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Interlude
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Animation - 8.7 |
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Sound - 7.6 |
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Story - 7.8 |
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Character - 7.5 |
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Value - 7.5 |
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Enjoyment - 7.7 |
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Average - 7.6 |
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Funda |
2006-12-31 11:42:24 |
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| Average |
9.3 |
| Animation |
8 |
| Sound |
8 |
| Story |
10 |
| Character |
10 |
| Value |
10 |
| Enjoyment |
10 |
| WOW, I was really suprised at how good this accually was. Ussually my expectations from 3 episode OVA's aren't very high, but this turned out amazing for what it is. It can be very confusing but I think no matter how you end up interpeting it, you feel satisfied at the end. Each Episode is 40 minutes long, so it basically makes a 2 hour movie, if your looking for a good anime but dont have time for 26 episodes this is definitely a good choice. It kind of has a Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuutsu meets Evangelion feel to it.
Well Enjoy : )
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|
| Average |
6.3 |
| Animation |
7 |
| Sound |
7 |
| Story |
5 |
| Character |
7 |
| Value |
6 |
| Enjoyment |
6 |
| This is actually a decent series once you understand what is going on, but for me that didn't happen until the credits of the final episode began to roll. Even then, there were still a bunch of loose ends for me that never were resolved or explained, and that confusion at the end of the series left a bad taste in my mouth. While short, the premise is still interesting. The show reminded me of a lesser version of The Matrix with some Serial Experiments Lain and a little bit of Evangelion thrown in. Apparently, our protagonist notices that reality is beginning to tear when he starts having dreams and remembering events of the previous day that no one else remembers. Then, he takes a train to an alternate dimension/world and things get more confusing from there.
The show is worth a watch if you are looking for something quick and mildly interesting, but if you have the time, find something better like Lain.
Average Rating = 7
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| Average |
7.2 |
| Animation |
6 |
| Sound |
8 |
| Story |
8 |
| Character |
6 |
| Value |
8 |
| Enjoyment |
7 |
| A quiet strange but impressing story, sometimes a little difficult to watch, but mostly fascinating. The most time you will be catched by the ideas this anime tries to show you.
So far so good, but like the most good ones this one has its flaws too, and the biggest one is the big number of not fitting characters, that really destroy the atmosphaere of the setting, especially the misplaced characters that do the so called "fan service", this is definitely not nessesary and does nothig good...
but all in all worth a look...
enjoy it.
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| Average |
9.5 |
| Animation |
10 |
| Sound |
9 |
| Story |
9 |
| Character |
9 |
| Value |
10 |
| Enjoyment |
10 |
| Animation - I know it's an OVA, but still, I loved the character designs, the colors, the beautiful backgrounds, and pretty much everything
Sound - The sound, while not meant to be very notible, carries on in the background, and if you go back, to listen just for the bgm, it is very nice
Story - The story really was very cool, but i don't want to mess it up if you plan on watching this. There are twists
Character - The characters are true to life, and act the way a person would probably act in their situation.
Value - With only 3 eps that were all great with twists and turns, you need to re-watch to get little things you missed at first, or just for the sake of watching a great anime again
Enjoyment - It's not obvious?
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petran79 |
(2007-12-13 01:52:40) 2006-07-22 03:51:08 |
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| Average |
2.0 |
| Animation |
0 |
| Sound |
0 |
| Story |
0 |
| Character |
0 |
| Value |
0 |
| Enjoyment |
2 |
| (Triad fansubs)
The first episode of Interlude was very boring and I thought if this pace keeps up in the second episode, I'll stop immediately.
Fortunately this didnt occur and the second and third episodes were very well directed and kept my interest till the end.
There are unfortunately some ecchi scenes and also some others reminding me of Kiminozou but fortunately they just reach the limit of making
the OVA unwatchable but never cross it.
Because the OVA has one very depressing story behind and were the characters more serious from start to finish with all the sillyness missing, it could
have been much better. Though the action scenes were seriously lacking and the animation was mediocre, the visuals were effective in setting the depressing mood in the end.
