One of the least known anime of the last decades is a rather cute «Hotori» , and now it's finally been re-released on Blu-ray.
A short, stand-alone story «Hotori» The story follows the main character, Hotori, who suffers from an illness that causes her to lose her memory, and her friend Suzu, who is also a robot who is implanted with the memories of a dead boy.
The anime begins with Suzu walking towards Hotori, holding a gun with a sinister expression, but then the plot flashes back to the past and shows how they initially became friends.
Of course, I won't spoil the plot, as much of the exposition is directly tied to the anime's ending. However, it's a surprisingly touching story that deals very directly with the theme of loss, both death and the importance of human memories.
I remember watching this movie in 2005 and being really moved by it, but I felt like it could have had a bigger budget and slightly better character designs.
It's not that the character designs are bad, but from the side, they look a little odd and flat. This is a minor flaw, as it doesn't significantly impact the anime itself.
It is also noteworthy that anime industry veteran Ryosuke Takahashi participated in the creation of this anime as a creative producer.
The song "Hotori" was first released in 2005.
AnimEigo
This is an unusual role for him, as he usually only writes, directs, or produces. However, after watching the anime, you'll certainly feel his subtle mastery of how the characters interact and how the plot unfolds.
Although in "Hotori"« and while there are robots and advanced technology that demonstrate how human memories can be stored, it's still a far cry from Takahashi's other mecha anime, such as the dark and gloomy «VOTOMS Armored Attack Vehicle» .
However, if you are even slightly familiar with Takahashi's career and how he came to work with Osamu Tezuka on «Astroboy» , then simpler and more expressive anime like this are not uncommon for him.
As for this release, while the animation isn't anything special from a technical standpoint, the image quality is excellent and the sound is very clear.
This edition also has new English dubbing, but I only watched the Japanese version with English subtitles, which were done well.
Overall, this is a decent release of a little-known yet important anime, and as always, AnimEigo has done a great job releasing it on Blu-ray.
The film "Hotori"« Available on Blu-ray from mediaOCD for $19.95.
Note: AnimEigo provided me with this Blu-ray disc for the purposes of this review.
Follow me on X , Facebook и YouTube . I am also an organizer. Mecha Damashii and currently write regular columns in Japanese about mecha games and mecha anime for Game*Spark и Automaton .
This article was originally published on Forbes.com.