Anime: Hi no Tori

(Writers note: If you read this review, RATE this review. Authors thrive on feedback, whether it be a simple happy face, or an in-depth critique. On another note, I am almost completely ignorant of Osamu Tezuka’s, knowing next to nothing of his prior works. Instead of spending hours of hours of Googling, this review will not be taking the creator’s previous (and from my surface level scrounging, very extensive) works into account.)

Hi No Tori is, for lack of a better term, a Miyazaki level series. Each arc stands alone as a singular epic tale depicting different moments in history, both real and fantasized, that inspire the audience to ask meaningful questions about nature, the nature of the characters in relation to real life, natural selection, etc. As good as the arcs are individually, when taken as whole, the greater meaning, as well as a plethora of equally greater questions emerge, taking the series to a whole new level, raising the replay value to a veritable 11.

The animation, while not without flaws, is a step above most other TV series. Each arc occurs in a different time and place, and each arc contains many different locals. From an island with an active volcano, to a tropical rain-forest, to a dense city surrounded by trees and mountains, to a radiation contaminated desert, to the claustrophobic emptiness of space, Hi No Tori is a visual masterpiece.

The only flaw in the animation is with a few particular character designs, which showcase some outlandish facial features (a.k.a. a nose about a foot long, and half a foot wide) that don’t fit with the serious feel of the story. Still, the quality of the animation more than makes up for it, with extremely fluid and realistic movements, sparse use of still frames, and no unnecessary repeated footage.

One of the greatest visual moments in the series is the opening animation, a fascinating kaleidoscope of beautiful imagery blending into each other. The corona of a solar eclipse, sliding away into a black hole, following Hi No Tori (The Phoenix), a beautiful yellow, flaming bird that leaves a rainbow trail behind it, as it flies downward into the black hole which empties out into a multi colored room with a giant Buddha statue in the center. From there, into a magnificent sci-fi skyscraper landscape of flying cars and complicated structures, into…

The music during the opening sequence is equally amazing. A perfect, understated classical score of trumpets with a light soprano chorus that builds and retreats with the animation. As good as the ending theme is, the drive to see the next episode is greater, resulting in my skipping it in most episodes. Background music during Hi No Tori is much less noticeable. The few tracks I did notice were excellent, however, and reminiscent of the opening theme. The seiyuu do an excellent job, with just the right amount of overacting typical of good anime.

The characters in Hi No Tori are plentiful, with the multiple story arcs introducing a new set of characters, while seeming to re-use old ones. Each arc feels almost like a play, with the same characters playing the lead roles in different places and time periods. Outside of the animation, however, each character is different in each arc, with different personality quirks and character development.

For a 13 episode series, the amount of development in Hi No Tori is amazing, with each main character and many side characters undergoing drastic yet believable changes in a very short time span. Characters evolve from innocent and naïve, to mistrusting and angry, to wary and cautious, to trusting and loyal, all in the span of two or three episodes. While each episode spans a mere twenty-three minutes, the overall feel of each episode is nearly twice the duration, and not in a boring way.

Not only are the characters well developed, but they are startling original as well. A young man infused with the heart of a robot, who sees other robots as humans, while real people appear as trash. Another young man, caught by an invading army, has his face replaced with that of a wolfs. How people react to him, and vice versa, is a complicated version of the “Eye of the Beholder” scenario that is played out to perfection, inspiring all the right questions.

At the center of each story is the search for immortality, which is oft portrayed as the quest to capture the blood of the Phoenix. In this way, Hi No Tori asks many of the questions previously asked by series such as Kiddy Grade. For instance, why do we long for immortality? What is true immortality? What is immortality like to those who have achieved it? Hi No Tori takes these questions a step further, encompassing them in much larger questions regarding things such as the nature of life as we know it.

By the end of the series, the previous questions brought up in earlier arcs are answered, expounded upon, and taken to awe inspiring levels. The ideas this series inspired me to have will leave me pondering for weeks, and perhaps for a lifetime.

Spectacular animation that is several cuts above the norm, a quiet, appropriate soundtrack, characters that are interesting, unique, and well developed, and a storyline that is interesting, engrossing, with a deep and thought provoking undercurrent that will lead to some truly inspired conversations long after the series is over. This is must see TV not only for anime fans, but for any intelligent member of the human race who has ever asked the big questions, such as “Why are we here?”, “Where are we going?”, or “What is the nature of life?”. These questions may be unanswerable, but the ability to discuss them is, in my opinion, one of the things that makes humans so special.