A Wind Named Amnesia



Distributor: USManga

Genre: Mecha/Not of This World/

Format: Movie

Length: 82m

Subbed/Dubbed: Subbed

Audience Appropriateness: Violence, some nudity

The Back of the Box:
No one could have prepared for it. It came silently, sweeping across the earth. And everyone it touched forgot . . . everything. Who they were, how to speak, how to use the implements of modern civilization. The amnesia wind swept away all of mankinds knowledge and thousands of years of human civilization vanished in an instant.

Now, two years later, a young man wanders the landscape of an America reduced to barbarism. Miraculously re-educated after the disaster, he searches for the heart of mankind . . . and for those responsible for stealing its memories. Accompanied by a mysterious woman who was somehow spared the wind's damage, he embarks on a coast-to-coast journey of danger and discovery pursued by a relentless killing machine.

Review:
This one is a tough anime to figure out, much less review. Do not go in expecting something you can just watch and forget about - be prepared to do some thinking.

While some series use the "what if" concept as a plot device, A Wind Named Amnesia dares to go a bit deeper. It attempts to consider facets of human sociology and development - what if humanity was suddenly stripped of the trappings of society. What if mankind was thrust back into his original environment. Considering everything that anime has to offer - the depth of character development, adult themes and subject matter (not the dirty, adult kind - you pervert!), and complex stories - this is sizeable undertaking. For the most part, it succeeds.

The Animation is very well done, detailed and fluid enough to tell the story and set the mood. The voice acting is - well, it's very stilted and disjointed. Normally I'd come down on what could be consisted 'bad acting'. This time however, I get the impression that the stilted acting was on purpose - it certainly fits the rest of the mood of the piece.

Not everything is perfect, mind you. The rogue mecha that keeps showing up throughout the show has a very tacked on feeling about it. It seems there only to add a bit of shoot-em-up to this rather slow moving thinking piece. Now, lord knows that I have no problems with Giant Robots beating the hell out of each other - that's an anime staple! It's like having Hollywood films without car chases and gun fights - but Amnesia is not the place for that. The extra half hour of mecha subplot could have been used to wrap things up a bit more tightly. Did humanity pass the test set before it? Why were the aliens doing what they were doing? More information would have been just perfect.

Ah well - the show is best when it sticks to what it's trying to do: explore the depths of human nature. Get it, and be prepared to think.

All reviews are TM & © 2000 Psychotoaster Productions. All images are TM & © 2000 the respective license holders - and are used in fair use for these reviews.
This entire domain and all associated e-mail addresses are located in the State of Washington, and sending mail to addresses at this domain is subject to the provisions of the Revised Code of Washington.