The music was hardly memorable while the ending song made me nostalgic of my kindergarten days, so credit to them for including a childrens song in such a serious story. I'm kidding of course :P
Except Aya and the main nameless character all the others werent memorable either. As the typical dark, serious black haired girl found in many animes, Aya is of the best characters.
The ending though well crafted didnt save the anime because in short it wasnt that well executed. Such animes need a director like that of Lain and Boogiepop Phantom to be effective.
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|
|
| Average |
7.0 |
| Animation |
8 |
| Sound |
6 |
| Story |
8 |
| Character |
6 |
| Value |
7 |
| Enjoyment |
7 |
| Sometimes, Reality just bites. And guess what, that’s life – a harsh lesson that everyone learns through their numerous disappointments throughout life. But you can’t run away from reality either, and that’s the main theme in this anime. Sometimes you just have to accept things and move on, there is no sense in kidding yourself.
But the developers of the Pandora project tried to do so, and tried to do that by creating a world without sadness and fear. Okay…now who are you kidding? Hasn’t this prospect been done before? A destroyed world remade virtually to make the people who still live in it happy…that really sounds like the Matrix doesn’t it? And countless other anime titles (like Lain). Fine, we know that original ideas are hard to come by these days, so if you’re going to rehash it lets at least present it well.
Interlude is mildly entertaining, about as much as your average anime. I think that part of the problem is that the anime really has several different styles that are trying to compete with themselves. The bleak, dark mood that one world tries to convey is disrupted by the schoolkid-anime mood of another, and a lonely sleepy mood of yet another. This proves that they really didn’t know who to market this to, but instead attempted to market to them all. Why else would you all of a sudden see a bunch of ass grabbing in the middle of a climactic point? In fact, all the fanservice was thrown in quite forcefully… I think that several characters were added in for this point alone. But, don’t get me wrong, there were all of two guys in this show, and neither of them had much substance. I thought I might have missed the main character’s name to later realize they NEVER GAVE HIM ONE. No backstory, same cliché character types… talk about your generic crap.
It’s the intellectual animes out there that set themselves aside from the rest of the junk…shows like Kino’s Travels and Now and then, here and there or even Boogiepop Phantom give the distinct feeling of NOT average, and definitely not mediocre. With Interlude, we have the start of something quite hard to accept : a mediocre, average intellectual anime. It almost seems like an oxymoron.
Oh well, that’s what makes the money then it’s best to accept it and move on (or ignore completely).
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isokana |
(2006-01-19 12:26:20) 2005-10-30 17:45:11 |
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| Average |
7.2 |
| Animation |
9 |
| Sound |
8 |
| Story |
6 |
| Character |
6 |
| Value |
7 |
| Enjoyment |
7 |
| The start of Interlude was heart-stopping. After the first few minutes I was sure I was going to love the series. Then came school comedy. Ok, I thought, it's still good stuff. There's a lot of mysterious stuff going on. Then came the bimbo trio, then the story started to fall apart. Then I didn't care. Then it ended (that part was good again). Poor me.
Don't take me wrong when I say it was good it ended. The ending was actually good. It brought back some meaning that was lost along the way when the plot introduced elements that felt totally unnecessary (the bimbo trio) or went seemingly off-track with the story of Aya's life. I mean, it's great to have comic relief in some stories but for Interlude's mood the school comedy was plenty enough! I didn't need three stooges too. Aya's life would have been interesting if this wasn't a three episode OVA with huge mystery included. I was jumping up and down waiting them to finish that and move on with main plot. For a TV series I'd probably welcomed that as a nice character development. The end clears up some of the mysteries that make the series somewhat intriguing but leaves too much open for real satisfaction. I suppose this was what they could do in three episodes with side steps.
The main characters are good. The guy (he really didn't have a name?), Aya, Tama and Mitsuki are all interesting and likeable. The bad part are the side characters who are either annoying or meaningless. Like the shot-gun man whose whole being shouts out: "I'm here only to save day! Don't mind about me!"
