1001 Nights

Story : The story for this anime will be hard for a lot of people to pick up on because it relies entirely on visuals. If you like to analyze things, go for it. I just took two classes for analyzing art and literature, so I enjoyed it easily. If you find yourself going "WTF?" over the simplest of symbolism, I don't recommend you watching this one. You will be vastly confused. The fact that it requires more thinking than the average anime and the story itself is nothing amazingly original has prompted me to give it a 6.

Art : Now, this is where 1001 ... Nights seems to lose a lot of people. The art is very abstract and nothing like your typical anime. This anime mixes 3-D and 2-D art rather well, but most of the art is 2-D. It has a very sketchy look to it; like a colored pencil drawing. It gets a 9 because, to be very honest, I love this kind of art. If they had botched the mixture of 3-D and 2-D, I'd probably have been extremely strict on this section and given it a 5, but it works together.

Sound : Amazing. If you like orchestral music, this is going to be the shit for you, honestly. There is only one instance of voice acting at the very beginning, and I have to say that this is very well done, too. The moment I heard this woman's voice and the dialogue I was drawn straight into this one. I was like, "This is gonna be awesome." So, even though it's only used once, the dialogue and voice acting are a great hook in this anime. Therefore, 10.

Character : These characters serve their purpose very well. If you like to get into the mind of a character, understand everything about them, their actions, and their motivations, don't touch this. This anime is all about the emotions of these two lovers. You're not invited into the inner corridors of their mind. If, on the other hand, you are enraptured with emotions, these characters are teeming with it. Desire, longing, sorrow; it's all there despite the somewhat flat way in which they're expressed. This is why 1001 Nights gets a 7 on characters. The artistic representation of the character's emotions are somewhat hindered by the stylized form of art used on them.

Enjoyment : I, personally, enjoyed this anime greatly. It pulled me in and kept me enraptured for 23 whole minutes with absolutely no dialogue or direct plot/action. That's pretty good for someone of my attention span. So, it gets a 9.

Overall : It reminds me of Fantasia. If you like fantasia, take a look at this. It's like a Japanese, sex-centered Fantasia. X3 But really, it's not an anime for everyone. It has it's audience, and you'll just have to watch it to find out if you're a part of that audience. If you like artsy things, analyzing, symbolism, abstract artwork, or those old serious cartoons, you'll like this. I did, and that's why Overall it gets a 9 on my list.

Although 1,001 Nights is really quite beautiful, is is not what most people expect when they think of anime. There is no dialogue at all and, if you are not familiar with the story of a concubine who kept the sultan from killing her as he had all the other women he slept with by transfixing him with fascinating story every night, it will make no sense to you whatsoever. Some of the tales spun over the 1001 nights include Alibaba and the 40 thieves, Aladdin's Magic Lamp, many more. At just short of 30 minutes, this festival of stylistic hand ... drawn and early CG animation dancing in a dream to full philharmonic music is targeted at the connoisseur of animation. If you are turned off by symbolism and the surreal, 1001 Nights is not for you. If you are intrigued by the unique, it is definitely worth a half hour.

This is an abstract art music video, not a piece of narrative fiction, so don't be expecting ninja vampires going to high school and fighting crime. That MAL makes you rate "story" or "character" is a bit silly, since that's not the point here. The characters and setting are an excuse for beautiful pictures. I enjoyed this as a twenty minute piece of visual art set to lush orchestration. The premise is an amorous dream shared by two Arabian nobles, and every image bleeds together quite organically into the next. There is no special meaning or message to discern. It ... is to be enjoyed for what it is. This is the sort of thing you'll love if you're in a dreamlike state, sober or otherwise. Or if you're an art student. This was designed for a visual art audience, not a typical anime audience, so be mindful of that before you watch.

Amano (Final Fantasy, Vampire Hunter D) is able to express a great deal with very simple lines, and his use of colour is dazzling. A similar project (but slightly more narrative) is Angel's Egg, which I'd recommend to anyone who enjoyed the style of art and the concept, but would appreciate a bit more of a story.

