It's just unfortunate that most of them aren't really all that good.
Hanare Toride no Yonna is one of those rare, fully 3D animated movies that, like CENCOROLL and Hoshi no Koe, is almost completely the work of one man (aside from the music andthe voice acting). Conceived, written, directed and animated by Takeuchi Kengo, the movie received mixed reviews upon it's release in April 2006.
The movie is about two siblings who live in a remote castle - Stan and Yonna. Both possesses certain abilities that have caused them to be driven from their original home, and because of the unjust cruelty they have both faced, Stan has become fiercely protective of his younger sister. However, the government believe that Yonna in particular would be a useful asset to them, and send two agents to "liberate" her.
One of the problems I've found with "one man shows" (i.e. made by one person), is that the plot is often lacking in certain areas, and it's in this area that Yonna really fails to deliver. The main problem is that the story never really covers anything about the powers that Stan and Yonna possess, nor does it explain how they may be useful to the government. In addition to that, the plot has an aimless quality, as if the writer couldn't make up his mind where he wanted the story to go.
Another problem with the plot is the pacing of the story. Yonna is very slow at times, but can switch gears in an instant, and it's this "stopping and starting" of the plot that can really throw the viewer off, especially given the lack of detail in the story.
That said, Yonna does look good - on paper anyway. The art and animation has a very Final Fantasy feel to it, especially the character designs. The characters are expressive enough, but have a decidedly odd look about them which makes them look not quite human. While this is acceptable because of the fantasy setting, the pixie-like quality of the characters makes some scenes difficult to take seriously. Character animation is good for the most part, however there are quite a few occasions where the movements look strange, especially during action sequences, while other bits of animation can appear jerky or unreal.
Yonna's biggest plus is the artwork. The castle and surrounding countryside is very well rendered and detailed, with great use of colours, tones and shades, which is more than can be said about the interior of the castle. Visually, Yonna's biggest problem is lighting, and this is especially noticeable in the confines of the castle.
Pretty much the only part of the movie not made directly by Takeuchi is sound. The voice acting isn't bad, however the seiyuu are decidedly wooden in their delivery, something which is especially noticeable during the more emotional moments. The music used throughout the movie is actually rather good. Okazawa Toshio, who also worked on the music for 5cm Per Second and The Place Promised in our Early Days, has done a fine job with the score for Yonna. The only problem is that the music is sometimes at odds with the on-screen action, something which is mainly due to poor choreography rather than Okazawa's musical ability.
The single biggest problem with the movie though, is the characters. As this is only a 33 minute "movie", there is understandably going to be a lack of development, however this could have been offset by making the characters more interesting, more real, more approachable. Unfortunately the movie suffers from poor characterisation, and because of this the characters are one dimensional and uninteresting.
To be completely honest, this is a show that can only really be recommended to fans of 3D animation, as there's very little else to it aside from that. A lot can be forgiven given that this is the work of one man, however even this fact can't lift Yonna out of the realms of mediocrity. The audience has no reason to sympathise with either Yonna or Stan, especially as there's very little history given about them, and this plays a major part in whether one likes the movie or not.
This isn't a bad effort though, and the biggest positive about Hanare Toride no Yonna is that it's another example of one man animation at work, and no matter how mediocre the movie may be, it gets a lot of kudos for that reason.
And now I'm off to watch a fifty foot woman fight aliens :)
