Chage & Aska: On Your Mark

On Your Mark is a quasi-movie that has everything except words, and that's just the way it was meant to be. Being a little under 7 minutes long, you'd think that it couldn't offer much in the way of content, but it's simply a monumental achievement. The song "On your mark" by Chage and Aska is the only accompaniment to the masterful sound effects throughout the animation.

As with most anime, though, you may have to watch it multiple times to absorb all that's thrown at you, but since it's so short, this is easily done. The story follows two soldiers' experience after a raid on a violent cult headquarters. What they discover hidden away in the back, however, will change their lives and the way they think forever. You'll laugh at some of the sound effects, and maybe a tear will be shed with the ending. On Your Mark is of the caliber of such movies as "Macross Plus", and even better that "Mononoke Hime". One that should be remembered always.

I didn't know it when I sat to watch it but this is essentially a music video since it was made to go under an existing song as opposed to the other way round. I came to it knowing nothing other than that it was a short film from Hayao Miyazaki and as such I was expecting something more in line with the films he has made. In way this is the case but there is a lot more "traditional" anime action in here than I expected. The plot sees a police raid on some sort of religious cult where they rescue a girl with wings like an angel. The angel is rescued into custody and two of the police men decide to then rescue her from that so she can be free.

This is about the extent of the plot and it has a few moments where it jumps backwards and plays it out again in a different way, but the story is less important than the delivery (again, this is a music video more than a film). Visually the film is impressive because of the detail and the vision. So many visions of the future from 20 years ago or so now look dated and silly but not here, it still looks fantastic in the color and the imagination behind it. The film very much relies on the visuals and the movement but there is lots going on here and on a couple of viewings I did find myself focusing on different aspects of it. It wasn't the music any of these times though, since I personally didn't care for this but the animation was full of greatness whether it was in the small detail of the vastness of the city.

It is more of a violent anime than casual Miyazaki viewers such as myself may expect, but it is visually arresting and has enough going on to warrant several viewings – although the music may start to wear on you after them.

It must have been a small but extreme labor of love to make On Your Mark, a short film directed by the great Hayao Miyazaki with his Studio Ghibli crew working at full throttle. It gets right to the heart of the idea in seven minutes through an immediate array of strange but deliriously exciting images, and its story gains momentum by the end. The end, also, is one of the happiest I've seen in Miyazaki's work (if a little fuzzy with an angel flying high into the sky). On Your Mark tells of such a winged being who becomes prey to the horrors of civilization, plague, technology, when she only got there through a tremendous blunder. But when two men finally decide they've seen enough, they go through the security, through the swarms of bio-chemical suited soldiers, and through a desperate escape they make it through the explosions and action.

All through this Miyzaki and his team create small wonders frame by frame, with small details like falling rocks just as fascinating as the large-scale amazements like the 'city' at night in neon, or the shots of the getaway vehicle running along the highway, with the helicopters chasing afterwords. How or why this has happened to the angel is never made clear, but in such an amount of time Miyazaki can only show so much. What comes through best, in the end, is the immense talents of his team, his collaborators who transform such a near fairy tale into a one-of-a-kind show. The music, too, is a curious addition, as I don't think I would've cared for it much taken apart from the animation. With it, the song works on a romantically charged, epic scale (if it were in English, I might've mistaken it for an 80s power ballad). It won't remain as a true landmark achievement for Miyazaki like Princess Mononoke, but if you're already a fan of his &/or Studio Ghibli's works and you can find it (online is the best bet), it's more than worth it, it's a must-see.

So how could a short, 7 minute anime action/music video get so much attention and high score? Hayao Miyazaki is the answer.

Two futuristic/alternate reality policemen become involved with an unusual prisoner, a girl with wings. Realizing that she must be set free, they set a course of events to free her. No words are spoken by the characters. And no need to sit for 2 hours worth as to why the girl has wings, or why the police decided to do what they do. It would make a great movie, I'm sure, but it's to the point subtlety is what make this interesting, what it's meant to be. The music that plays isn't bad. And Miyazaki leaves his usual trademark with someone flying.

It isn't the most perfect short I've ever seen, but I'm glad I watched. If your a fan of Miyazaki, anime, or anything animated and out of the ordinary, hunt for this.

6 1/2 minutes. That's a record for Miyazaki. But despite its length and the fact that not one word was spoken during its entire duration, this short music film still managed to show the magic that's seen in all of Hayao Miyazaki's feature-length films.

This short film is accompanied by a song of Chage and Aska's. When I think of a film about two policemen teaming up to help give freedom to a girl with wings, my choice of music would have been very different from what was given. But it worked! The music went great with Miyazaki's animation and the storyline itself.

Boy, if this was turned into a real feature-length film, how great would that be? Lots of questions would be answered and we'd have a better background on our characters and the story itself. But I guess the beauty of this film comes from the fact that it still managed to deliver a whole set of emotions even if it was just under 7 minutes.

Some may find that their understanding of the film changes after a succeeding viewing, and I think they're right. This film definitely deserves more than one viewing, as to better understand the concept of the film.

Viewed on: May 4, 2011