Appleseed Movie

[Specky]

Appleseed the 2004 Movie Synopsis and Reviews on Anime-Source

The final version of this review can be found here.

Wow… Just got back from the theater after taking this one in. I think I found one of the nicer theaters to watch it in as well. Not too huge of a screen or anything but they sure had the sound system cranked, which fit with the theme and soundtrack pretty well. Some times it is just nice to be in a theater and this was no exception. (Though being in a crowded theater with a bunch of Japanese anime fans always makes me feel better. Especially when there are groups of cute girls on either side of me…) ^^; Anyway here is my spoiler free (I'm pretty sure anyway...) review.

The basic plot seems to go as follows, Deunan our leading lady gets pulled from the war ridden slums to find out that her long thought left for dead partner Briareos is actually now working for the Olympus special forces (ES.W.A.T.) as a Cyborg.

While taking in the difference of being in a bustling metropolis Deunan learns about the bioroids (not quite android, more humans created from science with their own will and soul but at the same time not “perfected” human) and discovers that even though Olympus is at peace there are factions at work that are willing to wage war to dispose of the boiroids.

From there Deunan is asked to support the ES W.A.T. as they attempt to unearth the final missing link to the bioroids incomplete selves which lies in a mysterious item called the Appleseed.

While the plot doesn’t sound like the most original of any movie out there, I felt that Appleseed accomplished what it set out to do, not break the boundaries of storytelling or plot (though there are a few little twists in there.) but rather re-tell the Appleseed story using a new format of animation that stays true to the format it came from. It is not trying to be photo realistic, it is not trying to make the characters look as human as possible, it is an anime at heart and that shows very clearly throughout the movie.

As for the fully 3D aspect of the show, while I must admit that it took some getting used to just because it isn’t something you see much in your anime, I must admit that I feel it was pulled off pretty well. My reasoning for this goes all the way back to the Final Fantasy Spirits Within CGI movie that bombed in the theaters. For me one of the big reasons it sucked is that it was trying too hard to be “real” and lost the “Fantasy” aspect of the atmosphere. (Among plenty of other things that we won’t get into here…) In the end I was hoping for an extended version of the CG that they were using to make FF7 and 8. Turning the characters into humans was a big part of what turned me off. I was hoping that they would retain their anime-ish forms or something. Here that isn’t the problem. While the motion capture was all played out via actors it is undeniable that the characters In Appleseed stay true to their anime/manga form. The big eyes, the hair and the lines all scream 3D anime and that is what helps me get past the flaws of the cel-shading and texturing. I guess my point here is some things should be left unchanged and one of the reasons I am having a hard time getting excited about this new FF Advent Children movie is that they are trying to do the same thing they did with the other FF movie. Making the characters look to CG human turned me off the moment I saw the trailer posters at Animate. (Seeing a human-like character with Clouds hair just strikes me as kind of hard to take seriously… But enough side tracking.)

As I mentioned the cel-shading isn’t perfect here but the one thing that bugged me more than the shading itself was that it was used a little too extensively. Some of the shirts and pants suffer from that “glossy” look and it does come across as kinda strange. Here is where some texture mapping may have helped, but again that is only for the more realistic clothing. When the characters are in their battle outfits or gear the effect come out ok. The motion capture also seemed to be handled pretty well, especially in the action sequences. Some of the movements still have that 3D feel to them that seems kind of stiff but in the end the expressions on the faces etc. also seemed pretty well pulled off. (Maybe having the anime style faces helped in this area as well. Exaggerated anime faces tend to show the emotions better than a more realistic human face) On the other hand though the full 3D and shading lent itself to the cyborgs and robots so well that I can forgive cotton looking like plastic. ^^; The robots and suits in the movie really do shine here (Not just because they have that glossy feel to them either) The designs are fun and generally pretty colorful. Briareos looks right at home in this style of animation and the mechanical designs are really what lend themselves to this format of show, proving why the director went with the full 3D aspect here. After watching Appleseed though I find myself looking forward to seeing this format tweaked and used in future anime. Not completely turned off.

