Windaria (1986)

Thanks for the memories!

not as good as all the hype

Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

What's not to find here that you would expect in an elaborate tragedy: War, corruption, greed, betrayal... At its core Windaria is about the journey of a boy, ambitious yet unaware of at what cost his ambitions will come to fruition. Buyer beware, true love doesn't conquer all in this, mostly unknown in the west, gem. Quite the contrary, blinded by greed, lust and the desire for self-worth through the admiration of others, love takes a distant fourth place right up until the end when our protagonist repents for his sins and decides that love was all he needed after all. As it stands, it works more of as a cautionary tale. Full disclosure: I watched it first as a young boy at the age of 8 or 9 and it had quite an impact on me so that years later when I managed to drag it from the collective knowledge of the interwebs, I had no idea whether the actual experience of it would match the memory. In all fairness, it came as close as possible.

So, I just finished watching Windaria. To be specific, it was the original Japanese version, subtitled by the "Live-eviL" fan-sub group.Well, let's start with the art. For a film from 1986, it looks VERY nice. The animation is smooth, varied, and has a lot of nice, subtle touches. It still looks dated by today's standards, but is still pretty easy to appreciate. The world is also pretty beautifully realized, with some gorgeous looking background art. The character art is all pretty standard for the era, but the quality of the animation makes them stand out more than they otherwise would.As for the story, this is where it really falls apart for me. The movie starts off fine, and the characters start to develop. You start to get a feel for the world, and the story arc, and despite it being paced somewhat slowly, it still seemed pretty well put together. However, about halfway through the story, things change. Characters that were developed early-on start arbitrarily changing their motivations left and right, seemingly for no reason. Yet, other characters feel lifeless, like an empty shell, with no real depth to them whatsoever. This makes it difficult to like any of the characters, and as such, the story ends up falling flat.The pacing also seemed to get slower and slower as the film went on. There's a lot of filler shots, and it made me feel like I was just waiting for the next thing to happen. However, even when that next thing happened, I wasn't satisfied with it, because it usually involved one of the characters, who are all so completely unlikeable that anything that happened involving them didn't matter to me. The film entirely failed to be captivating, and by the last 30 minutes, I was kind of just waiting for it to be over. Then it ended, and I still didn't feel satisfied. I felt like the ending was supposed to make me cry, but it didn't, because I wasn't emotionally invested in any of the characters. After all was said and done, I kind of just felt like I wasted my time.Yet, despite all that, I still find the movie oddly charming. I don't think it's good by any stretch, but it has a few decent moments in the beginning and middle of it. Also, the animation probably would have really wowed me 10 or 15 years ago, and it's still good today, but it's not good enough to push everything else to the side and focus solely on that. However, that seems like exactly what this movie tries to do. It substitutes well-formed characters and a well-paced story arc for some visual flair. It ultimately ends up being far less than what it could have otherwise been, if a little extra care went into the story and the characters.I give Windaria 2 out of 5 stars.

Windaria is one of the most depressing films I have just about ever seen, but I was moved by it as well.I really, really like this film despite its small plot holes. The Art and Character designs are just wonderful. If you think that Characters Eyes are too big, then I guess you just don't get it. The soundtrack is outstanding as well.Some things about Windaria still haunt me today... you'll find yourself doing a lot of thinking after you watch this film. I first saw it back in like 1991, I paid $30 for a copy of it because I thought the box art was good, and the story sounded interesting. I scored big; I must have watched this movie about 10+ times. Fairly recently I was able to get a hold of the original Japanese version Subtitled in English. I was very interesting to finally see the movie as it originally intended. I thought it would answer all my questions. It did answer some, but also created some new ones. The difference between versions is quite interesting. For example, I can remember at least one occasion that dialogue existed in the US version, where the Japanese version was silent. Then of course there is some dialogue in the Japanese version that was changed into something completely different in the US version. I must admit, after watching both versions I think I still like the US version best, probably just because it is what I am used to, and is what I saw first.This film is a unique Romeo and Juliet style story, but it goes much deeper than that. It is also not just about one couple, but two. Who struggle because of foolish war, seduction, temptation, and decite.I personally loved this film and give it a 10, as long as you're not anti anime and have an open mind you'll enjoy it as well.

While it might not be the right film to cheer you up when you're feeling blue, I found Windaria to be a good movie. The dubbing left something to be desired (this is Streamline, after all) and I suspect it may have been edited somewhat for the US release. Still a film worth checking out. I hope an unedited version will be released someday.