have it’s own show. It was made by the team behind “Space Battleship Yamato” and parts of it shows here, some good some bad. This review is based off of my first viewing and had a few minutes to take in what I just watched. With ... that said, let’s start with the story.

Story (6/10): So the story I find to be very interesting and engaging, so why is it a 6 and not a 10? Pacing. The movie paces itself like it’s a TV show, so it moves fast and tries to get everything into the time it has. The problem with that is we rarely stay long enough to care about what’s going on. I can’t care about the “Albert’s” problem if Akito is flying about doing stunts trying to get onto the ship. Aside the battles, there are only three scenes that do a good job with the pacing: the opening that talks about how humans have sailed, Sarah and Akito talking about their families, and the one where Sarah is revealed to be the queen destined to save the people of Odin. Another issue is that they take WAY too much inspiration from Star Blazers. Sarah has lost her memory and feels connected to a planet. Our main character is at the helm and also fires their ultimate doomsday laser gun that is at the tip of the ship. They must quickly save a planet by returning it to it’s original state. The story just feels like a mishmash of plot points from a show forced into a random space movie.


Art (8/10): this looks beautiful. The “StarFinder” is a fantastic design with fantastic artists drawing and animating her. It looks like an elegant sailboat with some futuristic elements added to it. The Captain, while is just Captain Avatar (I use this name intentionally) without a beard, still has a good design. Sarah also looks nice and isn’t just Yuki with white clothes. I must take away two points for the rest of the crew, however. Why? Everyone with a red shirt looks identical to Akito to the point where if they’re moving too quickly, I can’t tell who’s who. Even though they all look nice, I’d like to be able to tell them apart.

Animation (4/10): slightly higher quality compared to a TV show, but not much to say. An issue I have is about the battle scenes: what’s going on? When there is one or two things on screen, I don’t have much of an issue, but anything more and it becomes a cluttered mess.

Sound (5/10): nothing really notable about the acting aside the fact the people will just begin screaming the word “OOODEEEEEENNN!” a lot and multiple times. Also the music, while well done, is greatly forgettable.


Character (3/10): these are the most blandest characters I have ever seen. Not only do the Red Shirt crew look about the same, they act it, too. Aside Akito and Sarah, no one gets enough time to develop anything aside that one quirk they showed that one time before. But even with them, they are only slightly less bland. Do you know why Akito is the main character? Because he wasn’t supposed to be part of the crew until he stood in their way for a few seconds and they took him in. Why wasn’t he part of the crew at first? He failed a test because he either (A) wasn’t qualified and/or (B) he ticked of a teacher that was grading the test. Despite this (and him having a small issue docking on a non moving ship), he is immediately accepted as part of the crew and replaces a guy who had the spot before him. Sarah is just there. Aside her translating the Alien Database and being the remaining piece of the original world of Odin, she does nothing to add to the plot, add to other characters, or even add to her own. The Captain doesn’t do much either. He tells his crew to return home, they lock him up, he calls them chicken for thinking of backing out of their plan to see Odin, then he dies.

“You’re only as strong as your weakest point” they say, so here’s the movie’s worst example:
The Crew finds out that they can go to an unknown world, but the Captain says he was ordered to take the ship back home and so he reluctantly must do so. The crew are sad about this then Akito says they must mutiny so they can see this planet, and Sarah walks in agreeing. What’s wrong with this? A few things:

1. At this time, the crew don’t know anything about Odin aside that the planet exist. They don’t know that Odin is being run by evil robots, they don’t think much about the fact that Sarah can translate alien languages, they just want to see it. The people we’re rooting for are willing to betray their Captain because they want to see something. This ends up making them look selfish.

2. The were asked to return home, not to retire the ship, and when they get to Earth and send in their results, they can ask to go check out Odin. They’re not in a hurry, yet they don’t think this through. This makes them look dumb.

3. Sarah feels a strong connection to this planet. She has dreams telling her to go there. The simple mention of the planet puts her in an odd state. Of course she want’s to go there, and this might be her best and only chance to actually go. So it makes sense she would join the mutiny to do it, but why isn’t she the one to start it? She’s the only one who feel’s something is wrong, yet she doesn’t have to convince anyone to ignore the command since the rest of the crew were already planning to lock the Captain up.


Enjoyment (5/10): it is well drawn and has some interesting ideas, but it can become boring. With everything moving so fast, I can’t focus on anything and I begin to lose interest. This needed to be a show, not a movie.

If you liked this movie, I can see why, but this is something I probably won’t come back to.

Space opera anime is nearly a sacred cow. Poor one who decide to say something but praise about LoGH. But LoGH is not the only one. Crest/Banner of the Stars, Mobile Suit Gundam, Battleship Space Yamato, even Cowboy Bebop is considered by some space opera...all of them are titles that the self-proclaimed anime reviewers has in a high-esteem. But, it's actually possible to exist an anime genre that every title is a masterpiece? Well, unfortunetly, no. Anime is made by men, so sooner or later you'll find some bad title. And here is, Odin.

Odin is, from the starst, forgettable. Your typical story about a human ... crew in a spaceship travelling around the space. Every character is forgettable, from your typical hot-blooded main character that gets away with a lot of stuff because, despite putting constamtly im danger the spaceship and the crew, he "has guts", according to the rest of the cast, but i prefer to say "he has no brain, or common sense"; to the boring stereotypical passive heroine, who appears when the plot needs her and automatically dissapears when not, to appears again if the plot says it so.
Like i said, if someone in real life attemps to do the same things the main characters do here, they would have get rid of him, pretty soon. Here, he's not only easily forgiven, he's also praised for it. For acting like an inmature brat, that didn't consider risk to himself or the people who surronded him, and never face any consequence. That's not a character, that's a wish fullfillment really awfully written in the worst way possible. Because it's possible that some people who like hot blooded main characters that "weren't pussies like in the good old days when anime was good" would relate to him. But characters needs to grow, and made us grow as persons, not just satisfy our self-insert fantasies.

Well, after this reflexive moment, let me get this straight: Imagine every possible cliché on space sci-fi stories you ever thought. There would be here.
I'm not kidding, it would. The evil machine that takes over humanity? Check.
The extraterrestrail advanced lifeforms visit earth and manipulated species genetics? Check. The lost princess from the extraterrestrial civilization? Check.

I must give special attention to the music. Even the soundtrack is boring here. Your cheesy typical 8'0s hair metal, played in scenes it doesn't fit, at all. Or i should said never ending montages instead of scenes? Yeah, never ending montages are a more accurate term to describe it.

So, for its low quality, Odin is the space anime's black sheep. Extremely boring, full of cliches, with unidimensional, forgettable characters, and without any depth.