Brilliant Anime Trilogy: Memories
Sunday, 22 November 2009
The anime trilogy Memories
In the first episode: Magnetic Rose, a cadre of astronauts, Ivanov, a vodka swilling Russian pilot, Miguel a Spanish ladies man, Heintz, a German family man with a tragic past, and Aoshima, the cigarette smoking Japanese programmer, descend into a magnetic force field in search of survivors from a wrecked space ship whose distress signal is an Aria from Madame Butterfly, the music of which is the soundtrack to this early 19th century Gothic Tale of Guilt and Eroticism. The story is set in the year, 2092.
When Miguel and Heintz disembark within the marooned ship they are confronted by a Goddess of Memory, who manipulates first, Miguel, who is summoned by an ancient Cupidian robot to partake of a solitary and illusory repast before he is cajoled into an illusion of everlasting love and compelled to join the dark diva in her paradise – a kind of “hell in full bloom” rich with fields of red roses.
Heintz seeking to rescue his brethren is consumed by the promise of an everlasting reunion with his dead daughter whom we discover through the dark maidens’ re-enactment has died in a tragic accident that Heintz is a party to. Heintz is too smart for the trick but cannot overcome the magnetic field until eventually abandoned by his ship-mates he is left drifting alone in space – rose petals floating in his astronauts helmet, as he awakens to the void.
The images are drenched in the blood of 1800′s romance. Wall sconces bleed tears and a player piano is painted in ice, the accoutrement’s of a 19th Century playhouse where everything is trompe l’oeil. Characters step in and out of holographs inspired by scene painting of centuries ago, as Aoshima and Ivanov look on from the control room of their space craft through multiple screens of computers giving each aspect of time and space it’s own image. Magnetic Rose is a mesmerizing amalgam of Noh monster and Gothic maiden, a feast for the eyes and the heart.
The next two pieces of the trilogy are just as magnificent: Stink Bomb and Cannon Fodder.
In Stink Bomb a cold tablet turns a laboratory worker into a biological weapon, portraying perhaps the inefficiency of biotechnology, the lethal nature of new discovery, and the innate human capacity to incompetently manage the disaster that ensues.
In Cannon Fodder an urban populace ubiquitously confronts an unseen foe, shouldering the burden of predictable, generational passage; the awkward bureaucratization of human spirit. The artistry involved reminds me a great deal of the work of George Grosz.
Memories
If you are not experiencing anime and the brilliant Japanese artists that create it, you are missing out, in my opinion, on the most powerful and creative artistic force of our time.
Enjoy!
![Rin: Daughters of Mnemosyne: The Complete Series [Blu-ray]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51JrKBZ4naL._SL160_.jpg "Rin: Daughters of Mnemosyne: The Complete Series [Blu-ray]")
