5/5 Three amazing short films from true legends of the genre
  by Daniel Jolley (Shelby, North Carolina USA)
I'm still pretty new to this wide new world of anime, so I can't really compare Memories to other works in the genre. I can say that it is a most interesting and impressive production made up of three very different short films from some of the leading names in anime. I don't think the visuals are quite as dazzling as that of more recent anime films, but the artistry of these three episodes certainly does help define the very different worlds in which the action takes place and demonstrates the compelling, visceral powers of anime. We have the celebrated Katsuhiro Otomo to thank for this project; each of the three films, if I'm not mistaken, was adapted from a short manga piece in Otomo's graphic novel Memories.

Episode One is Magnetic Rose, directed by Koji Morimoto of Animatrix fame. This is a beautiful, haunting tale of a most unusual space rescue mission. The crew of a space garbage collection ship responds to a distress signal from a dead part of space. Two crew members board the debris-shrouded vessel and enter a completely different world, one fueled by the memories of a beautiful young opera singer who apparently retreated to the isolation of space following a tragedy in her life. I won't pretend to have understood every thing about this story, but it is wholly captivating. The men encounter lavish rooms including opera houses and living quarters fit for a princess, holograms and other visual artifacts of "the young Madam" Eva entertaining guests and audiences, and decayed artifacts that sometimes come to life in front of their eyes. Each man is soon drawn into the vivid, colorful world of Eva's memories, but only one recognizes the unreality behind the vivid scenes he encounters - in his case, though, memories of his own wife and child serve as fuel for the increasingly realistic episodes he experiences. Much of the story takes place to a soundtrack of beautiful opera music such as that of Puccini, and the combination of such grand music and the amazing visual miracles that define anime of the highest caliber make this a most powerful film indeed.

Episode Two, Stink Bomb from director Tensai Okamura, goes in a completely different direction. Existing in some nebulous space between dark comedy and grim political satire, Stink Bomb is certainly entertaining but much less powerful than the other two films. In this story, a young scientific researcher takes an experimental fever pill that turns out to be something else entirely. He awakes to find everyone in the building comatose or dead (it's never really clear to me), and panicked company executives order him to find the pills and the secret documentation related to them so that he can bring everything to them in Tokyo immediately. He does just that, but he comes across death and destruction everywhere he goes. He does not understand that he has become a biological weapon emanating deadly gas from within his own body. It's almost comical to see the military firepower brought to bear - quite fruitlessly - against him as the military seeks to stop the spread of the noxious gas. The ending is also somewhat comical, on a dark level.

The last and shortest of the films comes from Katsuhiro Otomo himself. Cannon Fodder is an extremely dark film that vividly portrays a day in the life of a militaristic society along the lines of a post-modern day Prussia (i.e., pointy helmets are big in this world) dedicated solely and completely to the continued firing of gigantic cannons against some nebulous enemy. The obvious interpretation is one of the insanity of warfare, and the dark tones and grimly drawn characters bring the message home in a powerful fashion. Interestingly, the entire action seems to consist of one continuous shot that moves fluidly from one scene to another.

Memories dates back to 1995, but it is certainly an impressive example of anime's unique strengths and possibilities. The music, I should mention, plays an integral role in each film, especially Magnetic Rose - I think this DVD is worth owning just for this first amazing film alone. Otomo, Morimoto, and Okamuro are the same masters of anime who gave the world such wonders as Akira, Animatrix, and Ghost in the Shell, so anime newbies can rest assured that Memories will not disappoint.

5/5 Highly recommended for anime as well as sci-fi fans
  by Philip Lang (California, USA)
I first saw a trailer for "Memories" in 1996 while watching "Sabrina" at a theater in Nagasaki. I thought the bits of animation shown, along with the music were amazing and I was back in a theater when it came out. I've seen it several times since and I still regard it as one of the better anime films out there. Top rate animation, a fantastic score - I highly recommend trying to find the Victor Japan 1 1/2 disc original soundtrack (comprised of one full sized CD and a CD single sized disc 2, in some really cool packaging) - and great stories. The animation style of the three, like the different stories, are all different. Magnetic Rose is my favorite, and some of the imagery, paired with the haunting music (combining electronic music with Puccini arias and choral works), have had a lasting effect. Stink Bomb, touching on biological/chemical warefare as well as the military, is pretty damned funny, and even more relevant in today's current global climate. The final installment, Cannon Fodder, by Otomo-san, is the most original, both in terms of the animation style/character design and in the narrative. There is a weird "child's story" feel mixed with a Pink Floyd's "The Wall" vibe.

I am just really excited that this is finally out on Region 1 DVD. This is a work of anime that is definitely more accessible to mainstream audiences (especially those who dislike the big, "saucer-eyed" style of anime). I am glad that I resisted buying the much more expensive Region 2 set. And did I mention how great the music is?

Utte kimasu!

