Anime: Appleseed (2004)

This is one of those lesser known films in North America mainly because it didn't have a theatrical release of any sort as far as I know. I'm not going to bother getting into the plot or anything like that mainly because it's slightly confusing and because you could just Wiki it to see the story. The CGI is gorgeous and done in sort of a 3D/2D Cel-shaded anime hybrid that looks brilliant on an HD tv. I gave the animation a 9 instead of a perfect ten because but other then that, it all blends beautifully. The characters are unique in my opinion and they have excellent dubbed voices which is rare for anime. To explain the 5 in value, the DVD I got was the single disc edition and besides a few trailers, the DVD is void of any special features. I'm aware that there is a 2-Disc version but I don't have it. Overall, this is a fantastic movie that should be in any anime fan's collection.

Great visuals, until they show the characters.

Appleseed looks like a fairly nice movie, despite me watching it 4 years past its production date. At first sight, everything seems nice and smooth – as expected from a CG movie with an above average budget. Great surroundings, backgrounds which are almost up to par to the current backgrounds in CG movies, so even for a show which dates 4 years back, it still holds up among the current ones. Sounds promising, no?

Unfortunately, it keeps that up only until the moment we see a character: then it displays that it is by far not up to the standards of even previously made movies, like Final Fantasy: Spirits Within, which was already 3 years older than this one.
And when you have to watch those abysmal characters on your screen for most of the time, it gets really annoying.

Animation: Great backgrounds, poor characters.

As said before, the only thing the movie really fails at in the animation aspect is the characters. Expressionless dolls isn't really my cup of tea when it comes to enjoying my show. The lip-sync is also not always perfectly timed, but that's a minor detail I can overlook easily, due to some scenes not displaying the mouth from the best angle.

Add to that that my DVD-rip encode (from Anime SkyScraper, also named ‘ASS’) managed to set its brightness to a fairly high level, so the very first moment the characters entered the screen with a neon-dress, I became blind. What is it with people who feel they have to dress half of all characters in neon-colors whenever it's a futuristic setting?
It's not only that, but my characters looked like they contrasted too much with the rest of the screen. Even after changing some settings, I never got my characters look how I expect them to look, so it's probably not even an error of ASS.

Character movements are sweet and solid, so action scenes are often done pretty well. Often, because sometimes the mechanic movements are cluttering too much of the screen. They try to show off too much of what they can do, rather than fit it to the setting, which often results in too much clutter on the screen.

Sound: Inadequate voice acting, but nice music.

I was surprised about the level of voice acting. There are a few which are undoubtly good, if not really good, but there are also a couple which are below average – if not simply bad.

Hitomi sounds at first like she has trouble with her script, but after listening for a while, she simply sounds like the average person on the streets in Japan. I wouldn't have realized that without having been to Japan myself, so despite her sounding odd, she's a genuine average girl – something they try to display in this movie. After a while, I could even appreciate her voice for her role, especially since she's not doing a bad job in being average – how odd that may sound.

Except for the top-mechanic (who was simply good) and a few other exceptions, most other characters with a role big enough to get named are often disappointing. They're varying from just average to simply bad, so you can go everywhere with this cast. It doesn't help appreciating the characters though, especially as they are already pretty sad in terms of visuals.

Music
What positively surprised me was the level of music. Both OP/ED music were on a nice level, which was only supported because the music fits the movie. BGM is done properly as well, supported by a few vocal songs, which is always good in my eyes (or ears, if you want).

Story: Isaac Asimov in a mere 1.5 hours is often not enough.

The story tries hard to resemble the level of the writer Isaac Asimov, but seeing how it comes from the mangaka who thought up Ghost in the Shell, it's not all too surprising. There's plenty of the so-called thought material, which generally means that the show addresses ethical issues and makes you think about these issues even after having finished the show.
Unfortunately, the movie doesn't really lend itself for it, as the focus of the movie is mostly its visual aspects. Add to that that the characters don't really add much to the story itself and it's no wonder that the show's plot tends to diminish because of several factors. So while the idea behind the show is actually great, the story doesn't make the best of it.

Characters: Cold, uninteresting characters.

As said before, the visuals are great until they display the characters. Devoid of natural emotions, most of them come across as zombies which occasionally display a hint of emotion, but not more than that. The result of that is that one simply cannot empathise with any of them, no matter what tragedy overcomes them.

The other problem the characters in this show have is that none of them get any real depth. Only the protagonist gets a flashback of her history, but most other characters are simply there. Even the bad guys pop up just because they are needed there, no intro, nothing. The only reason they are there is because the plot requires it to let them explain what their reason is for being bad guys.
The protagonist' comrade is supposed to be one of these thought material things, but even he seems to be dropped into the story without too much concern. He trudges along and gets his dialogues every now and then, but other than that he's more like an attribute, rather than a real character. Hell, most animal sidekicks in a comedy provide more to a show.

