Rating: 
Summary: Three amazing short films from true legends of the genre
Review: I'm still pretty new to this wide new world of anime, so I can't really compare Memories to other works in the genre. I can say that it is a most interesting and impressive production made up of three very different short films from some of the leading names in anime. I don't think the visuals are quite as dazzling as that of more recent anime films, but the artistry of these three episodes certainly does help define the very different worlds in which the action takes place and demonstrates the compelling, visceral powers of anime. We have the celebrated Katsuhiro Otomo to thank for this project; each of the three films, if I'm not mistaken, was adapted from a short manga piece in Otomo's graphic novel Memories.
Episode One is Magnetic Rose, directed by Koji Morimoto of Animatrix fame. This is a beautiful, haunting tale of a most unusual space rescue mission. The crew of a space garbage collection ship responds to a distress signal from a dead part of space. Two crew members board the debris-shrouded vessel and enter a completely different world, one fueled by the memories of a beautiful young opera singer who apparently retreated to the isolation of space following a tragedy in her life. I won't pretend to have understood every thing about this story, but it is wholly captivating. The men encounter lavish rooms including opera houses and living quarters fit for a princess, holograms and other visual artifacts of "the young Madam" Eva entertaining guests and audiences, and decayed artifacts that sometimes come to life in front of their eyes. Each man is soon drawn into the vivid, colorful world of Eva's memories, but only one recognizes the unreality behind the vivid scenes he encounters - in his case, though, memories of his own wife and child serve as fuel for the increasingly realistic episodes he experiences. Much of the story takes place to a soundtrack of beautiful opera music such as that of Puccini, and the combination of such grand music and the amazing visual miracles that define anime of the highest caliber make this a most powerful film indeed.
Episode Two, Stink Bomb from director Tensai Okamura, goes in a completely different direction. Existing in some nebulous space between dark comedy and grim political satire, Stink Bomb is certainly entertaining but much less powerful than the other two films. In this story, a young scientific researcher takes an experimental fever pill that turns out to be something else entirely. He awakes to find everyone in the building comatose or dead (it's never really clear to me), and panicked company executives order him to find the pills and the secret documentation related to them so that he can bring everything to them in Tokyo immediately. He does just that, but he comes across death and destruction everywhere he goes. He does not understand that he has become a biological weapon emanating deadly gas from within his own body. It's almost comical to see the military firepower brought to bear - quite fruitlessly - against him as the military seeks to stop the spread of the noxious gas. The ending is also somewhat comical, on a dark level.
The last and shortest of the films comes from Katsuhiro Otomo himself. Cannon Fodder is an extremely dark film that vividly portrays a day in the life of a militaristic society along the lines of a post-modern day Prussia (i.e., pointy helmets are big in this world) dedicated solely and completely to the continued firing of gigantic cannons against some nebulous enemy. The obvious interpretation is one of the insanity of warfare, and the dark tones and grimly drawn characters bring the message home in a powerful fashion. Interestingly, the entire action seems to consist of one continuous shot that moves fluidly from one scene to another.
Memories dates back to 1995, but it is certainly an impressive example of anime's unique strengths and possibilities. The music, I should mention, plays an integral role in each film, especially Magnetic Rose - I think this DVD is worth owning just for this first amazing film alone. Otomo, Morimoto, and Okamuro are the same masters of anime who gave the world such wonders as Akira, Animatrix, and Ghost in the Shell, so anime newbies can rest assured that Memories will not disappoint.
Rating:
Summary: It's about time!!!
Review: It figures. Columbia Tristar, an American company, acquires this extraordinary anime before it can be released. They (Hollywood)are threatened by these movies. Disney pales in comparison. Memories makes anything by the Warchowski's or Cameron, even Spielberg look lame. Especially the incredibly brief Cannon Fodder, oh how this anime is fitting with American boys and girls being snuffed out in Iraq on a weekly basis. This Anime definitely isn't for the mainstream or politically correct. They also aren't for anyone who's not ready for cutting edge art that isn't done by American animators. Nemo looks like Gumby next to the finer animes like Memories, the upcoming Steam Boy and also the upcoming sequel to Ghost in the Shell. It's a damn shame that this anime has been out for years, came out at the same time that both Ghost in the Shell and Macross Plus washed on our shores. Yes, it's been that long. And when you, the unitiated, finally see this masterpiece bear in mind that this was not done recently, but years ago. You can just imagine what Steam Boy and Ghost in the Shell will look like. And I'm willing to bet anything that when these two JAPANESE features debut, they will be debuting under an AMERICAN DISTRIBUTOR or they will be held up for years and years like Memories. Thank God!!
Rating:
Summary: Artistic Genius at work
Review: Of the three works in "Memories", each is extremely different and contribute to a very entertaining and thought-provoking work as a whole.
"Magnetic Rose" combines beatiful artistry and harrowing audio and visual effects to create an ambience like something from a work by M. Night Shaymalan. The masterful audio score by the musical genius Yoko Kanno contributes greatly to the short. Both chilling and provocative, "Magnetic Rose" is the overall best from the three works in "Memories"
"Stink Bomb" is purely entertaining. Right from the start, we as viewers connect with the poor pharmaceutical researcher we see before us and his plight throughout this very comical and incredulous short. The music as well helps keep a "groove" as the movie flows smoothly throughout.
"Cannon Fodder" is easily the most under-appreciated work of the three. Much reminiscient of the WWII "Maus" comic written by a Jew after his experiences in Nazi-occupied Germany, "Cannon Fodder" takes us to a world that is not full of ghosts and spaceships, nor unbelievable biochem weapons, but a world not too much unlike our own- where people are vulnerable and controlled by unseen forces. It is the most thought provoking, and its style is completely apart from popular animation styles of today. The most intersting part is that the movie is one cut- meaning the backrground flows entirely throughout the movie without the scene in front us chaging suddenly.
As a whole, "Memories" offers something for everybody- from the scary moviegoer to the saturday night funny flick watcher to the ponderous artist- definitely worth 2 hours of your time.
Rating:
Summary: Its about time !
Review: This DVD should have been released a long time ago, but better late than never. Im a huge fan of all types of anime but this movie is one of my favorites. This came out in 1996 and it still looks better than most of the anime on the market today and I own a crappy letterboxed bootleg version, I cant wait to see what this looks like in the beautiful anamorphic widescreen format. I wont go into the plots of the 3 stories, because the less you know about the tales the better, but If your a fan of sci-fi anime like Akira & Ghost In the Shell you should absolutley love this.
Rating:
Summary: 5 Stars for Magnetic Rose alone...
Review: WOW. This is some good stuff, and it should be since it was produced by Mr. Otomo, the same person who created Akira (the reason I am an Anime fan now). The animation is of "Macross Plus" quality, or better. Magnetic Rose, the first of the three short films, features some truly jaw-dropping visuals. Stink Bomb, the second film telling the story of a guy with terminal BO, had me laughing out loud while admiring the great artwork. The third film is just plain amazing, buy this DVD and see for yourself.
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