Windaria - 1986

Windaria is a 100 minute long movie from 1986 by the short lived but prolific Kanamae Productions. They were were famous for productions like Dream Dimension Hunter Fandora, Birth and Genmu Senki Leda. All of which sold very well and quickly became fan favourites. All of them including Windaria have been lucky enough to be released on to the dvd format in Japan making it easily accessible to the public again for a short period of time since most dvd releases in Japan are aimed at collectors so pressings are limited with titles often going out of print rather quickly. Windaria was released on dvd in 2000 and then reisused in 2005 by AIC along with other best sellers from their catalogue including Megazone 23 and Birth (both also remastered), once again all of these are now out of print and therefore will require some effort to aquire. Megazone 23 and Birth are widely available in the US and so fans shouldn't have any problems picking up the domestic release. Windaria on the other hand has not been picked up by ADV despite their aquisition of the Carl Macek adaptation of the title known as Once Upon A Time. This version completly changes the plot, dialogue and setting of the anime making it recogniseable only by the artwork alone, fans should avoid this at all costs unless they have a fine appreciation for other edited adaptions like Robotech.

When released in Japan on dvd, Windaria was given the best treatment possible by blessing it with a brand new, remastered anamorphic print for it's dvd release. This completly rejuvenated the once ageing and washed out print, to present to us with a stunning commercial copy that actually matches it's theoretical release and the number of production pictures seen in printed magazine issues at the time. Despite the older designs it really looked as if it could have been produced today if cel animation were still been used today. It's a shame to think a company with such originality and an exceptional track record would fade so quickly into the dust. They unfortunately shut down all their operations in 1988 supposingly due to financial difficulties. For many fans this was a great tragedy at a time since they had quickly built up a large dedicated fanbase of supported. Fortunately some of their ongoing projects were saved by being handed over to other companies for completion however their long term input into the indystry with their unique flavor and style would inevitably be missed. This scenario was not entirely unusual since during the 80's, many companies took great risks under the propserity of the flourishing economy. This however led to a boom or bust scenario with many being so daring that even just one flop could mean financial ruin.

Windaria starts off on a great note by showcasing it's beautful landscapes and gorgeous fantasy setting. It's sad to think that this particular genre is often overlooked by the staff on the industry. Fantasy is often harder to pull of as it revolves conjuring up new creative visual concepts to set up their own unique world for the characters to partake in. The animators really showcase their talents nicely here, like with one of the early scenes of a group of Unicorns peering over a windy mountain. We also get introduced to a small city with an intrieging greek mythological theme to it's dynamic artictecture. The city is right next to the ocean which it uses as a source for filtering drinking water, as well as powering the fountain and the palace's elevated moat. These are just some of the examples of the amount of detail that has gone in to this produciton and this is only the most brief of descriptions for the first few minutes of this movie. Some may want to consider freeze framing these early scenes as they pass by only very briefly but they're very pretty to behold.

Windaria focuses in on alot of romantic elements which are a key part of the story since it's clearly shoujo based(aimed at afemale demographic) with it's both visuals and content, although still appealing to the mainstream. The main character is a blonde haired man called Izu who lives with his young wife called Marin. Iza is a gentle but ambitious man who secretly longs for status, recognition and an overall more luxirious standard of living. His lover Marin is much more content with her lifestyle since her only real desires are the love and companionship of her husband who she wishes to be with for all entity of their lives. Another romance which runs parrelel to this story, centers around the political tension between two cities and it's figures, Jill the prince of Pero and Ahanas, the princess of Isa. Pero is a the technologically advanced, large dark medievel city that wishes to expand it's influence and power while Isa is the more content and beautiful rural city. Their backgrounds and origins will prove decisive in their fates together. Windaria is such an epic piece, I really don't want to discuss the story at any great length since there is alot of the enjoyment to be found seeing this tale unfold from start to finish.