Value & Enjoyment: Nice try, but you simply don't rewatch.

I can imagine that this is the kind of movie one goes to see in the cinema, because great visuals and good music simply go well with that kind of setting and bring this movie to an acceptable level. But with the lacklustre plot – despite a great idea behind it – and the lousy characters, this show doesn't warrant any rewatch at all. Therefore I doubt there will be many people who actually want to buy this movie after having seen it.

This movie really is terrible. The animation, though "modern" at first glance, is sub-par and annoying. The facial expressions and body movements are jerky, and very artificial looking. The quality of character animations and action animations is terrible. The backgrounds look terrific at times (especially during stills, which shows the quality of the budget more than the animation), but the characters are just so stiff and pathetic looking that it ruins the whole movie; the animation is better suited for a Saturday morning cartoon than an anime movie.

The sound isn't very good either; action sounds are well done; but the soundtrack was fairly terrible. The voice actors might have been better had the animation been able to better showcase the facial expressions and body language of the characters; howver as it stands the acting just seemed trite and overdone. I didn't feel any emotion for the characters and none of their attempts at acting could change my feelings.

The story is pretty pathetic really. It is the same "humans get in WWIII, create androids as better humans, and then it is decided that humanity is destroying itself and the Earth, and needs to be replaced" with the stock "militant humans who hate robots and try to wipe them out" guys as well. The entire thing is so cliche and has been done (better) in dozens of other anime.

Also, this anime is very shallow and lacks much complexity or depth; there is no political manuevering between the Prime Minister and the General or the Elders, no real "plans" thought out or enacted, it is all straightforward and simple.

The characters arn't that good, and are vey cliche, just like the entire movie itself. None of the characters really engrained themselves in my mind; hell, I just finished watching the movie 5 minutes ago and can only remember the Prime Minister, Athena's name and the name of a side-character called Hitomi. Neither of the two main characters, the girl-fighter or the guy-robot, were very deep or complex, and neither developed or grew over the course of the movie.

I would place little value in this movie; I wouldn't reccomend it to anyone, and I would not rewatch it, rent it again, or but it, ever. There are many animes and movies out there that perform this plot better.

This movie is a bit of a mess.

Visuals
For the vast majority of the movie, I found the visuals to be breathtaking. I thought about some obvious comparisons with "Ghost In The Shell: Innocence" and "FF7: Advent Children". Like "Innocence", Appleseed uses a futuristic setting and tone, but in this case applies it to 3D models not too dissimilar to "Advent Children". And whilst the 3D work is, I feel, a better way to express the futuristic environment than Innocence, it doesn't have the same high standard of atmosphere as Innocence. Also, the 3D work itself is not on par with Advent Children. This is especially true with the character textures - I think that the cell-shaded method does not come off well for them, and I found it a constant irritation throughout the movie. In fact, it gave the characters less credibility in their actions and emotions. The positives in the visuals are in the form of the animation - it's fluidity and general sheen are excellent. The style of the movie also shows a "coolness" quality to it - using a few bullet time effects in the action scenes; and often showcasing the visual design with the gorgeous cityscape and technical gadgets and gizmos.

Sound
I really thought that the sound was the best aspect of Appleseed. Whilst not all of the musical scores were to my taste, it had befitting music to go along with the scenes, and I liked the opening and closing themes too. The voices of the characters were fine, and helped to lessen the annoyance of their cell-shaded visuals. The sound effects were top notch, with the right ambiance in the right scenes too.

Story
This was not a movie with a well executed plot. The subject matter was nothing bad, and even being clichéd it had a half-decent chance of working out okay. But alas, no. The movie felt like it was produced as an excuse to test out the visuals rather than revolving around a good script. It was almost arrogant in presuming that the viewer would think it "cool" and therefore it didn't need a good plot. I think the story was rushed to some degree and cut corners in setting scenes. To establish a premise and background to the Appleseed world, there were just large monologues which were far too contrived to explain to the viewer what was going on. It did not feel credible within the movie.

Another thing was the random clips of the past that were mixed into the movie. Most of the time it wasn't obvious that the flashbacks were actually flashbacks until way late into them. And I can't help but think that the main purpose of the flashbacks was to explain the nature of the bonds between the main heroine and the people around her, but in my opinion it failed to adequately do so (see below). The story contained only mediocre revelations and I found it in general to be a bit of a bore.