Animation is good (it's an OVA anyway) and characters look appealing. Where they go wrong are the monsters who don't look intimidating or much anything. Just blurbs you would like to forget. Music is at par with animation and used to create a good atmosphere.
What Interlude reminds me of is a candy wrapped in a shining and appealing paper but which fails in the taste department. When I look at the first episode again, I can't but to shake my head for all the lost potential. With decent execution this could have been a mysterious, thrilling show to keep me glued to my seat for 90 minutes. Now the stupid characters and the shaky plot leave me dreaming.
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|
|
| Average |
5.5 |
| Animation |
8 |
| Sound |
6 |
| Story |
4 |
| Character |
6 |
| Value |
4 |
| Enjoyment |
5 |
| Started meaningfully, ended meaninglessly. Shame.
Interlude was quite interesting to start off with, and was very much like the film Omega Man, full of mystery. But when the third episode came along, what I dreaded came true. It became typically abstract and surreal, why can’t animes just explain the situation clearly? Granted that not all situations in the real world are explained to us clearly, but making an explanation difficult to understand just dents its enjoyment.
Otherwise, it was good, although with such a disappointing and common ending, this wasn’t good overall.
Animation was good, sound was pretty decent too, which I liked very much, characters were alright, but it was the intriguing story which kept my attention, and when this broke down, nothing else matter and wasn’t able to save this anime.
Not one I’d recommend, if the journey is much more important than the ending, then watch this, but if not, skip this.
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sleeper417 |
(2005-04-20 02:33:45) 2005-04-20 02:31:09 |
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| Average |
8.2 |
| Animation |
9 |
| Sound |
8 |
| Story |
8 |
| Character |
8 |
| Value |
8 |
| Enjoyment |
8 |
| This anime is depressing. What seems like a perfect world fades away into the ugliness that is a post apocalyptic world. But in that world where everything has escaped remains the hope that is represented by the character, Aya.
Though depressing and confusing at first, I liked this anime. The characters are very real people and the story itself is some what believable. Good character designs, good plot, and a ending that I enjoyed gives this anime a somewhat high review from me.
My only beef with this anime is that it's story should have been a bit longer. Perhaps a 12 episode series instead of three OVAs would of probably helped this story unfold a bit better.
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|
|
|
|
| Average |
8.3 |
| Animation |
9 |
| Sound |
7 |
| Story |
9 |
| Character |
8 |
| Value |
8 |
| Enjoyment |
9 |
| Interlude is as many others said "an atempt of a deep psychological anime" aldough it manages to realise a part of that it still falls short of beeing a good one, aldough it has a huge depth and meanings it fails to tell it the right way... READ MY SPOILER IF YOU SEEN THE ANIME AND WANT TO FIND OUT THE TRUTH... the admin might delete this, but if he does i wanna know his opinion about my sugestion of my version of Interlude's meanings.
Animation:
Decent.. but it has it's drawbacks... first of all aldough the style of drawing was clear and well defined i didn't really like the character design, their clothes kinda bothered me, especially those of the 3 City hall girls.... another drawback is the cheap use of GC especially when depicting monsters, wich doesn't integrate at all in the anime and looks cheap.
Sound:
The voice acting is mediocre... and there was one particular voice that i just hated, that of Maiko... as for the background music and effects? even dough they do their job well creating the right mood i wouldn't call any of them memorable.
Story:
Well it manages to create a powerfull mood of mystery, uncertitude, panic... wich is a very good thing... and as i watched the first 2 episodes i couldn't help but to get pulled-in by the mystery, as it seemed very interesting with all those psychologichal introjections and the fact that it left you the feeling that you were just scratching the surface of this pandora Project.. i really liked the usage of "truth hidden inside lost memories" of the main character "don't remember" lines, even dough it's an overused technique in most of the mystery animes.
But the story falls appart in the last episode as they give this over-complicated answer filled with strange and unconected scenes and dialogues to our mystery living the audience with almost no real understanding of what and why happened, all in a Matrix style ending, at least that's what most viewers think...
