Memorîzu (1995)

Directors:

Kôji Morimoto
Tensai Okamura

Writers:

Satoshi Kon (segment)
Katsuhiro Ôtomo (mangas) (segments)

Genre:

Animation | Fantasy | Sci-Fi | Thriller

Plot:

"Memories" is made up of three separate science-fiction stories. In the first, "Magnetic Rose," three...

Plot Keywords:

Cannon | Satire | Anthology | Militarism | Love

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Shigeru Chiba	...	Aoshima (voice)
Hisao Egawa	...	Swiveler (voice)
Kayoko Fujii	...	Sakiko (voice)
Nobuaki Fukuda	...	Chief Shell Handler (voice)
Ami Hasegawa	...	Emily (voice)
Isamu Hayashi	...	Boy (voice)
Michio Hazama	...	Nirasaki (voice)
Masato Hirano	...	Mr. A (voice)
Hideyuki Hori	...	Nobuo Tanaka (voice)
Hiroaki Ishikawa	...	Announcement in Station 1 (voice)
Takkô Ishimori	...	Doctor (voice)
Tomoko Ishimura	...	Robot (voice)
Tsutomu Isobe	...	Heinz (voice)
Tetsuya Iwanaga	...	Nobuo's Younger Brother (voice)
Shôzô Îzuka	...	Ivanov (voice)
Yoshio Kawai	...	Male 2 (voice)
Yukimasa Kishino	...	Executive Officer 2 (voice)
Takurô Kitagawa	...	Announcement in Station 3 (voice)
Michitaka Kobayashi	...	Reporter (voice) (as Sanshirô Nitta)
Chie Kôjiro	...	Miki (voice)
Hisako Kyôda	...	Grand Mother (voice)
Naoki Makijima	...	Pirot (voice)
Atsuko Mine	...	Female 1 (voice)
Stefan Mori	...	U.S. Soldier (voice)
Takashi Nagasako	...	Announcement in Station 2 (voice)
Ryûji Nakagi	...	Teacher (voice)
Hidetoshi Nakamura	...	Commander (voice)
Naoko Nakamura	...	Nurse (voice)
Kenichi Ogata	...	Omaeda (voice)
Makoto Ohba	...	Voice 1 (voice)
Hideaki Ono	...	Announcer (voice)
Shinya Ôtaki	...	Operator 2 (voice)
Youko Otomo	...	Female 3 (voice)
Akio Ôtsuka	...	Military Official (voice)
Chikao Ôtsuka	...	General Manager (voice)
Tetsuo Sakaguchi	...	Voice 2 (voice)
Osamu Saka	...	Kamata (voice)
Masaharu Satô	...	Operator (voice)
Ai Satou	...	Weather Forecaster (voice)
Hiroyuki Satou	...	Operator (voice)
Bin Shimada	...	Master (voice)
Kôzô Shioya	...	Male 1 (voice)
Kazuyuki Sogabe	...	Workmate (voice)
Keiichi Sonobe	...	Soldier 3 (voice)
Yôko Soumi	...	Anna (voice)
Katsumi Suzuki	...	Soldier 1 (voice)
Gara Takashima	...	Eva (voice)
Kazumi Tanaka	...	Soldier 2 (voice)
Ryôichi Tanaka	...	Executive Officer (voice)
Seiko Tomoe	...	Female 2 (voice)
Keaton Yamada	...	Father (voice)
Kôichi Yamadera	...	Miguel (voice)
Keiko Yamamoto	...	Mother (voice)

Also Known As:

Memories (International: English title)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for violent and disturbing images.

Runtime:

113 min

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese | English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Certification:

Brazil:12 | Australia:PG | Germany:12 | Sweden:11 | UK:12 | USA:PG-13 | Argentina:13 | Finland:K-11 | Canada:PG (Manitoba/Ontario) | Canada:G (Quebec) | Canada:14 (Nova Scotia)

Company:

Bandai Visual Company

Trivia:

The sound effect of the Nostromo's computers turning on in the opening scene of Ridley Scott's Alien (1979) can be heard briefly at an elapsed time of 00:24:57 (Region 1 DVD).

Movie Connections:

Edited from Kanojo no omoide (1995)

Classic anime

After seeing Akira it's natural to be curious of what Otomo's produced. This collection of short movies(all more than 20 minutes though) is a fun, action-packed and imaginative reminder why anime is among the best genres, and NOT restricted to kids(or in the case of these shorts, not really for kids at all).

The last short of the three is called Cannon Fodder. It features a very cool style unlike normal anime, some neat "camera" tricks and illusions of 3D, and a heavy but playful mood. It's quirky and good but not great.

The second short is called Stink Bomb, which is a crazy, fast-paced disaster/action story with a healthy dose of black humour. It's very well made, with insanely detailed tanks, helis, airplanes etc, and lots of explosions. The whole thing is funny and bizarre, and easily a classic.

The first of the three shorts, which in my opinion should have been saved to last, is Magnetic Rose. Here the humour of the two others is gone, and we have a very gripping and serious story set in a sci-fi environment. This is more like Otomo's Akira stuff; epic but with great characters. Some scenes are gut-wrenchingly emotional and disturbing. All set to a classic opera score, it is chilling and eerie and grand-scale in a way Hollywood never seems to get right.

If you like to watch the occasional anime, this is a very good choice. Don't know how easy it is to get a hold of, but it seems to be very popular at least in Japan.