The artwork and animation is stunning and one of the standout attributes that makes this such a delight to view . The character designs are done by Musumi Inomata who will be instantly recogniseable to anyone who has seen the Genmu Senki Leda. The key animation is just as impressive with keen attention to detail with the sometimes dizzying angles and motions captured in this animated piece. Some of my favourite shots in anime in general are those that take the first person perspective. A good example of this used in Windaris would be when Izu first rides his newly aquired motorised vehicle and rides it through the dark forests at night, dodging and passing through the rocks and the trees. If I were to raise one minor weakness in the animation, it is that the cel count isn't qutie as high as the truly top tier productions but then this is the smallest of niggles since at 100 minutes long it can't be too far off from the benchmarks set by other works. If I were to rate Windaria on animation alone it would easily earn full marks in the grading department.

The soundtrack is just as phenomental with it's electronic orchestra which uses a wide range of music from the haunting and mysterious to the exciting and gripping or even the sad and thought provoking. The execution of these musical pieces are as close to perfect as I could have ever hoped for. All scenes are powerfully enhanced by emotionally provoking soundtrack. One such example which always gives me goosebumps occurs exactly at the 54 minute mark which shows one of the villagers pondering over Marin from the hillside while the sun blazes down from it's cloudy blue sky background. It these kind of scenes that demonstrates why music can sometimes be a much more effective way of capturing the mood and feelings of a scene than words or dialogue can ever be. Another very noticeable piece is the final song which plays at the very end of the movie, it's outstand and it magnifies the tone of the ending so well it comes across as both sad and haunting. The soundtrack for this anime was also sold seperatly by Victor but as to be expected with most anime of this age, the OST is now out of print and hasn't been reissued since 1994. Thats not say it won't be in future, soundtracks like Megazone 23 were reissued around the same time as the dvd in Japan. Also their's a rising number of classic anime starting to make itself onto the HD formats in Japan and the US so a future release is possible and I hope this time they include the original trailer and the pilot film which were present on the laserdisc version but exempt from the from previous dvd releases due to the supposed lack of space on a standard dual layer dvd. This was done to max out bit rate for the new transfer.

Some fans refer to this as one of the best and most depressing tragic anime of all time. While it's certainly plays out in a sad note especially during the final third of the film, it's not quite the angst filled, tear jerking masterpiece some would like you to believe. Although it captured by emotions and I almsot shed a tear when the credits started rolling, classics like the Area 88 OVA have had a much deeper effect on me but than it all comes down to personal preferences. I would have liked to have seen an even longer runtime with extended character development and additional padding to some of the background stories including a greater anaylsis on the history of the tree of Windaria. This could have easily have been one of the best of all time with a bit more tweaking. While not the most accomplished movie in terms of content, it's still part of my definition of the word 'classic' or 'old school' since it's mix of shojou, romance and fantasy is a rare treasure to distinguish from.

Windaria seriously needs to be released on DVD here in the US, the only reason I can see for it not being so already is that the rights must be more expensive than any company is wishing to pay for. ADV's aquisition of 'Once Upon A Time' was done through Harmony Gold which would have made it alot cheaper in comparison so i can understand their decision in choosing the edited version over the original especially since Carl Macek was still working for ADV during the time of it's release. He was wielding quite the influence as ADV picked up alot of old streamline titles around 2002 to 2004, some more than successful than others. It's a shame since the orignal version of WIndaria has met with universal cricital praise, I only hope the edited adaptation won't have put off too many fans and damaged it's chances of geting the release since it deserves the attention of fan's today. With ADV going from strength to strength during 2007 after the downturn of 2005 and the rough year that was 2006 maybe with their newly formed partnership with Geneon and their overall changes of fortunes, Windaria could make it as a future aquisitions sooner rather than later since there's no company I'd rather see pick this title up.

Download - Windaria

Overall Grade/Rating: A
Commercial Availability: VHS (Japan), Laserdisc (Japan)