THE TRUE MEANINGS OF THE LAST EPISODE.. for those who saw the anime but didn't understand it:
But here's how i see the story and the aparently stupid ending.... the problem is that the script is bad and so it confuses us as they don't explain or portray the story in the right way... but this is what i think they wanted to say in the last episode... "SPOLIER"...
Pandora Project was a dream world where the survirvors of a destroyed world would have lived, a fake world created by the counscience of the main characters little sister. But the problem is that they tell us that most of the humans are nothing but projections of the one who keeps the dream world alive (the main character's sister, so she is alive), so that means that the only actual survirvor exept the sister that actually exists both in the dream world and in the real world is the main character (strange is that we are told that there are a lot of other humans in this dream world, but is this the truth? i doubt it since we are told that SHE only created the world out of her memories). The rest, are nothing but pieces of mind of his sister, that try to hide the reality from him and keep him in this dream state, but still the world is collapsing... including Maiko and Aya are nothing but representations of an idea, so what's the problem?? the main character starts to realise that this is nothing but a dream.
-Maiko - she represents the past and right now the confort of the dream world, and my best argument that proves that all the people exept the main character and his sister) were nothing but fragments of memory and fantasy of the Dream World Creator.. why? remember the "goodbye" scene? Main hero and Maiko find themselves in a strange place on a sunny beach, where the sky and grass aren't natural at first, but crayon collored, and so sugesting that this is the boundry between the Dream World (the world creator's counscience and imagination, the main character's sister... the area where the power to immagine a world ends) and the Real World.. and then the main character says goodbye in a loving manner to Maiko, that means that she isn't real (only a pigment of memory brought to life by the Dream World) because she cannot cross the boundry to the Real World as she doesn't have a body to return to anymore... so that's goodbye my love goodbye my dream i'll embrace the cruel reality.
-Aya - she actually is HOPE (aldough there is a chance that she actually is a real human that has an actual body in the Real World), that little thing left in the Pandora Box, she is ration as she is the way and key of weaking up from this Dream World and walking into the Real World... why? think about it, she is the only one that wakes up one day all alone in a world where only she exists (that means that she is the voice of ration and she cant be fooled by the rest of the fake people.. or if she's a real person it means that she's halfway awake between the two worlds).. she sais that this world with nowbody in it seems to be revolving around herself, suggesting even more that she is none other then the main character's voice of ration itself (since we know that the dream world was created for the main hero)... and then the last scene... the main character wakes up in this post-apochaliptic world and he sais godbye to the capsule where his sister was, and then he just looks into the horizont, picks the key and walks on the footsteps left by Aya/hope (we never see Aya in the real world but we know it's her footsteps as the main character picks up her key), what does that mean? Aya isn't a person, she is just human hope, human's desire for truth, reality and survirval, and a new begining...
... And that my friends is the hole meaning of the show... to deny a dream even if it's beautiful, and accepting the cruel reality.
Characters:
I said what i had to say about them
Value and enjoyement:
This story had a huge potential, but due to the very complicated script and way of telling the truth, plus some plot logic mistakes is bogges down into doubt and mediocrity.
I still say it is worth watching if you like mystery and you are prepared to formulate a true opinion about the ending.. like i did... aldough i might be wrong about my opinion.
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|
|
|
| Average |
7.8 |
| Animation |
9 |
| Sound |
7 |
| Story |
8 |
| Character |
9 |
| Value |
6 |
| Enjoyment |
8 |
| Variation on the theme of the Matrix where personal issues play a fondamental role, Interlude is sci-fi with a strong psychological twist with characters who explain their circumstances, while staying shallow and leaving plenty of space for less thought about action scenes with monsters, sexy outfits, shotgun ruffians and what not.
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ColeDow |
(2005-01-16 12:56:26) 2004-12-07 16:29:44 |
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| Average |
9.5 |
| Animation |
10 |
| Sound |
8 |
| Story |
10 |
| Character |
9 |
| Value |
10 |
| Enjoyment |
10 |
| Interlude was an outstanding OVA and it easily became one of my favorites. I felt it was a fresh twist on perhaps what has become a common modern premise. The episodes confused me and confused me (but kept me very interested) until it all came together in the end. I almost couldn’t believe what the story was, and how well it was done with how varied certain aspects were. Interlude is a very thought provoking OVA with a lot of drama in it and it exceeded my expectations. I’m glad I stumbled upon it.
