Windaria Review

I can see the station. The train is just a mile away from stopping, but we still have two passengers to talk about before we say goodbye to this marathon of reviews. Today’s review is a flawed but interesting OVA: one that contains some great concepts/ideas, but one that equally has some flaws to it as well. Let’s sit right down with the Romeo & Juliet-like Windaria, and see what it’s all about.

Story/Setup
Taken from the anidb page:

“Two pairs of young lovers become embroiled in a war between two rival kingdoms, the primitive but resplendent Isa and the militaristic but undisciplined Paro. Izu and his young wife, Marin , are simple farmers who live in the unassuming village of Saki, which lies directly between Isa and Paro. While Saki does not have the beauty of Isa nor the war machines of Paro, they do possess a magnificent tree known as Windaria, to which the villagers give their prayers in return for good memories. When the war erupts, Izu decides to join Paro's army, enthralled by the fantastic motorbike given to him as a bribe. Before he departs, they each take a vow: He will definitely return to her, and until he does, she will wait for him. The other two lovers are Jill, the prince of Paro, and Ahanas, Princess of Isa. They initially want nothing to do with the rapidly escalating conflict, but after Jill's father, Paro's king, dies by his son's hand in an altercation over the war, Jill has little choice but to realize his father's final wish: the taking of Isa. The only problem is that he had promised his beloved, Ahanas, that he would not become involved. Windaria is a war parable set in a fantasy land of unicorns and ghost ships.”

If Shakespear was Japanese, and wrote a story for an anime, this would probably be it. In fact, there are a lot of parallels between this and Romeo & Juliet: the tragic lovers, the anger & violence between the families (In this case, countries), the drama, etc. It does get a little weak towards the end, and certain things aren’t resolved, but for the most part I liked the story.

Setting
Windaria has quite the unique setting, as each of the two lands feel quite different from one another. Paro is setup right in the mountains, and is very rugged yet structured. Itha, on the other hand, is right on the coast, and has an air of wisdom & clarity surrounding it. We cannot forget the farming village of Saki, a territory that is right in the middle of Paro & Itha, and one that shares no desire to be in the war for either side. The village looks & feels very simplistic, yet there’s an aura of magic around it, much like the one from Taro the Dragon Boy.

Characters
Sadly, the characters aren’t all that impressive in Windaria, but they aren’t necessarily weak either. All of the characters in the movie can be related to a character from Romeo & Juliet in some way. This isn’t necessarily bad, as I have a lot of respect for Romeo & Juliet. Sadly, none of them seem to step out of the boundaries they were put in, and actually play it very safe. If you like Shakespear, you won’t find this to be so much of a problem, but if you don’t like him, you’ll have a problem with this.

Animation
Despite being released back in 1986, Windaria’s animation has managed to hold up remarkably well. There’s a smoothness to everything, and it creates some rather fluid movement. The action scene play out splendidly, and you never really get confused as to what’s going on. The characters all look great, with each of them having an individual look that separates them from one another. The various locales and backgrounds also look nice, and that’s really all I got left to say about it.

Voice Acting
I’m going to assume that this does have an English dub, because this was released in the United States (On VHS & DVD). The version that I downloaded has subtitles, but I’m going to assume that it has a dub, at least on the DVD edition. If that is the case, then I might update this at a later date.

Episodes & Episode Length
Windaria is a long movie, clocking in at about 100 minutes. I suggest that you watch this in the afternoon or evening, as while it’s not suitable for young kids, it’s definitely okay for teenagers & older people (There’s plenty of bloodshed, and a hint of sexy).

Availability & Pricing
Windaria is another one of those titles that was released in the states, but has since become obscure, and a rare find. I was able to locate a couple copies of the original VHS release, as well as the 2004 DVD release from ADV Films, over on Amazon. The VHS release, despite being few in quantity, go from about 4 to 5 & ½ dollars new, and 1 to $2.25 dollars used. The DVD copy is a little easier to find, but more expensive: the new copies (There are two at the time of this typing) start at 50 dollars, while the used copies start at almost 2 dollars. While I would say buy this, I would not rule out downloading it, since it’s so hard to find.

Extras/Other
Since I downloaded this, I don’t know what the extras are.

General Impression & Rating
Windaria plays out like a Shakespearean epic. Boy & girl are in love, strife comes between them, and love keeps them together in death. Coupled with some great action & animation, and you have a fantastic movie. Tragically, some of it’s shortcomings weigh it down, but if you’re a little merciful towards them, they shouldn’t massively annoy you.

Windaria gets a 7 out of 10.

See you this Friday, when the train is pulling into the station, and we’re looking at our last review. Until then, stay Otaku!


***
If you’d like to watch the movie, click on the link below:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4XVY5tm_qqI