Characters
The movie failed in keeping me passionate about the lead character. I felt as though I was observing her without any interest in her outcome. I don't think that the creators could find a good balance between what they wanted her to be and be perceived as. She's supposedly a badass fighting girl on paper, but in reality the impression she gives is not worth the hype. She goes through the full range of emotions and behaviour, but I constantly was questioning why I should like and support her as the star of the movie.

The secondary characters seemed quite bland, and to only be there to take up some screen time and space. The were no emotional bonds formed with any of them that seem justified. Together with the calamity of the cell-shaded visuals, the characters don't come off well in the movie, and only seem present to keep whatever plot, moving along.

Value
I would only watch this movie again for the odd action scene here and there or to admire some of the wide views of the city. Otherwise, what is there to come back for? Certainly not the plot or characters.

Enjoyment
I found this movie to be below average. The general visuals, and the excellent sound were the main cause of joy; the story and characters were the main cause of sorrow. I'd recommend it to those who want to see something a bit visually different from the norm, but I don't think it has enough substance, so wouldn't advise getting your hopes up.

This is the best movie, since Ghost in the Shell, (maybe because Shirow Masamune created both of them, but let's not bring that up...)

This movie, has the best story, of all the anime I've seen... though, you don't know too much about what happened before, it still is a great story... But even though it comes up later on in the movie, you can't help wondering why you couldn't know that in the beginning...

The animations are combined 2d-3d, which makes it the perfect animations, they are more human-like than normal anime-people, which brings it up...

The sound/music is really great, though some tracks aren't really to my taste, but that's just me... Otherwise the sounds of the movie, are great, it really puts up to my expectations...

The characters are really well-developed, but Briareos is kind of in the shadows, you don't know really much about him, what happened to him, or anything else... Deunan, is then again, really well-made... She is the person that brings this story together... (maybe because she is the main person...)


I really enjoyed watching this movie, and it is with a high-recomendation, to all anime-fans [freaks =) ] out there...

Well I'm afraid my review of this movie is going to differ quite a bit from the others already here -- I'm unfortunately biased because I am such a fan of the manga and was hoping this movie would succeed where the older movie failed. While some reviews give this an 8+ in every category, to me no category scores higher than a 6 (and I'm being generous).

Animation: 6 (Fine)
Let me begin by stating that I'm not a big fan of CGI. That being said I was at times impressed with the animation in the movie -- a lot of the movements of the characters were surprisingly life-like. Unfortunately I'd say that for every impressive shot there was an unimpressive one. Eye movements/blinking were particularly poor, I thought the eyes themselves were ugly too.

The real crime, however, is the character design, using these CGI models sucked the life out of Shirow's animation. Deunan and Hitomi might as well be the same person with different colored hair -- there's no Hitomi cuteness and no Deunan bruteness. Athena is not good either. The only one they get right is Briareos, but let's face it, he's a cyborg.

Sound: 6 (Fine)
The voice acting isn't that great, you get the feeling that the seiyuu just aren't into the movie. The only music I really noticed was the pop at the start and credits, I usually prefer a soundtrack specifically for the movie/show. Music during the action sequences wasn't much more than a beat. Sound effects seemed ok.

Story: 5 (Weak)
Like I said I'm biased because I've read the manga, but I was really hoping for more here. I've come to conclude that Appleseed isn't suited for a movie, a TV series would be better since the plot could easily fill 26 episodes (or 39, or 52...). They basically picked the major elements out of the story (post-WWIII Earth, clones, terrorism, government) and incorporated them into a new story which is trite ("you have 24 hours to save Hitomi!") and mostly used to fill time between fight scenes. They tried for some political intrigue but it's not very compelling.

Characters: 4 (Bad)
The characters are pretty one-dimensional and it's hard to care about any of them. Deunan's motivations seem forced (as the plot is so weak), and although she should be a tactical genius, she doesn't seem to be that adept at combat (save for a training exercise plucked out of the manga). Also the fact that she and Briareos aren't in a relationship anymore hurts the general mood. And just because Briareos is a cyborg doesn't mean he has no feelings or emotion! There isn't time to make secondary characters like Hitomi and Yoshi the fleshing out they need to be interesting, and the military guys and the elders are just cardboard cutouts.

Value: 3 (Very Bad)
I can't disagree more with the other reviews here. This is not a "must watch", nor does it have any more rewatchability than your typical throw-away action flick.

Enjoyment: 4 (Bad)
I fell asleep once watching this movie, about 45 minutes in. When finishing it I almost fell asleep again; basically I kept getting bored. I was terribly disappointed -- if you love Shirow's other stuff save yourself the time and go read the graphic novels, they're immensely more enjoyable. You can certainly find something better to watch than this.