Sky Crawlers and Mamoru Oshii

I just screened “Sky Crawlers” on Blu-Ray last night. The movie is two hours long and a treat for fans of Mamoru Oshii. Mamoru Oshii is the director of this anime film and he is famous for Ghost In The Shell 1 & 2. The music is by Kenji Kawai. Animation is by Production I.G. If you are a fan of GITS1&2, you can definently see the style of Mamoru Oshii in this film! However, this film is quite different from GITS1&2.

This film has themes that are similar to GITS1&2. It features young kids who don’t age, but fly airplanes against others who are the same. These kids go through a phase of trying to understand who they are, similar to the puppet dolls in GITS2. Mamoru Oshii mixes the cel animation of the characters with the CG of the airplanes and it is really beautiful to see in motion. The airplane scenes CG rendering style makes them look like real airplanes without being fake, a style of CG that was found in GITS2. The airplanes design is also different and striking. The HD Blu-Ray makes it even more sharp and detailed, it is a 1080p disc BD-50 with a high bitrate of 25 to 30 mbps.

Oshii features a dog with long ears in this movie, one very similar was in GITS2. Sky Crawlers features a young girl named “Kusanagi,” and she looks similar to Motoko Kusanagi from GITS1&2. GITS1 had some camera angles where it looked like you were viewing the character’s POV from a rounded lens, and this film has several shots like that. Oshii has some really wondrous scenes of blue sky, clouds, and he allows you to just be in thought with yourself as you ponder what the characters are thinking themselves as they journey through the film. GITS2 had a music CG device with bells, and there is a similar one here that shows up occasionally during the film. The film has a great 5.1dd soundtrack, and sounds as loud as gunshots from the airplanes and giant explosions to ones as small as ambient noise really add to the movie experience. The small sound effects come when you least expect it, subtle and artful, timed perfectly with the minimalist anime movements. I watched the film in Japanese 5.1dd and white text English subtitles.

There is a cool Wii game by Namco-Bandai that I plan to check out later. Probably the game that most connects me with Sky Crawlers is Sega AM2’s excellent Propeller Arena for the Dreamcast. Also Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow.

Overall, it is a great film and one that any Mamoru Oshii fan will not want to miss. It almost feels like an alternate reality film for Kusanagi, as if the character from GITS is experiencing a dream sequence or side adventure. The similar themes and styles from GITS1&2 are enough to connect you to Sky Crawlers, but not so much that the film can’t provide you with its own unique and new viewing experience.