The Voices of a Distant Star

First of all, it is really really good.

What amazed me the most is how in such a short period of time Makoto Shinkai is able to create such a wonderful, clear, interesting and beautiful story.

This 25 minute ova tells the story of two friends who are separated because of military reasons. as the distance between them grows, it is harder for them to communicate. Just as Makoto Shinkai's other movies the story basically tries to explain how time and distance make people grow apart even when they love each other. This movie however is still in every aspect bellow 5 minutes per second. The reason I didn't like it as much as other Shinkai's movies is because animation was not very good, or maybe I just didn't like it. Never the less, its still a great movie which I recommend to everyone, (anime fan or not). Its easy to follow, very well built, and as I already said, is by far the best work I've ever seen in such a short period of time. Very very good. p.s: watch 5 minutes per second (also by the same director) is the best!!

Makoto Shinkai could direct traffic and I would watch. This was an amazing anime. You could feel the distance and loneliness of the two main characters. Shinkai wrote, directed and made this all on one computer and you can feel the very personal feel that it gave this animation.

I heard a lot of good things about this anime movie long before I watched it and did not think too much about actually picking it up. But I have to tell the truth when I saw it on sale that pushed me over the line to get it and I am very glad I did. It is was wonderful addition to my collection.

Even the bonus that comes on the DVD version about a cat is great, it is only 5 minutes long but he makes it great. I look forward to his works, I am sure it will be tugging at the heart-strings as he weaves his tale into our hearts.

Well, this one caught me off guard! I was very surprised of it... Art is done fantastically... still can't believe that it's done by one person! Can't wait for the second! Just go ahead and see if you can find one! Its translated title is "Voices of a Distant Star".

What a simple concept for a film, executed so wonderfully. A teenage girl travels in space, and the only way for her to contact the boy she loves back on earth in through her cell-phone's text messaging. But as she drifts further from earth, the messages begin to take a much longer to reach him. He begins to give up on hearing from her again, and she grieves over what she is unable to tell him from this distance. However, the ending is extremely moving and uplifting, more so than I thought this 25-minute film would be.

I need not mention how this film was made, by one man on his computer. While the visuals are surprisingly good for a film made with such sparse resources, Makoto Shinkai clearly understands that storytelling is the most important part of animation, and he made a film that is more beautiful and touching than almost anything you'd see in Hollywood, and he did it on his computer, and with a run time of under a half hour. This guy is talented, and I hope to see him directing more animes in the future.

Voices of a Distant Star is a superb film by any standards, certainly a must see for anime fans.

...the guy made this short anime from his home by himself on a Mac-book 3 and had his wife do the voice of the girl and he did the voice for the boy. those were the only 2 characters in the short. what he accomplished, major studios with major money could not do.

this is the third film i've watched by Shinkai, the first being 5 centimeters per second. right away you see similarities in the artwork, the rain drops falling, trains leaving the station, flowers blooming and all this is done to evoke the feeling of loneliness and works very well. i know that every time i watch 5 centimeters i either cry or get the feeling of loneliness. his most recent movie " children who chase lost voices " is another one that basically deals on the same subjects. i guess all his films deal on the same subject, but the way he does it, nobody in the world can do.

the story is about 2 junior high kids about to graduate and go to high school, a boy and a girl. the setting is Japan 2046 and space travel is now possible and we have developed warp technology which can take us anywhere in the universe. there are also aliens that we are fighting with in outer-space. the girl gets recruited to pilot a mechanized robot in outer space to fight aliens. they are both 15 years old at the time. when she goes off to fight and explore in outer space, the only way they can communicate is through text messaging, but the further away her mission takes her the longer it takes for the messages to reach earth. at the furthest distance it takes over 8 light years for the message to reach earth. she longs for him and vice versa, her age stays at 15 but the boy when they are at their furthest distance apart has aged to the age of 24 and he hasn't gotten a message for over a year. he promises to himself to do what he has got to do and not stress himself out thinking to much about her. meanwhile in outer space she is going through life and death battles against aliens in her mechanized suit. every time she gets a chance she thinks about him and planet earth and you really get an over-saturated feeling of loneliness to the point where some viewers cried. i didn't cry but the film did make me feel sad and lonely.

if your in a sad and lonely mood, unless you want to cry, don't watch it cause you are going to cry. hey, at least crying lets us know we are alive and only real humans cry, it is a good emotion. might want to make us better humans too.