Truth be told: It made me realize what a masterpiece truly is.
Even without a word being said, it makes you feel and see so many things.
It is sexy at times, and then it's dark, and sad, and then happy.
The art is beautiful, and the way it changes from a scene to the next one really picked my interest, I just couldn't take my eyes of it!
I didn't like the sound so much, but the art and the way it is put together is more than worth a 10 overall rating, in my opinion.
It is worth the time you spend ... watching it.

I was amazed at how many modern art references are included! All the "abstractness" is linked to the fact they've put into this amazing and beautiful animation references to Picabia, Chagall, Kandinsky, Matisse... and many references to surrealism and symbolism too.

I believe that for the audience it was meant for it was very appealing. It was projected along a representation of the Los Angeles Philarmonic orchestra. It can be appreciated for the "uniqueness" of the animation, how well the music fits, but what a pearl to discover so many aesthetic winks!

Many of the reviewers here seem to have watched it from an "anime" point of ... view. But it is an art animation much different from usual eastern traditions or Japanese productions. Indeed, some of the artist are easterners but it was first meant for an audience of westerners. Of course, this means that it can't be considered the same as mainstream Japanese aesthetics. But, can't either be as a mainstream cartoon. It is a pure art creation. It does not have the same purpose as an entertaining action packed plot centered anime. And to those who criticizes the lack of action or plot... I wonder why even write such uncalled for comments.
Amano seems to be very close to western art tradition. And note that most of the production team is American.

The plot do exists but it is meant to emphasizes the aesthetic beauty of the animation. And by animation I do not mean the visual aspect only! On the contrary, the music is a full part of the OVA! Most of the art is indeed 2D but it is a short movie so you can't take the soundtrack out of the mix. There are no dialogues but they are unnecessary for it is a kind of lyrical and oneiric visual tale we're shown. The pact between the audience and the film lies in the fact that you need to fully jump into its aestheticism and watch its beauty without questioning the choices the directors made. You try to adapt to the world you are presented into and understand quickly enough that what might have been weird anywhere else has it's purpose in this dream-like tale. I shouldn't even add the "-like" because, as stated by the narrator we are exhorted to dream.

Regarding the original work of 1001 nights I think they made the point pretty clear: it is a mere fragment of the original tales. The justification regarding the story is very well done. It doesn't leave any opening to criticism regarding the plot. The tales are all bond together and once you start one, many others start within. The original book playing with the mise-en-abyme there's no reason to complain about how there are not enough stories. It is a complete story with no loose-hole to be found. A truly great job!

Rate:4
Eng dubbed (however, only the intro had vocals once the show began it was just a musical)
More classic music art than regular anime

Story/art
A cluster of events all coexisting with one. Story wise and art wise. With the stories the scene would change slightly and so would the character's personalities. Art wise you would have semi realistic art, black and white art, dark art, light art, morphed art, and a bunch of others.

The intro to the film was a lovely original concept. You start by seeing what appears to be a massive artwork. As the film pans in to its goal you see a lot more ... than what you thought was there.

Character
I would love to say there was background but that was only true if you knew other stories see other reviews to further understand. I don't have that knowledge so it was a complete agony to watch for me. I felt like a rat in a maze that kept morphing it's layout. I just wanted it to end.

Enjoyment
Background research before watching this is a must to further appreciate the film.

1001 Nights is a movie that came out in 1999 and should not be confused with the first hentai film ever that came out thirty years before it. It is loosely based on the famous collection composed of different tales of the same name.

It is necessary to clarify that this movie is essentially a musical film in the likes of Disney’s Fantasia, so its main focus is to present great visuals and music instead of a good story. In fact this movie was thought as an interpretation of an orchestration and nothing more so the visuals and music flows together spectacularly. Speaking of those elements, ... they consists of classical music and a mix between 2-D and 3-D art, more specifically, colored pencil drawings and early CGI; they somehow managed to make it right, it looks gorgeous. Isn’t it funny how a movie that came out almost two decades ago did it right while the recent attempts at doing the same thing look horrendous? The recent Berserk anime(the movie trilogy too if you want), Asura and Arve Rezzle are a few examples of what I’m talking about.

As for the story…well, it barely has one (if even). If you’ve read the original tales you can find references to some of them thrown in it but if you haven’t all you will see is erotic sequences with a most trippy art style that equals(or even tops) the sex scene from Mind Game. You could think of it as a couple dealing with the internal demons of their relationship…or just them wanted to make love but all of a sudden are being chased by an angry demon in a really intense adventure, what is this, Ghosts n’ Ghoblins?

