BayAnime.com

One of anime’s classic films, Voices of a Distant Star – only 25 minutes in length – is both absorbing and deeply moving.

Voices of a Distant Star is about two young teenagers, Mikako and Noboru, in the mid-21st century. While in the final year of junior high, Mikako is chosen by the U.N. Space Army as a “Special Member,” or combat space pilot, and is sent to serve in space.

She and Noboru communicate by texting messages to each other on their cell phones, but as Mikako’s division travels farther and farther away from Earth, the longer it takes for cell phone mail to be delivered. At first it takes six months; then one year; then, as Mikako travels light years to Sirius, eight years and seven months. And as Noboru grows older in Earth years, Mikako remains virtually the same age.

As Mikako fights the alien Tarsian forces and experiences grand new vistas on different planets, Noboru remains behind in Japan, waiting longer and longer to receive each of her messages. Both he and Mikako, in her combat ship in space, miss each other as the years pass, but time and distance begin to take their inevitable toll.

The themes of isolation and people drifting apart feel as immediate as in any story set in present day, with the futuristic elements just adding to the overall visual effect. The animation is beautiful, with magnificent alien landscapes contrasting with rain falling on Japanese city streets, infusing the film with a quiet melancholy.

If you have friends who don’t understand why you watch anime, Voices of a Distant Star is the perfect recommendation for them.

Voices of a Distant Star (2002) was directed by Makoto Shinkai.

Jan Suzukawa works in the manga industry as a freelance editor and English adaptation writer. Website: www.jansuzukawa.com. Blog: jansuzukawa.blogspot.com.