They Were 11

Rating:
Summary: Proof that anime is capable of depicting ANY genre
Review: People assume that anime is only sci-fi or action-oriented. Not so.

They Were 11 (my favorite anime flick) is proof positive that anime can be character driven within the mystery genre. Buy this film!

Rating:
Summary: Proof that anime is capable of depicting ANY genre
Review: People assume that anime is only sci-fi or action-oriented. Not so.

They Were 11 (my favorite anime flick) is proof positive that anime can be character driven within the mystery genre. Buy this film!

Rating:
Summary: Gripping suspense.
Review: This is in many ways a classic "who dunnit," and most of the pleasure of this movie is in discovering everyone's secrets, most especially the identity of the mysterious "number 11." The movie is quite involved with a complex, but not overly confusing, plot and surprisingly well developed characters. The pace is well chosen, frenetic when necessary and yet quite thoughtful when appropriate. My only concern was a few blatant translation errors. Two characters are referred to as "Hermaphrodites" because they have not become either sex yet. The proper term is "Androgonite." Similarly, one of the characters calls himself a "cyborg," despite having no technological parts whatsoever. Other than that, "They Were 11" is a very solid film with consistently clean and fluid animation. Even the voices are well chosen for the parts, and the dubbing is very high quality.

A constant problem with these kinds of movies is that in theory, the "odd man out" could be anyone, you can generally eliminate everyone from suspicion except for one or two people within the first ten minutes. While I was able to quickly dismiss several of the characters, I was genuinely in the dark until the final revelation. While I did find the end somewhat trite, with everyone getting a happy ending, I still enjoyed the movie immensely.

The largest flaw in the movie was the characterization of Frol. I can see where the director was trying to create a highly contradictory character to prepare for the revelation about her true nature, but to me the character just came off as aggressive and naïve, almost stupid. Some of the other characters were also weak (you have to wonder how people with such passive personalies can make it into such an exclusive university) but in general, I enjoyed the diversity of the characters. The characters greatly add to the replay value of the movie, which is also unusual for a mystery.

Rating:
Summary: Gripping suspense.
Review: This is in many ways a classic "who dunnit," and most of the pleasure of this movie is in discovering everyone's secrets, most especially the identity of the mysterious "number 11." The movie is quite involved with a complex, but not overly confusing, plot and surprisingly well developed characters. The pace is well chosen, frenetic when necessary and yet quite thoughtful when appropriate. My only concern was a few blatant translation errors. Two characters are referred to as "Hermaphrodites" because they have not become either sex yet. The proper term is "Androgonite." Similarly, one of the characters calls himself a "cyborg," despite having no technological parts whatsoever. Other than that, "They Were 11" is a very solid film with consistently clean and fluid animation. Even the voices are well chosen for the parts, and the dubbing is very high quality.

A constant problem with these kinds of movies is that in theory, the "odd man out" could be anyone, you can generally eliminate everyone from suspicion except for one or two people within the first ten minutes. While I was able to quickly dismiss several of the characters, I was genuinely in the dark until the final revelation. While I did find the end somewhat trite, with everyone getting a happy ending, I still enjoyed the movie immensely.

The largest flaw in the movie was the characterization of Frol. I can see where the director was trying to create a highly contradictory character to prepare for the revelation about her true nature, but to me the character just came off as aggressive and naïve, almost stupid. Some of the other characters were also weak (you have to wonder how people with such passive personalies can make it into such an exclusive university) but in general, I enjoyed the diversity of the characters. The characters greatly add to the replay value of the movie, which is also unusual for a mystery.

Rating:
Summary: A shoujo mystery
Review: This movie is based off of manga by Hagio Moto. The final part of the elite Cosmo Academy requires ten cadets who have never seen or met one another to survive as a team for 53 days on a space craft. So trust and teamwork are a very imporant part of the exam. However, problems start to arise when the group discovers that they have eleven members on their team and that somebody is purposely sabotagin things. But who is it? And why are they doing it? The question then becomes can they survive as a team for 53 days when they don't trust one another.

Rating:
Summary: A shoujo mystery
Review: This movie is based off of manga by Hagio Moto. The final part of the elite Cosmo Academy requires ten cadets who have never seen or met one another to survive as a team for 53 days on a space craft. So trust and teamwork are a very imporant part of the exam. However, problems start to arise when the group discovers that they have eleven members on their team and that somebody is purposely sabotagin things. But who is it? And why are they doing it? The question then becomes can they survive as a team for 53 days when they don't trust one another.