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Voices of a Distant Star Directors: Makoto Shinkai, Steven Foster Number of Items: 1 Format: Animated, Color Running Time: 30 minutes Studio: A.D. Vision Product Group: DVD Release Date: 2003-06-10 Buy from Amazon

Customer Reviews: Total numer of reviews: 69 Average rating: 4.0 "Surprising!" Well i first rented this movie in a video store since they have a 2 for 1 when you rented after 11:00 pm i pick this movie since the title sound cute and cool... i watched this movie without hoping it to be anything great... gosh!!! I am so glad i've rented it... i mean it's kinda surprise me since it's only a 30 minutes movie, but Whoa!! the movie itself is completed... nothing too complicated...the story is so simple yet so wonderful...A simple love story very well made... the soundtrack is also nice so i end up buying it too...just make sure you rented it before you buy it....because some people might find it a little slow... "made me nostalgic of Gunbuster" this made me think of Gunbuster, which was one of the first anime's i've ever seen. It has the same mecha, ship, and character models as Gunbuster. VOADS's animiation and speatical affects are 300 percent better though. the core of the conflict is borrowed from gunbuster. Moving at speeds faster than light makes time in normal space speed up and you can see where that can lead to in regards to loved ones left behind. This doesnt live up up its sister movie Gunbuster in story and character development due to the time of the movie, but overal its a great anime film. "Beyond Evangelion" When I first saw this short film, I was trill by the resemblance to the world famous TV anime series "Neo Genesis Evangelion". In Fact I believe this is the getting even version of a wish come true from director Makoto Shinkai. For you fans of EVA this is a most see. I will love to see this beautiful idea, converted into a full series, I was really disappointed with the un expected end, but never the less, is unique, beautiful. "A unique work. Hopefully the beginning of a new trend." The fact that this work was done largely by one person is astounding. There is a lot of hype these days in ads from Apple, HP, Microsoft, and the like that digital media can take an individual's creativity to the next level. The creator of this short takes that hype and makes it a grounded reality. Granted, he used to work for a video game software company, so he already had a significant amount of professional experience in this field. His interview in the extras section is required viewing. His quiet naturalness is in stark contrast to his audacity in even attempting something like this. He also has some very thoughtful things to say about the possibility of making animation into a more "personal" medium of artistic expression. The emotional content in "Voices from a Distant Start" was without the typical melodrama and had a ring of truth to it. In that sense, it managed to escape the limitations of robot-SF anime. I found the love story to be genuinely touching. However, there were some anime conventions that he held on to that he really should have discarded. The two protagonists should have been older, and the fact that the girl was wearing her school uniform while operating her robot was ludicrous. With a few changes, it could have been a 5-star work. In this respect, the 5 minute short about a woman and her cat included in the extras section is a stronger work. "A single man created a masterpiece" Creating an anime almost entirely by yourself is no easy task, but Makoto Shinkai, along with the crew who helped him, have created a masterpiece which is Voices Of A Distant Star. This anime will be friendly to new comers and veterans of anime alike. The quality of the animation is very close to that of the big anime production companies, so it's another feet of success for Makoto Shinkai. The musical score, along with the emotional impact of this film easily makes it one of the best I've seen in a while. The Dubbing and Subtitles are excellent, so you can pick your favorite speech(Either English or Japanese with subtitles), and still enjoy the film. This DVD is money well spent, I recommend this highly if you are a mecha fan, or a person who loves great story telling.