Interstella 5555: The 5ecret of the 5tar 5ystem

[Dee]

I went along to this at the Edinburgh film festival. Has anyone else seen it at all?

It was interesting - more in a what can be done sense. A hour long music video with anime visuals. A few nice touches, but rather wasted on the music (Daft Punk are not my favourite band, though I fancy anything heavy would wear you out after an hour) not to mention the plot (based around the machinations of Evil Rich Capitalist(TM) who makes Mr Potter from "It's a Wonderful Life" look like a balanced and nuanced character).

Still it looks nice, and you get used to the music after a while.

http://www.bacfilms.com/site/interstella/#

[samus]

Yes, I have. This series of music videos was released at the same time as the Daft Punk singles they correspond with. Daft Punk specifically approached Leiji Matsumoto to work on the character designs and animation for this project.

The Daft Punk videos are very typically Matsumoto character designs; 'old school' - like the kind of character designs you'd find in anime in the 1970s and 1980s. As such, at least for me, the feel of the animation was very nostalgic. I enjoyed the videos, but I wasn't blown away by them.

Leiji Matsumoto quite prolific in terms of his anime and manga works. He is perhaps better known for Uchuu Senkan Yamato (Space Cruiser Yamato, a.k.a. Starblazers) (1979), Captain Harlock (1977), Galazy Express 999 (1974), Arcadia of my Youth (1982) and more recently, Queen Emeraldas (1999).

I think there is a new Yamato series that's been released or soon will be.

[hr]
samus
--
"If people who do not understand each other understand that they do not understand each other, then they understand each other better than, not understanding each other, they do not understand that they do understand each other."
- Gustav Ichheiser

[Dee]

Ah, not just me.

I see what you mean about old fashioned now that you mention it. Sadly I'm not as au fait with anime as many members of the society and don't spot these things.

I'm still reasonably impressed by it. Oh, the temptation to try to make my own with iMovie. I'm sure "2020" would make for a good anime rock video if it were done right.

Sadly I suck too badly to do it.

I guess I'll just have to keep an eye out for other anime rock videos.

Know of any more anyone?

Oh, and who or what is "Yamato" exactly?

[hr]"Freedom is what you do with what's been done to you."
- Jean-Paul Sartre

[samus]

I don't know of any other animation studios/figures that are involved with music videos, but I'm sure they are out there.

Though if you see some of the fan-made anime music videos, a lot of them are quite cool.

Yamato is a space battle ship. It flies through space and I guess the people on baord kill aliens? I'm not entire sure of the plot of Yamato, but I'm told it's classic...

I think Yamato had some hand in the inspiration for Superdimensional Fortress: Macross, which is another big space ship that kills aliens. But SDF Macross has the Valkyries and it has Linn Minmei.

[hr]samus
--
"If people who do not understand each other understand that they do not understand each other, then they understand each other better than, not understanding each other, they do not understand that they do understand each other."
- Gustav Ichheiser