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Amaryl |
(2004-11-14 20:32:58) 2004-11-14 20:20:50 |
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| Average |
8.2 |
| Animation |
9 |
| Sound |
8 |
| Story |
8 |
| Character |
7 |
| Value |
8 |
| Enjoyment |
9 |
| Oh so beautiful. Interlude keeps you guessing until the very end. But the finish is well worth it.
At the end of the first OVA, you'll understand that this is a plot á la Matrix, yet with a completely different approach. The second OVA only provides you with more and more questions, all of which are answered in the final OVA. But even then, this will boggle your mind. The plot of Interlude revolves around the idea of Pandora's Box. The final thing to come out of the box was hope. Yet Interlude manages to turn hope into despair. That's all I'm going to say about the story, for everything else I can tell revolves around spoilers. And when Interlude is spoiled, it's really spoiled. Although it has high rewatch value, the plot is something you have to see for yourself.
Interlude's story is well-crafted. The three OVA timeslot is just perfect. Nothing is rushed or drawn out. The story has one big problem though. You really have to use your mind. Interlude requires an amount of thinking that's well beyond the standard of most anime. Not because it's "deep", but because it's rather confising. A plot that's actually very simeple is explained as if it were evidence to redifine the relativety theory. Also, to know what Pandora's Box is, may not be a prequiste to understand Interlude, it will certainly take a load of your mind and you'll even be able to enjoy Interlude a lot more. The most thought provoking character is the main character, who remains nameless throughout the OVA's. His motives have to be understood by rationalizing not only his charcter, but also the plot.
Of course, Interlude has downsides. One such is the ending song. It sucks. Apart from the ending song, the rest of the sound score is good, but the ending song really sucks. Also Tama's voice started grating on my nerves the second she opened her mouth. She sounds like she's six years old or something. Note that her intelligence is also on that very level.
Then we have the animation. While that's overall rather good, the action scenes feature out of place fanservice and comedy which ruin the atmosphere.
On the whole, I found Interlude to be a beautiful anime. However, I'm not so fanatical to recommend this. If you just want to put your grey cells at rest and want to watch flashy pictures, reconsider hitting the "play" button for Interlude. But if you like thought provoking anime (say...RahXephon), then this is what you're looking for, go watch it now.
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Jewelray |
(2006-03-28 07:13:41) 2004-11-06 21:10:58 |
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| Average |
4.7 |
| Animation |
7 |
| Sound |
4 |
| Story |
4 |
| Character |
5 |
| Value |
4 |
| Enjoyment |
4 |
| I have mixed feelings about this one. Some parts were interesting while others were needlessly confusing. And like it has been stated, convoluted does not equal intelligent.
If you are going to make a jesus and disciple reference, at least connect it to a greater allegory. You can't have Mitsuki be the messiah and then and then not follow up on it. Allusions are supposed to serve a purpose.
To sum my thought up, Interlude was slightly interesting at points but fell short of what it could have been. It suffered from misplaced fanservice and lack of any real point, but somehow managed not to be completely terrible.
Maybe if I watched it again I would like it more, but I didn't enjoy it enough to do that.
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mystvearn |
(2004-10-27 22:16:34) 2004-10-27 04:47:55 |
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| Average |
8.7 |
| Animation |
9 |
| Sound |
9 |
| Story |
8 |
| Character |
9 |
| Value |
8 |
| Enjoyment |
9 |
| Interlude seems like its been taken from the Matrix, but in a different perspective. It is very enjoyable, yet confusing at times. 3 episodes is barely enough, it should be more.
It has some love story, has action in it. And it is the kind of anime that makes you have to think to understand it. If you like brainless comedy, action there is none here.
Clearly a must see for those who like sci-fi, matrx style. Even though I am not a big fan of the Matrix still think this is very well done.
Value, is pending; if this is an introduction to an anime series, than it will be higher, but now it will be 8.
