I’ve picked up this 30 minute OVA so many times at the video store, only to put it back after finding something that seems more likely for both me and my husband to enjoy. Voices of a Distant Star is something of a must-see for any anime fan due to its status as an independent underdog that somehow broke through the glass ceiling of animation studios.
The story concept is rather simple. Mikako is your average fifteen-year-old middle school girl in the year 2046. Sure, she might have some excellent qualities, but nothing that stands out too much. Her boyfriend, Noboru is a typical fifteen-year-old middle school student. They look forward to attending high school next year together, as they worked hard to get into the same school. Then one day, Mikako tells him that she’s not going to be able to go to school with him; she’s been recruited as a mecha pilot in the war against hostile aliens who attacked the human colonies on Mars. As such, she probably won’t see him for some time. The only way they can stay in touch is through text messaging through cellphones. While humanity has mecha and light-speed warp technology, communications have not caught up yet. As Mikako moves further and further away from Earth to fight the aliens, the time delay between messages turns into years, with the couple desperately waiting to connect with each other. While only a few months has passed for Mikako in space, it’s been almost ten years for Noboru. Voices of a Distant Star evolves around this melancholic story of love lost to Time and Space, all within the span of half an hour.
For the limited screen time it has, Voices of a Distant Star tells a good story. At some points, including the ending, I was teary-eyed. However, it is seriously hampered by a horrible English dub. I mean, I haven’t seen dubbing this bad since the days of dinosaurs and VHS. Throughout most of the film, it has little to no connection to the events occurring onscreen. The dub version turns Mikako and Noboru into rather vapid characters, focused on their own teenage lives over current world events and speaking in generalities, and it omits rather important plot points, such as the name of the alien race, as well as other technical details that add depth to the story and its characters. It doesn’t help that the voice actors for Mikako and Noboru seem to be horribly mismatched. Both of them don’t sound like teenagers at all, especially fifteen year old ones.
Happily, we have two original Japanese audio tracks, one with the actual seiyuu and the other as a in-production Director’s Cut, featuring the voices of creator Makato Shinkai and his fiancée at the time, Sumi Mutoh in the main roles. Both versions do an excellent job, so save yourself from the pain. Avoid the English dub.
Considering that Voices of a Distant Star was almost solely created on an Apple computer by one man, the animation is excellent, and has stood the test of time well. Although it does feature a lot of panned stills, it seamlessly fits into the story.
This DVD features a lot of nice extras, such as an animatic, an interview with Makato Shinkai and his animated short, “She and Her Cat,” in three different versions (digest, 3 minutes, 5 minutes). The short is very emotionally powerful, telling the story of a cat and his owner. It gives you something of a sneak peek into Shinkai’s style, as it uses images and silence to convey more than what words can say.
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