From The Director Of Akira - Katsuhiro Otomo Double Box Set
Features: DVD
Contains two Katsuhiro Otomo anime classics - Steamboy and MemoriesSTEAMBOY: From the leader in anime Katsuhiro Otomo (Osamu Tezuka's Metropolis, Memories), comes his first feature- length directorial project since his breakthrough film (Akira). Ten years in the making, with a total budget of $22 million, Steamboy is the most expensive Japanese anime production ever. A retro science-fiction epic set in Victorian England, Steamboy features an inventor prodigy named Ray Steam, who receives a mysterious metal ball containing a new form of energy capable of powering an entire nation, the Steam Ball. Young Ray Steam must use the Steam Ball to fight evil, redeem his family, and save London from destruction. With more than 180,000 drawings and 400 CG cuts, Steamboy is one of the most elaborate animated features ever created. Steamboy will be brought to life with an outstanding ensemble voiceover cast including Anna Paquin (X-Men), Patrick Stewart (X-Men), and Alfred Molina (Spider-man 2). MEMORIES:Created by celebrated anime master Katsuhiro Otomo (Akira, Roujin Z), Memories consists of three dazzling stories, each delivered with its own astonishing style. "Magnetic Rose," directed by Koji Morimoto (Animatrix) based on a manga short by Otomo, concerns two space travellers following a distress signal drawn into a magnificent world created by one woman's memories. In director Tensai Okamura's (Wolf's Rain) "Stink Bomb," a young chemist accidentally transforms himself into an unstoppable biological weapon set on a direct course for Tokyo. Otomo's own "Cannon Fodder" depicts a day in the life of a city whose entire purpose is the firing of cannons at an unknown enemy.
"[Steamboy] An instant classic." Jay Carr, AM New York
"[Steamboy] A worthy successor to Akira. . . Only Otomo is capable of pulling off a masterpiece like Steamboy." Robert Bricken, Anime Insider
Editor's Note
STEAMBOY: Katsuhiro Otomo, the master Japanese anime director behind the international success AKIRA, scores again with this inventive story of a family of inventors from Manchester, England, that gets ripped apart by greed, pride, and power. Ray Steam (voice of Anne Suzuki) is a young boy following in the footsteps of his father, Eddy (Masane Tsukayama), and grandfather, Lloyd (Katsuo Nakamura), scientists dedicated to advancing technology through the use of steam. When Lloyd invents a steam ball that has unheard-of possibilities, everyone wants it--world leaders, wealthy industrialists, and even the government--but most of them want it for evil purposes. And so it is up to Ray to protect the fate of the earth while also choosing between his father and grandfather. The background paintings and 3-D CGI animation are gorgeous, creating a gray-and-white palette of gear-driven machines that melds perfectly with the story, which takes the main characters to a major science exhibition in Victorian-era London. STEAMBOY is an animated gem both kids and adults can enjoy. MEMORIES: Three masters of anime--Koji Morimoto, Tensai Okamuro, and Katsuhiro Otomo--collaborate on this trilogy of critically acclaimed, stunningly rendered tales of the fantastic. First, in "Magnetic Rose," the crew of a spacecraft answer a call for help only to find themselves trapped in a ship haunted by the ghostly memories of a dead opera star. Next, in "Stink Bomb," a chemical worker takes what he believes to be cold medicine, only to discover that it was, in fact, a deadly biological weapon. Finally, in "Cannon Fodder," the inhabitants of a grim and mysterious city exists only to create and assemble an endless supply of deadly weapons.
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