Memories (1995)
In the future, present or imaginary world, Memories reveal themselves, like roses' petals opening.
You know what I really, really haven’t done in a while? An anthology flick. So tonight I bag two windows with a single rock, as one of my buddies has also been wanting to watch more anime. Admittedly, I’ve seent his before - that much isn’t entirely a surprise - but I also really only recall two parts of it from memory - and one part is cheating because it was attached to a music video that i really liked that caused me to seek out the movie when that became a thing that could be done - that’s the power of those home made music videos back before the slightest amount of audio on something like youtube would get a video flagged and taken down forever. Anyways, as much fun as it is to reminisce, we should probably go and take a look at a different set of Memories.
Memories is a three piece anthology, but unlike a bunch of other anthologies where there is a wrapper story that contains the others, this one is just presented more as three separate short stories with title cards and everything. Our first story takes place in a giant wreckage that’s transmitting an S.O.S. in space. A crew goes in to check it out, and some real weird stuff starts going on. The further in we get, the more we learn about our main characters - one more so than others in all honesty - and a real play on the title of the collection. Don’t get too used to things involving memories, though, our second story is a real gas. You don’t realize it yet, but that’s actually an easy hanging pun. A sick man tries an experimental drug to help get over with his sickness, but things go wrong when the drug wasn’t meant to be a flu-killer. Now, everyone seems to be passing out - or dropping dead more likely - from a strange smell, and our lead seems to know nothing about it. Either way, he was told to head to Tokyo, so that’s where he’s going to go - even if it means the military is about to have a real problem when the epicenter of the mysterious occurences are centered on him. Our final story effectively plays off as a day-in-the-life propaganda stylized piece for a city made of cannons, fighting an invisible (to us anyways) enemy city that’s always on the move.
Given that it’s all animated, I can’t really speak much about the actors body language or the likes, so their performances are entirely through the voice side of things. That being said, I think it’s really not that bad, even taken outside of it’s age. They do a good job emoting and playing off the character traits that are (I imagine) intended. We’ve got a decent range, including a kid voice that doesn’t end up being as annoying as some of the older anime characters can. Don’t look at me like that, you all know exactly the voice I’m talking about if you were old enough to live through most the old Toonami and other various anime blocks back in the day. The final one is a bit weirder in it, as there’s less dialogue and more just kind of grunts and sounds most the time. They all do a good job with the drawn body language helping with the story though, regardless if it’s the more comedic tones of the second, or the most science fiction horror vibes of the first.
Characters are about as expendable as any when it comes to these things. The first one - the Magnetic Rose segment - probably has the most to do with one of it’s characters, filling us in on a tragic backstory and giving plenty of drive for things to go the way they do. The shorter time format does mean there’s less time to build things, but it manages a good deal in its time for at least the one lead and the opera singer who most the mystery ends up revolving around. The second one is played mostly for comedy, and although it is fun to see some of the characters within the segment realize whats going on and having their brains catch up to stuff the viewer already knows, I wouldn’t really say there’s any sort of growth or backstory for the characters there to necessarily grab in that manner. The final City of Cannons segment is in a similar situation, but it plays out more serious. That said, it does have a little tinge of a feeling like the Starship Troopers movie - but played a bit more as a straight propaganda issue then the cheesy action movie.
Space mystery horror.
Admittedly, the last one is my least favorite of the group of them. I think if someone was more oriented towards thinking heavy and digging commentary and the likes out of a material they may enjoy it far more than me, but it ended up feeling like the one that had the least to do with it’s runtime, cutting off at the end before there was any real story delivery. It just felt like someone took a day of work and put it in an animated steam-operated city of old World War era cannons where everyone is part of that “we all lift together” war effort. The first plays out covered in mystery and spooky elements, and intrigues the watcher to want to find out whats going on. The action is admittedly a bit limited in it although it is there, but the more horror gothic feeling of the narrative it’s playing out in space doesn’t force one to really expect a lot of action. The middle one (Stink Bomb) - well, it’s funny to me but the idea is somewhat fart-adjacent and I find farts funny so there’s that. The highlights besides hi-jinx largely come from how the characters in it react to things - the clueless main, the panicking military folks after they realize the main is the source of it, or the company heads when it finally dawns on them what’s going on with the situation.
Art style for all three are great - with the first two being the most constant with what you’d expect out of an anime. The final segment feels far more painterly, but I also feel like the faces are a bit of a nightmare-fuel at times. When it’s not haunting my very soul, a lot of the architecture and outfits oddly make me think of a World War era Britain - maybe that’s the intention. Setting wise the first segment allows a lot more to play with, what with being in the future and space where we can get space ships, EVA rigs, flying laser-cherubs and plenty of gothic structure stuff. The middle being more modern gives plenty that you can more easily associate with - cars, tanks, trees and roads. The action segments are a bit more punchy, leaning into the overkill comedy side of things - but it makes for a fun watch.
Audio is pretty good. The first once again ends up being my favorite of the batch, having a nice pretty sounding classical piece. There’s also plenty of techno sounds of various degrees - be it energetic and happy or dark electronic. Line deliveries are good, and I found the subtitles and the English dub to be more than efficient in those regards. I know some folks are sticklers for subs not dubs - but it’s never really been my fight, I’ll take whichever depending on my mood. There is plenty of things for people to think about if they so choose, although admittedly I’m not the one who chose to. Some stuff about good and bad memories, shady government business and ineptitude, and whatever war-propaganda commentary the final segment had to bring out. For me, it was mostly just enjoying the ride - which if you are looking for a fun time the second segment, although a bit dumber, is certainly likely to please the most.
That guy could be me after Taco Bell.
Good animation, good voices, and some fun setups. Admittedly, the animation might show it’s age at times compared to some of the fancier techniques we have in modern times, but for a lot of folks that age ends up coming with it’s own charms the they prefer. The three have their own distinct styles and moods, and I can somewhat get why there is no wrapper trying to tie these three completely separate things together, as it probably would have been nearly impossible without it feeling super forced. Still, it isn’t the worst anthology I’ve ever seen (sadly, I’ve seen some stuff across my times of going “Oh look, an anthology flick!”), but let’s not force everyone to have to see those to appreciate this one. If you already like anime feel like a couple quick short-films to entertain yourself, it’s not a bad choice.