5/5 Artistic Genius at work
  by Radman (East Bay Area, CA)
Of the three works in "Memories", each is extremely different and contribute to a very entertaining and thought-provoking work as a whole.
"Magnetic Rose" combines beatiful artistry and harrowing audio and visual effects to create an ambience like something from a work by M. Night Shaymalan. The masterful audio score by the musical genius Yoko Kanno contributes greatly to the short. Both chilling and provocative, "Magnetic Rose" is the overall best from the three works in "Memories"
"Stink Bomb" is purely entertaining. Right from the start, we as viewers connect with the poor pharmaceutical researcher we see before us and his plight throughout this very comical and incredulous short. The music as well helps keep a "groove" as the movie flows smoothly throughout.
"Cannon Fodder" is easily the most under-appreciated work of the three. Much reminiscient of the WWII "Maus" comic written by a Jew after his experiences in Nazi-occupied Germany, "Cannon Fodder" takes us to a world that is not full of ghosts and spaceships, nor unbelievable biochem weapons, but a world not too much unlike our own- where people are vulnerable and controlled by unseen forces. It is the most thought provoking, and its style is completely apart from popular animation styles of today. The most intersting part is that the movie is one cut- meaning the backrground flows entirely throughout the movie without the scene in front us chaging suddenly.
As a whole, "Memories" offers something for everybody- from the scary moviegoer to the saturday night funny flick watcher to the ponderous artist- definitely worth 2 hours of your time.

3/5 A Review of the Video Quality !
  by Siju Thomas (India)
I think many people have written about the virtues of the films,
I would like to comment on the digital mastering,This has been a favourite movie of mine for some time and I have been waiting for a R1 release the Japanese version was far too expensive.I was expecting a remastering job of the Quality that was done on Akira,
and I expected the result to be breathtaking,(especially on Magnetic Rose)I opened the package put the disc in ,and to my disdain ,the video looks like a rather clean laserdisc print, there is no evidence of 720\480 resolution of dvd it looked more like 352/480
of half d1 resolution.most of the time the lines on the characters facial detail , in mid shots are all smudgy ,overall it has a washed out look ,no deep blacks either,I am appalled ,one of the most beautiful films had to get a shoddy transfer like this.I have seen it on a 36 inch widescreen hdtv in 480p mode through a progressive scan player.this confirms my suspicion that the japanese directors are not approving the final transfers for the r1 discs, A similiar case was the movie Jin-roh, Another case of a beautiful film done to death by a smudgy low res transfer.

5/5 finally! memories for the masses!
  by
i first saw 'memories' in 1996 and i am still blown away by it everytime i watch it. and i watch it a lot. my fansub copy from way back when should soon be replaced by this dvd edition.

the first segment, 'magnetic rose' is my favorite anime of all time. how could it not be? although the story is based on the manga by Katsuhiro Otomo, 'magnetic rose' was directed by my all time favorite anime director Koji Morimoto. Not only that, but it was created and produced at one of my favorite anime studios of all time, Studio 4C. on a side note, my 2nd favorite anime is 'Porco Rosso' by Miyazaki/Studio Ghibli.

'magnetic rose' features lush visuals, high quality animation, top notch production and art design, and an intruiging story concept. very atmospheric and lyrical, the film is set to snippets of puccini's 'madame butterfly'. Characters moving in weightlessness are animated more convincingly than Gundam 0083 (ok, so it's a tv series, but it's still done pretty well), and concept design for space vehicles and ships are both functional and believable. backgrounds are beautifully painted as well. what many people may not realize is that quite a bit of cg is used in this film also. from the spaceships and flying pods to the rose itself, it is so well done that one may not quite realize it until a second viewing. the worlds of reality and illusion are cleverly blended in this film, and will keep you watching until the breathtakingly poetic ending.

if i was stranded on a desert island, all i would need would be wi-fi access to the net and this film.

the other two films in this series bear mentioning too.
'stink bomb' is entertaining in its outrageous situations. if you like a lot of explosions in your anime, this is it. although i am not too fond of the character designs, the production values are still pretty good. while 'magnetic rose' could look like it was made yesterday, 'stink bomb' seems to show it's age in terms of art, line quality and design.

'canon fodder' reminds me very much of the films that came out of eastern europe during the height of their oppression. overall, much darker than the previous two films, 'cannon fodder' is a very interesting exercise in sweeping camera views and warped perspective background layouts. a bit of 3d cg is also used in this film and the character and concept designs are quite interesting. i highly recommend it for animation buffs.

now keep in mind that this anthology of films was released in 1996. now watch it, be blown away, then watch it again. now go out and buy the 'art of' book, "the memory of memories" and be blown away yet again.

and if you are interested in seeing more, i highly recommend looking up "koji morimoto" on the net and checking out his other works. one of his more recent being "beyond" on the 'animatrix' dvd (many of the better shorts in 'animatrix' were produced by studio 4C). i highly recommend his music videos as well, 'survival' and '4 day weekend' come to mind. and if you're looking for something really bizarre, don't pass up 'noiseman insect'

there are only 2 names you need to remember from this review: Koji Morimoto & Studio 4C.
Now, go out and buy it!