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Poom |
(2004-10-23 06:17:38) 2004-10-23 06:13:40 |
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| Average |
8.2 |
| Animation |
9 |
| Sound |
8 |
| Story |
7 |
| Character |
8 |
| Value |
8 |
| Enjoyment |
9 |
| The story is base on the desert world. After everything is dead, a program called pandora project need to be create for mankind. But I acutally belived it was create for suvivers who can't faces the reality.
The Animation was great. Look like they been drawed very well. Not many detail been add, but still works well in this series. Sound was fair, not less from the voicer and soundtrack from dvd. Eventhough there're more story than character development in this story. I must say the story didn't go no where. The story is there, you just have to follow them what going on in the past. Ep.1-2 didn't gives us a mix feeling only made us want to see the last ep. The project didn't really make much sense. If the earth is destoryed, why don't you guy try to rebuild it then. The story only tell us that mankind are just a coward who always want to run away from reality. Not facing the problem is not the answer. Good thing at the end our hero make it through, tell us that there's still hopes left in mankind. Now... what it didn't state is that what to do afterward. Maybe they just want to left a blank whole for the TV series or more stuff they couldn't think it of right now. The ending was loose. This is why i rate char a bit higher than story. The characters in the series really play the role well, connects with each other feeling, fates, and love conqure everything. I really enjoy the beautiful artwork and a nice flowing of story.
2 kind of audience can watches this movie. The one who like romance and comedy. They'll likes how light-heart romance between the two loves birds. Or the dark-fan also will likes this one too. As every minutes in the ep. leaves us a creepy mysteries feeling for us who enojoying mystery things while keep it on the lines for kids and no-creep-fan people.
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|
|
|
|
| Average |
6.8 |
| Animation |
8 |
| Sound |
8 |
| Story |
7 |
| Character |
6 |
| Value |
6 |
| Enjoyment |
6 |
| Although it was another nice attempt at philosophical originality - Interlude falls short. It didn't measure up to many of my usual standards (character depth, plot content, style, message) ... although it's important to remember that this is a subjective review.
***
PLOT/STORY + summary, my interpretation:
Let's get one thing clear. Making a story harder to follow doesn't make it more intelligent. I think I know what they were trying to do with this. Disregard the "why"s for a second and I'll try to set the timeline straight...
In the beginning, Reality: main character, Tama and main character's sister all exist happily as students. They seem to be under the care of main character's brother and his wife. Also, the main character possibly has a girlfriend (yellow eyes, long dark hair, archer) who could represent hope - either as a person, or as the idea itself.
All know about the "Pandora project" which the brother is working on. Tama is too much of a concrete thinker to understand it.
Then, the world comes crashing down. Literally "the laws of physics erode" as the people of the world determine that they don't really exist. (I'll explain a theory I have about this later) They don't show this, but we see Tama dying. *Just one of the masses I suppose.* While main character, his brother, his sister, and his girlfriend survive. (She's in the waiting room with him) His girlfriend states she is going on.
The sister and main character at least have their bodies put into "survival pods" or something as two out of 12 survivors - (think the Matrix, except with 12 people and no evil machines). There their bodies are taken care of, while their minds are allowed to recreate the world they lost from their memories and live in it. Each person can create their own mental world, possibly more than one. This is the Pandora project.
The 12 survivors must be mentally connected, because the main character's sister takes on the responsibility of containing all the bad memories and sadness in the other's memories. She alone takes on all the factors that might destroy their make-believe worlds. Her world is Pandora's box.
The main character is living happily in his world, when weird things start to happen that have no relation to the rest of the story. Then he sees his old girlfriend in a train station - except he doesn't remember her because he either blocked her out, or her memory was stored away by his sister. This is because his old girlfriend moved on, while he could not - he wanted to have his old life back.
Once he follows his old girlfriend, everyone disappears (it's only them) and they try to convince themselves that they aren't the only two people left in the world. They end up confronting his sister at the end, who thinks that her brother can't chose his old girlfriend, because she represents hope for the real world - which would destroy the worlds they created.
