Hoshi no Yuuenchi

A kindly teacher demonstrates origami to his elementary class, but when he gives a paper crane to a child, it is stolen from him by Takeshi, the class bully. Takeshi discovers that the crane is really a talking spaceship that takes him and his friends to visit a fairground in the stars.

A girl falls through a hole into Space Hell, and the children cooperate to rescue her. Takeshi wakes up, wondering if it was all a dream. The next day, he returns the magic crane to its rightful owner. This tale is from Rainbow Across the Pacific's Daisuke Ikeda, the leader of the buddhist Soka Gakkai organization which is commonly considered a cult as it is a part of the shinshuukyou religious movement.

(Source: Anime Encyclopedia)

Aihara, Nobuhiro Director, Screenplay, Key Animation

Ikeda, Daisaku Original Creator

Nishikawa, Youichi Background Art

Saitou, Masakazu In-Between Animation

Reviews

Apr 3, 2022

Kamezuki

Not Recommended

“Hoshi no Yuuenchi” is a short, unique OVA with a moral message that is marred with plot inconsistencies and poorly executed technical aspects.

The story centers on a group of first-graders who watch their teacher make an origami crane, as the teacher tells them about how satellites are similar to origami. This comparison from the teacher seems a little out of place, but it does tie in with the space theme. The entire class competes in rock-paper-scissors for who gets to bring the crane home. The boy who loses in the final round is a sore loser, and ends up stealing the crane from the boy ... who won it.

After he brings the crane home, things get weird. The crane starts talking to him, grows to the size of a small horse, and poops out four spacesuits — two blue ones for boys, and two pink ones for girls — and encourages the thief to ride the crane into space with his friends. The crane takes them to an amusement park in space, where each ride helps them sort out their feelings. Then, one of the girls falls into a black hole in a “dangerous” area of the amusement park (why was this even in the park in the first place?), and the others have to save her. Later, the main character wakes up at home, but insists that the journey was real. He then gives the crane back to the other boy the next day, telling him about the amusement park. (Why is he telling him this even though the other boy was supposedly there with him?)

The animation is a bit clunky at times; characters’ mouths don’t move when they are speaking a few times, for example, and the animation in general is not that fluid. The characters don’t really have any distinguishing features, externally or internally. There are a few lingering shots, especially of scenery, that don’t add to the show. The music and voice acting are forgettable.

In essence, while this OVA has a positive message and some interesting aspects, like the giant origami crane spaceship, the message could be conveyed better, and the whole thing ends up just coming off as surreal.

Reviewer’s Rating: 4

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Poll: Hoshi no Yuuenchi Episode 1 Discussion wolfwing - May 30, 2019

2 replies

by Berry-Vodka »» Sep 14, 2020 2:57 AM