TO – 2001 Nights UK Blu-Ray DVD review

May 2012
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TO – 2001 Nights

Decent sci-fi anime from Fumihiko Sori, director of Ping Pong and Ichi – just a shame there isn’t more of it…

Director Fumihiko Sori is best known for his live action films, Ping Pong and the affable take on the blind swordsman Zatoichi series Ichi, but he’s also been able to successfully switch between them and CG animated features, following Vexille with two stories from the 19 unrelated tales that make up Yukinobu Hoshino’s original 2001 Nights manga.

Elliptical Orbit riffs on the legend of the Flying Dutchman, but in this case not ghosts but extreme mining engineers who only return to Earth every 15 years. Docking with an orbiting space station, the Midnight Bazooka, which propels vital supplies toward a moon-base, the Dutchman’s precious cargo of power protons becomes a target for terrorists. Soon only the ship’s captain Maria and the station’s captain Dan are among the few that can prevent the terrorists from destroying the moon-base – but they have a past together to overcome as well.

In the second story, Symbiotic Planet, it’s the 22nd century and mankind has reached out to the stars in order to find other planets to colonise, yet can’t leave old territorial disputes behind. On a planet dominated by a mystery fungus that feeds all life there, two rival colonies from American-European and Eurasian federations stand on the verge of war, united only by two lovebirds within their midst, Ion from the former, Alena from the latter. Nothing, it seems, can stop this pointless confrontation, until Ion becomes infected with the fungus.

I’m not a fan of this CGI style of animation, it reminds me too much that dreadful Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within film. Though this keeps more quirks in the characterisation, it still seems strangely stilted and soulless when compared to old cell or more characterised animation – even that anime style for moving the camera angle rather than actually animating anything on screen. You do think to yourself, why not just make this live-action, or a mix like Casshern?

In terms of science fiction, the stories are likable enough, though. There’s nothing too revolutionary or surprising here, but there’s maturity and intelligence to the scripts, with enough twists and turns to make the stories work – even the second story, which plays on an environmental theme is a better than the tired clichés of Final Fantasy.

The acting performances are sound too (like a ponce I only watched the original Japanese language, not the English dub!), though let down by the rather expressionless animation.

The problem with TO – 2001 Nights is it feels like an aborted project. If we were looking at a much bigger body of adaptions from Yukinobu Hoshino’s, even half a dozen or so, then the series would feel a lot more satisfying. There’s just not quite enough to it to warrant keeping your interest.

Shame, or this could easily have notched up another star…

TO – 2001 Nights is released from today on Blu-ray and DVD by Manga Entertainment.

Blu-Ray details

Distributor: Manga Entertainment (UK)

Edition: Blu-Ray or DVD (2011)

TO – 2001 Nights comes as a solid Blu-rAY or DVD release, with a great sound and picture transfer. (Though I'm not sure the precise CGI animation benefits from crystal clear Blu-ray definition.)

Both editions are packed with extra features, including a half hour interview featurette for each film with Fumihiko Sori, Akio Ohtsuka, Romi Park and Aya Hirano, trailers, TV spots and promo videos.

Once again, the Blu-ray menu far outstrips the one on the DVD – not sure why other than for the sake of making it look a lot better?