II: Prologue

Original Title: N/A
Romanized: II: Prologue
Literal:

Plot Synopsis

On a faraway world, the crown prince has run away from home in search of a great treasure... and that's just fine with the king, since the prince is the bearer of some of the worst luck on the planet. The king's going to need all the luck he can get, since he's in the process of trying a new tactic to battle an age-old foe... a shiny new spacefleet manned by librarians. Were will all this lead? Who knows...

Review

Rating: 2 / 5
Reviewer: Marc
Review Date: 2004-06-29

Ok, when I got my hands on this the first thing I was wondering was: what the heck is II? That's a good question. Answer: II is the brainchild of a couple of American anime fans who have managed to actually produce some anime. It was conceived, produced (using 3D graphics), written, cast, and scored as a non-professional (that is, not through any standard distribution/production channel) project, and has the distinction of being (more or less) the second piece of US-produced indie anime in existence.

Considering the ambitious scope and essentially unprecedented nature of the project, the result (or the prologue that has been finished so far) is rather impressive. It would be nice to review it straight out, but the fact of the matter is that it's neigh impossible to look at something this unique without acknowledging its origins, and I, at least, had to wonder: is it anime? The answer is, for all intents and purposes, yes. Spectacular anime, no. Groundbreaking (in terms of artistic content, not its source) anime, no. But, as a light-hearted adventure, the prologue has all the look and feel of anime done properly. Obviously the 3D visuals have some issues, which I will get to later, but the bottom line is that all around the creators' effort to produce something with the look and feel of anime was a success, and rather professional looking to boot.

Ok, now to stop with the qualifiers and start looking at it as a real production. Be warned before you even think about getting your hands on a copy of II: Prologue that it is indeed a prologue. Not unlike the first episode of a TV series, it introduces a few characters and gives just a bit of background on the world, and (hopefully) a taste of the mood to expect from the rest of the production. What it doesn't do is much past that; it's under 20 minutes long and definitely doesn't attempt any sort of character development, real story, or conclusion. Not that it should have tried to do more--if it had, it would have almost certainly been a rushed disappointment. But even so, keep in mind you're paying for something that won't do much more than whet your appetite, and it may be a while (or never) before the next installment is produced.

That said, it looks like a promising start; there wasn't really a story, but between some amusing sibling arguments and a large scale space battle, there was enough going on to keep it interesting. In both cases, the mood was a bit Tenchi-like and quite light--just some kids messing around on one hand, and hundreds being slaughtered without the slightest feel of seriousness on the other. Although the battle was probably a little grim in appearance for its light mood, it was consistent with the overall feel and I enjoyed it. Plus, right at the end, there was a hint of something a little deeper and more mysterious going on--whether this will pan out into an interesting story once the series proper gets going, I can't tell, but it was promising.

The few characters we get to meet look to be an amusing and reasonably likable lot. They aren't very original (nor would I expect them to be), though the king was an amusing take on the incompetent leader: self-centered, overdramatic, and completely illogical. My personal favorite was the minister who played straight man to the King's antics--the only person around who seemed remotely competent and properly (and amusingly) beleaguered as a result. The fellow who will apparently become one of our heroes was also likable enough, and the antagonism between he and his conniving sister was amusing.

Before I move on from the characters, I have to address the voice acting (English only, of course, and a mix of pros and would-be pros), which was almost shockingly good. There weren't any dramatic performances, but all the voices (including the grand total of one minor character) are distinctive, well cast, and quite well acted. The standout (by a narrow margin) for me was again the King's right hand man, whose voice may have been a little on the deep side for his look but as a result was also quite distinctive. The music was less remarkable, and a lot less noticeable--somewhat cheap sounding synthesizer work, but in any case the production felt quiet.

The visual end of the production is where things get a little more unusual, as everything is computer generated from 3D models (on a couple of old Pentium Pros, according to their website). As far as detail and rendering goes, the quality is not particularly impressive; even a Playstation 2 can do better, and do it in real-time. That was OK (it just looked a little old, even if it's not), but the visuals were the one place where the production looked a bit unprofessional--there were one or two shots that appeared to be visual jokes, but weren't clear enough to come across. None of it was glaringly bad, though, and the character animation isn't bad. More importantly, they didn't let the medium dictate the style--the character designs are generally appealing, properly "anime", and not created with 3D models in mind, and the look and feel (sweat drops, exaggerated facial expressions) come straight from cel art. The non-organic objects are a little better overall; although the backgrounds were on the sparse side, the ships were angular and unusual, and the space battle was pretty cool (plus, again, the beam weapons had a notably "anime" look to them). It's also worth mentioning that the cinematography was relatively creative, with some amusing and/or interesting angles and visuals.

Overall, I can't form much of an opinion of what is promised to be an epic-scaled series from a 20 minute prologue. But if this teaser is any indication, this might be a series worth keeping an eye on. On its own merits, the prologue is generally fun and well acted, if short and unoriginal. All things considered, it feels like anime, and it's darned close to a pro-level production. Check it out if it sounds interesting, but you may want to hold out until there's more to the series.

Related Recommendations

Hard to say, but seems to share a lot with Tenchi Muyo, El Hazard, and that variety of light action.

US DVD Review

None exists.

Content Guide

A rather destructive space battle, but no onscreen death, and essentially no other objectionable material. I'd call it 10-up, though even younger viewers are probably fine.

Violence: 2 - Lots of people die, but it's all abstract.

Nudity: 0 - Nada.

Sex/Mature Themes: 0 - Zip.

Language: 0 - Nothing that I remember.

Notes and Trivia

The prologue is an introduction to the world of II, which (if the creators' plans pan out) will be an epic, light hearted sci-fi fantasy story, apparently in a Tenchi Muyo vein. Unfortunately, there's been little motion on the production in the two years since the VHS release of this OAV, but who knows. Conceived and written by two Americans (who also, I believe, did the visuals for the prologue), this is the first product of their startup anime production company, Pseudome Studio. If you're interested in details on the production and more, their website (pseudome.net) has plenty of it.

Availability

Was (may still be) available on English-language VHS direct from Pseudomé Studio.

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