Space Firebird (1980) Hi no tori 2772: Ai no kosumozon (original title)

Director:

Taku Sugiyama

Writers:

Taku Sugiyama
Osamu Tezuka (screenplay)
(more)

Release Date:

13 July 1982 (USA)

Genre:

Animation | Sci-Fi

Tagline:

The karmic wheel has turned to 2772.

Plot:

In the year 2772, a young cadet is sent to capture a mystical universal Phoenix, which possesses the power to rejuvenate the drained Earth.

Plot Keywords:

Anime | Sequel | Number In Title

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Kaneto Shiozawa	...	Godô Shingo (voice)
Keiko Takeshita	...	The Phoenix (voice)
Hiroshi Ohtake	...	Crack (voice)
Katsue Miwa	...	Orga (voice)
Kazue Takahashi	...	Pincho (voice)
Kazuo Kumakura	...	Saruta (voice)
Masatô Ibu	...	Black Jack (voice)
Osamu Kobayashi	...	Ban
Shûichi Ikeda	...	Rock (voice)
Shûichirô Moriyama	...	Bolkan (voice)
Toshiko Fujita	...	Rena (voice)
Yasuo Hisamatsu	...	Lord Eat

Directed by
Taku Sugiyama

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Taku Sugiyama
Osamu Tezuka		screenplay
Osamu Tezuka		story

Produced by
Susumu Akitagawa	....	executive producer
Kiichi Ichikawa	....	executive producer
Osamu Tezuka	....	producer

Original Music by
Yasuo Higuchi

Cinematography by
Iwao Yamaki

Art Direction by
Shinji Itô
Tsuyoshi Matsumoto

Production Management
Takamasa Matsutani	....	production manager

Art Department
Noboru Ishiguro	....	art
Kazuko Nakamura	....	art

Animation Department
Ikuo Fudaki	....	key animator
Masanori Fujioka	....	key animator
Teruo Handa	....	key animator
Noboru Ishiguro	....	key animator
Tomokane Kagawa	....	key animator
Akihiro Kanayama	....	key animator
Chikao Katsui	....	key animator
Junji Kobayashi	....	key animator
Kôzô Masanobu	....	key animator
Satomi Mikiyura	....	key animator
Takateru Mita	....	key animator
Noriyuki Moto	....	key animator
Kazuko Nakamura	....	key animator
Hiroshi Nishimura	....	key animator
Hisashi Sakaguchi	....	key animator
Tadashi Shirakawa	....	key animator
Shinichi Suzuki	....	key animator
Shin'ya Takahashi	....	key animator
Osamu Tezuka	....	key animator
Kazuo Tomisawa	....	key animator
Kôichi Tsuchida	....	key animator
Kazuhiko Utagawa	....	key animator

Production Companies

• Tezuka Production Company Ltd.
• Toho Company

Distributors

• American National Enterprises (1982) (USA) (theatrical) (shorter version) (as "Space Firebird 2772") (dubbed)
• Celebrity Home Video (USA) (video) (shorter version)
• Divisa Home Video (2007) (Spain) (DVD)
• Toho Company (1982) (USA) (subtitled)

Also Known As:

"Hi no tori 2772: Ai no kosumozon" - Japan (original title)
"Phoenix 2772" - International (English title) (short title)
"Phoenix 2772: The Cosmic Zone of Love" - International (English title) (literal title)
"The Cosmic Zone of Love" - International (English title) (short title)

Runtime:

Singapore:122 min | USA:95 min (edited version)

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Color:

Color (Fujicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.75 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Australia:G | Iceland:L | Singapore:PG | Sweden:11

Company:

Tezuka Production Company Ltd.

Trivia:

Many of the film's characters were taken from Osamu Tezuka's comics: - Godo is based on the heroic Kenichi Shikishima, who has appeared in many of Tezuka's stories; - the villainous Rock has also appeared in many of Tezuka's stories; - the robotic girl Orga is a tribute to the "Metropolis" character Michi, as well as the more famous Astro Boy; - Rena, the politician's daughter, is based on Princess Sapphire from the "Princess Knight" comic; - A character named Saruta appears in all of the "Phoenix" stories; - Ban is a prominent member of the "Astro Boy" saga; - and the Iceland prison warden is the surgeon Black Jack, the hero of his own comic.

Movie Connections:

Remade as "Hi no tori" (2004)

Awesome story if you can live past the shoddy delivery

Please note that I am judging from the English dub VHS, which I was lucky enough to discover in a pawn shop. Phoenix 2772 was a movie by Osamu Tezuka, inspired by his "Hi no Tori" series of comics (which were a series of short stories spanning centuries which were connected by the concept of the legendary Phoenix), which features a young man named Gadoh who, after having a run-in with the law, escapes the earth in order to capture the Phoenix, and ends up going through a trial of self-discovery.

You kind of have to understand the author and have a really open mind (and a tolerance for less-than-stellar delivery--more on that later). Osamu Tezuka was not your average manga author: He wasn't content to just tell stories of heroes and villains, but of deep characters with human personalities. His stories usually had some form of moral to them, but he didn't hamfist it or deliver it in a package, like in a Disney cartoon, but rather told sweeping, epic stories wrapped around the point he was trying to convey, but delivered in such a way where it was never shoved down your throat. Moreover, he felt stories shouldn't be limited to feel-good adventures or comedy, and thus most of his stuff had a very emotional quality to it. I personally feel Phoenix 2772 delivered on that.

Yes, the film won't immediately make sense if you go in, expecting a Disney-esquire song and dance number with a lot of feel-good moments and a "good guys always win" message. What instead needs to happen is that one needs to forget how things "should" work and instead prepare for anything. With an open mind and a little bit of thought, the story of this film makes perfect sense.

The weak point is one that's not a fault of the story or the creator, but rather of the translators: The English dub is bad. Mouths move, yet no one is talking. The voice actors sound like they're trying to sound natural, but forget that they're voice acting for an animated movie, so we have moments where mouths are moving yet no one is talking, and things like that. One flaw I particularly noticed is that the Phoenix of the title is always referred to as "272" instead of "2772," and no one could quite decide how to pronounce the main character's name (is it Godah, Gadoh, Gardoh, etc.) But... if you can overlook this and you can stand films that require you to think instead of just delivering all the answers to you on a silver platter, then this one is worth a try, even if you can only find the English dub version (which DOES seem to have been edited).