Eh, he chooses his old girlfriend anyway and wakes up... in a pod... Matrix style. Somehow he gets out, but unlike the Matrix there is no one around but him and the other sleeping survivors. (The girlfriend he met in his world, of course, existed in his memories) He walks off into the sunset, alone.
Alright... I missed the point of the whole thing (not that every anime has a point). My impression was that the people realized they weren't real and disappeared because they really weren't real. Which would mean, all the main characters were actually just memories in someone else's world as well. And just when that person's world collapsed, they somehow stayed on - but still are not real themselves.
But who's to say what is reality? How do we determine this? We use our senses (sight, sound, touch, taste, aroma) to observe was exists around us: the chair, the computer, the keyboard. If we can touch it, taste it, smell it, see it, and hear it - then it must be there right? ... well, what exactly are our senses? It's generally accepted today that they are electrical signals, generated by some external stimulus and sent to our processing center (the brain/spinal cord). If the only way we determine that there is a world existing around us is by the electrical impulses we receive, how are we really to be sure its there? Couldn't those electrical impulses be just that... electrical impulses, and nothing more. We could be nothing but a conciousness in a sea of energy with no physical reality. The only thing we can be sure exists, is ourselves - there has to be something receiving these electrical impulses. If we are self-conscious, we exist. In other words: I think, therefore I am. (Makes a lot more sense now doesn't it?) Cogito ergo sum.
I think then, that it doesn't matter if a world exists in "reality" or exists "inside our heads". Either way, they are as real as they'll ever be to us (unless we convince ourselves they aren't).. so who's to say they're not as valid? Well, the Matrix and Interlude chose differently. Wanting true freedom is commendable, though I don't really think we're any more free inside or out of our minds. There are always things out of our control that control us... we can never be completely free. (If you can think of an example, I'd like to hear it)
However, the main character's world was getting almost fascist b/c of his sister's controlling behavior (for his own sake of course). And regardless, he had the right to get out if he wanted to. And he did. Whoop de doo.
That brings me to a segue into... characters.
***
CHARACTERS:
I'm tired of writing about this so I'll make it short. They weren't as fleshed out as they could have been. I think they needed to explain more about these character's personalities and backstories. I think if done better, this 3 OVA series could've fit into a regular anime series... although I hear there are other factors in choosing to make TV series. (money...) Also, there were too many insignificant characters. The three big boobed women who worked in the City Hall, the overly feely gunner, the teacher(?) with the black creatures we never really figure anything out about.
Also, this bugs me, why are there only two important male characters? The main character, and the almost evil older brother. Didn't he have best guy friends or something? He only cared about the girls.
***
ANIMATION ...style:
I thought the animation was good. I just didn't go too much for the style. I didn't think it was very original. This doesn't really matter too much to me though.
MUSIC:
The only song I can remember is that one sung by the little kids ... (was that the only song?) Yeah... that's all I remember. It was okay.
***
OVERALL:
I thought the series had a lot of potential, considering the ideas they were working with. But it would've done so much better if they had developed EVERYTHING more.
If you can follow a complex story structure (chronological jumping) then you probably can follow this. It's interesting, intriguing, but doesn't live up to its reviews.
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| Average |
8.7 |
| Animation |
9 |
| Sound |
8 |
| Story |
9 |
| Character |
9 |
| Value |
8 |
| Enjoyment |
9 |
| This series is very weird in the beginning dealing with dark spirit things and other worlds. The end is confusing in general, and might call for another watch through. Overall everything was alright, but nothing blew me away. I was not into this anime as much as I am with others.
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Jamie |
2004-10-12 22:08:35 |
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| Average |
9.0 |
| Animation |
9 |
| Sound |
7 |
| Story |
10 |
| Character |
9 |
| Value |
9 |
| Enjoyment |
10 |
| Wow. This anime was incredible. It's a very surreal existential trip that's backed by a convuluted plot that kept me guessing all the way through. Back that up with strong characters that are well revealed and developed throughout and you have a powerful story. Oh, and don't forget the luscious animation. All today a brilliant piece of work, and one that everyone should watch (even non-anime fans).
