Anime: Dragon`s Heaven

This thirty minutes long OVA is a directorial debut and the adaptation of manga by Makoto Kobayashi, illustrator, mechanical designer and modeller. Simple and lighthearted story focuses on Ikuuru, lovable (female) adventurer who, riding on the birdlike creature through the immense desert, comes acrros a self-aware robot (i.e. "cydroid") Shaian, who is awaken after millenial hibernation caused by death of his pilot. A friendship is born between the two of them and the girl agrees to assist him in the (hopefully) final battle against his old enemy, El Medine, mechanical general of Brazilian emperor who once intended to conquer Kerutoria, a missionary city...

Right at the beginning, one particular thing that meets the eye is "live-action" (or should I say, stop-motion?) prologue during which very detailed, custom made kits of Shaian and El Medine are shown in the clouds of smoke. They are about 6 ft. tall, which is revealed in a short documentary throughout the credits. Even though the transition from these initial minutes to traditional animation is not performed quite smoothly, a director deserves honor for the brave experimentation with various mediums and for the originality of "grainy" visualisation, inspired by the illustrations of Jean Giraud, known as Moebius. Erratic, organic forms, used in fortification and mecha design, are presented in almost sketchy style, while shading is supplemented by ink dashes, in order to achieve the look of the graphic novels in motion. If, by any chance, Toshihiro Hiroshi had decided to depart from conventional ("old-school") artwork, while drawing Ikuuru, you would have thought that this obscure and delightfully retro anime was produced in France. Thanks to the unique aesthetics (which proved logical for the given setting), it somehow transcends the rest of japanimation, despite its humble (but concise) content.