As for the backgrounds Olympus is a bright bustling metropolis and the CG goes great lengths to prove it. You get that glossy shine feel in a lot of places but at the same time there are remarkable amounts of detail in others. The design for Olympus are meant to be bright and colorful. In the end it may not seem “realistic” or anything but I don’t think that is what the director is trying to accomplish. Rather than shoot for realism he went for a true futuristic approach that was pulled off extremely well. On the other hand it isn’t all bright and shiny either. The slums and war-torn areas are laid out very well and really capture that run down feeling. There is also a big scene that takes place in an impressive rainstorm that adds variety to the atmosphere of the show.

In the music department the vocal pieces used during the movie fit in quite nicely. The matrix-y techno/trance style actually seemed to work for some of the pieces better in the movie than actually listening to the songs separately on the OST. I discovered that a couple of the songs that I didn’t like so much on the OST fit pretty well in the movie. Alas, the more dramatic scenes where nice symphonic or orchestrated pieces may have fit better were also apparent at times. While it does the job it sure isn’t going to break any sales records or anything. The emphasis is clearly placed on the vocal pieces here.

To wrap things up I felt that this take on Appleseed was pulled of quite well. I don’t see it winning any big awards or anything but at the same time it was a good solid action flick where you can walk out of the theater going, “That was money well spent.”

[Yebyosh]

It sounds pretty nice but... I doubt anyone outside of Japan will ever get to see the light of this movie except perhaps in DVD release 1-2 years down the line if we are even remotely lucky.

And....

[atikiN]

Great wrte-up

[Specky]

[Yebyosh]

[zebrachen]

Specky u lucky lucky person.....Appleseed is one of the anime movies that i wanted to see since i knew about it, from what u had said so far it looks like to be an good movie and going to be one of my fav.

As for Appleseed not being seen in the usa for some time i hope that some fansub groud subs it(i know its illegel but hey i want to see it ok )
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a wise man once said to truly understand everything is to understand nothing.

[Kaiser]

haha.. great article Specky... but you forgot to add those pictures of the cute Japanese anime fans sitting on either side of you =)

As excellent! Hope you're still having lots of fun in Japan! =)
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[Kxtreme]

Oh wow Movie Sounds KICK ASS hellz yeah.. I cant wait to see it
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Top Animes Ever Seen....
1. Gundam Seed
2. Naruto
3. Yukikaze
4. Hellsing
5. Berserk
6. Gundam Wing
7. Full Metal Panic 2nd season
8. Kimi Ga Nozomu Eien
List will grow when I remeber the other animes I've seen

[generic-coolname]

[shoangore]

[defense2]

im finding 2 differnt movies for appleseed, are their two differnt movies with the same name and general plot? the boxs and lenth of movie are differnt from site to site that i fine, can you help. if so email me at defenseinitiative@yahoo.com

[Specky]

[AlDim]

I watched Appleseed today and I'm very very disappointed. It's gotta be one of the very worst anime movies I've ever seen (and I actually had semi-high expectations for it).
The story is kitsch, the characters are shallow and uninteresting, the music is pretty bland, the visuals are mediocre... Worst of all, one of the main "attractions" of the movie, the 3d cel-shading immitation, is quite bad at times. Especially the clothing looks horrible and the character's faces have an awkward empty look. Also the use of motion capturing is very inappropriate and often becomes a distraction. The whole thing looks and moves like a video game.
I really don't see a single thing that makes this movie worth watching. Not to mention the large amount of extremely cheesy dramatic scenes which only made me laugh.

[se7en]

i had downloaded a spanish-subbed of this movie ... damn ... im so disappointed although i cant understand most of the story line , i found tat the CG was awesome ... may b because i like mecha and all those futuristic scene ... i dont think tat it was so awful as wat u said AlDim ...
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Anatawa ... Sokoni Masuka ?

[kaki]

i would say that this is nothing to be gossipped about.. and i thought this was going to have some very very very good 3d animation.. ives seen bettter and the story just makes you dislike it even more... sigh* next time.. ima read review before i go see it >.<"