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Ridian |
(2005-05-17 01:45:51) 2004-10-07 02:16:38 |
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| Average |
7.2 |
| Animation |
9 |
| Sound |
8 |
| Story |
8 |
| Character |
4 |
| Value |
7 |
| Enjoyment |
7 |
| Interlude single-handedly restored my faith in short OVAs. I came into it with relatively high expectations, given the pretty much glowing reviews I'd read about it, and surprisingly I wasn't too disappointed at all. There were a few things about it that needed a little working out, however; the plot wasn't entirely complete for several reasons.
Despite this, I enjoyed Interlude's story a lot, both in presentation and in content. Its development came as an extremely pleasant surprise to me, because it didn't seem rushed at all as most OVAs typically suffer from. Instead, it managed to convey a very interesting, intelligently-developed plot at a pace and caliber that rivals animes eight times its length, and for that it deserves serious commendation. Though not unbelievably original (more utopian societies? Japan is a wacky place), the plot of Interlude is nonetheless enthralling, with plenty of suspenseful scenes and interesting flashbacks to keep a viewer wondering what they all mean. And the anime does manage to cover a lot of what it promises, though I feel like some of the scenes that took place early on didn't receive quite as thorough of an explanation. I have one particular scene in mind that transpired in a nurse's office...Why was that little critter in there in the first place? I have my theories, but none of them seem to make any real sense given the context of the show. Also, one of the most important events towards the anime is pretty much undermined; not only does it cause the effect of that event to be rather confusing to the viewer, but also cheapens the dramatic effect that the anime had built up so poignantly in the past two episodes. Other than that, however, the anime does manage to create a strong sense of impending doom and even fear, though unfortunately it never really delivers on the second factor.
Characters, like the sound, are generally solid but suffer from some horrible aspects that I absolutely can't ignore. The first issue, once again, is Tama. I hate this character, her family, and everything she stands for; you will be hard-pressed to find a character as actively annoying as this one in any other anime. Between her domineering and unpleasant Anime Alpha Female personality, and her jaw-droppingly agitating voice acting, Tama is scum on the face of Interlude's physics-challenged earth and I looked forward to her much-foreshadowed death. The second issue here is a group of characters rather than just one, those being the three City Hall worker women. All three exist solely for fanservice reasons, especially the disgusting Maru (a name that literally and aptly translates out to 'round'). The big issue I have with Interlude's overall pacing, in fact, is the cheaply-placed fanservice that mars an otherwise engrossing ambience. In the first episode, for instance, almost five minutes are spent with Tama and Maru having an argument prompted by Tama getting stuck between Maru's titanic boobs. Classy stuff. I don't CARE about their stupid cat fight! I want to know who the mysterious girl at the terminal is. (I will admit, however, that Tama calling her a 'tit goblin' is pretty amusing. What the hell IS a tit goblin?) Worse yet is when the lecherous (and rather poorly implemented) gunslinger Sugyu decides to cop a feel from Maru...right in the middle of the plot's climactic moment. Nothing quite kills the mood more than that, and for almost the rest of the scene my mind was focused on Maru's supple bum. Interlude's main problem with characters is trying to implement them: a lot of 'dead-end' characters who seemed like they may have been important turn up once or twice and then are never used again, not especially to fulfill any sort of purpose. Notable examples are Tama's friends, the two evil gunmen, and to some extent Sugyu himself. Interlude's weak point, sadly, is in its characterization, and this makes me wonder if a manga exists. Certainly the characters I saw as pointless are explained to a greater extent in a different media; if not, then I greatly hope that an Interlude TV series is developed.
(Edit: It's also worth noting that the main character has no name. Now, if that doesn't scream generic, I don't know what does.)
Interlude was a surprisingly fun, dark little romp in a shadowy and creepy world. One of the things about the anime that left a great impression was the monologues delivered by each character at the very beginning and end of each episode; they got my attention and were extremely interestingly presented. That aside, Interlude is entertaining from start to finish, and I emphatically recommend it. It's definitely worth the time the viewer will invest.
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