Voices of a Distant Star
(aka; Hoshi no Koe)
(2002)
review by Head Cheeze

Fan's do the darndest things. A quick browse of the web can yield thousands of pages of fan created fiction and artwork for everything from Betty Page to Star Trek, and, as it becomes easier for folks to get their voices heard, there will be even greater varieties of homage payed to the things that influence them. However, I think Makoto Shinkai's got most fans out there beat by a country mile with his offering to the genre that inspires him; the anime short feature Voices of a Distant Star. Created at home by Shinkai using nothing more than his computer and a helluva lot of ingenuity, Voices isn't merely a tribute to the genre, it's one of it's best entries in ages.

Voices focuses on Mikaku and Noboru, lovers who are separated by the vast expanse of space during the Earth/Mars conflict of the near future. Mikaku is a robot jockey whose piloting expertise has taken her to the front lines of the conflict, while Noboru is left behind on Earth. The two communicate through text messages on their cellphones, but as Mikaku's duties take her further into space, the messages take longer to reach Noboru; first weeks, then months, and, ultimately,years.

Voices of a Distant Star is a very short and very sweet film that packs more emotional resonance into it's lean running time (30 minutes) than most full length features. The tale of Mikaku and Noboru is told against the fantastic backdrop of space, but could just as easily apply to a couple separated by miles instead of lightyears, and it's universal theme makes Shinkai's film one that should appeal to anime fans and non-fans alike. The animation is a combination of traditional cel and CGI, which has become the norm for the industry of late, and is presented here with a stunning amount of detail and care. While Shinkai isn't exactly a novice (he's worked in the industry and has won several awards for another short that is featured on this ADV release) it's stunning what he was able to achieve with the tools at his disposal in what was, essentially, a one man production.

The DVD from ADV Films presents two versions of Voices (with different vocal tracks) as well as almost 80 minutes worth of supplemental materials, including She and Her Cat, the aformentioned award winning short, a long interview segment with Shinkai, production animatic, conceptual designs and more.

While some of you may be put off purchasing this film due to the short running time of the main feature, once the supplementals are factored in, Voices offers over two hours of solid entertainment for less than $20 bucks, a drop in the bucket for an anime title, and a bargain for one as moving and lovingly crafted as this.