Anyway, this movie is a great example of art in its pure form both visually and musically and one of the most unique pieces in the medium and that alone makes it worth watching despite not having much of a plot, or any.

2/7/23 update: After watching the likes of Pale Cocoon, Angel's Egg, Cat Soup, Junk Head and Mad God, I decided to stop giving a pass to movies like these that are just visuals, sound, and a setting, if your movie has nothing to say, its plot is very loose, and there are no characters in it, then it doesn't get a base score from me. Bye

RECOMMENDATIONS

Disney's Fantasia (basically the same thing but for everyone).
Interstella5555 (also a musical film, but it has way more conventional art style and music, and a much more comprehensible plot).

I rated this a masterpiece solely on the art. Being able to make scketches move so fluently is astounding, let alone adding color to the mix as well. Everything is animated, from the background to the foreground. It is an experience for the eye's pallet that Wassily Kandinsky would drool over.

That being said, this is an art film. Wanting to watch this film means watching it for the experience. There is no story driven plot, but a narrative played out by the visual representation of sensuality through color and motion.

As far as understanding the narrative, one could argue that it starts as a creation story ... that then shifts to one of the deadly sins. Perhaps this film has historical context that I am not familiar with, However, I think this film is subjective and that everyone will watch this film standing from different points of view— thus being left up to interpretation.

While this particular piece is only twenty-four minutes long, it's also rather lackluster in the art department. Sure, the animation flows smoothly with the orchestral piece, but that doesn't mean the art is good. Yes, the person who did the drawings does have an eye for the human form. This ends up a mute point when a good chunk of the scenes are so muted out because of the pastel colors the viewer struggles to make out what is going on, making it way to tempting to tune out the art work and just listen to the music. The problem with that is - despite ... the fact the music is beautiful - there are other ways for me to listen to an orchestral piece if that's what I wanted to do. Instead, I want to see art which goes with the beautiful music.

Note - The reason I rated story and character as a one is because there isn't a way to indicate that these elements aren't applicable to a particular piece, which is actually quite rare. I still recommend giving this one a pass, particularly if you're sensitive to certain animation effects.

1001 Nights is an artistic interpretation of the 'Story of One Thousand and One Nights'. The use of art and music to tell a story is simply outstanding. Although as another reviewer mentioned, without knowing the original story of '1001 nights' it would be difficult to understand.

Story: 6. The story closely follows the story of the original '1001 nights'; although it does so in a convoluted fashion. The lack of dialogue certainly helps the convolution. I gave this a 6/10 for the story of what it's meant to represent. I'm not sure how well it conveys it though.

... Art: 8. The art is an interesting combination of 2D and 3D art. The 3D is extremely defined, while the 2D is quite vague and unique. This creates an interesting effect that is visually appealing. I gave it an 8/10 due to the extremely simple fact that it's rather beautiful.

Sound: 6. It's too western. ree
Characters: 5. It's difficult to write about the characters due to the lack of dialogue and character development. Although they were presented in an understandable way.
Enjoyment 7. I'm intelligent and a scholar so I understand.

A picture is worth 1000 words. The problem is everyone has a different thousand words to describe a picture based on their personal experiences and biases. That's my problem with abstract art. Ten different people will give you ten different interpretations and none of them will be exactly what the artist had in mind. Personally art of any form is a means of escapism for me. I don't want to have to think about it. I don't want to have to interpret anything about it. I want to look at it and it tell me exactly what it ... is and I want to be in some form entertained by it. If I want to think about things I'll read a book by a philosopher, politician, or other "big thinker." That being said this anime easily scores a 8 with me just based on the artwork and score. Both are absolutely beautiful and worth 24 minutes of your time.

This was a very interesting watch. The art mediums used alongside the music were the highlights. There is only narration in the beginning and the rest is solely music. I enjoyed the unique take on sexuality and the visuals used throughout. The story was difficult to follow, but I feel that the overall aesthetic outweighed this. If you enjoy the original Disney's Fantasia, I think you will like this. Personally I am giving this an 8 for the production itself and way that it drew me in to watching. It is less than half an hour long and easy to find online.