Who payed the critics

A film of deceptively outspoken contemporary relevance, this is cinema at its most alert, alarming and alive.

Great story, amazing characters, superb action, enthralling cinematography. Yes, this is something I am glad I spent money on.

The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;

After seeing Akira it's natural to be curious of what Otomo's produced. This collection of short movies(all more than 20 minutes though) is a fun, action-packed and imaginative reminder why anime is among the best genres, and NOT restricted to kids(or in the case of these shorts, not really for kids at all).The last short of the three is called Cannon Fodder. It features a very cool style unlike normal anime, some neat "camera" tricks and illusions of 3D, and a heavy but playful mood. It's quirky and good but not great.The second short is called Stink Bomb, which is a crazy, fast-paced disaster/action story with a healthy dose of black humour. It's very well made, with insanely detailed tanks, helis, airplanes etc, and lots of explosions. The whole thing is funny and bizarre, and easily a classic.The first of the three shorts, which in my opinion should have been saved to last, is Magnetic Rose. Here the humour of the two others is gone, and we have a very gripping and serious story set in a sci-fi environment. This is more like Otomo's Akira stuff; epic but with great characters. Some scenes are gut-wrenchingly emotional and disturbing. All set to a classic opera score, it is chilling and eerie and grand-scale in a way Hollywood never seems to get right.If you like to watch the occasional anime, this is a very good choice. Don't know how easy it is to get a hold of, but it seems to be very popular at least in Japan.

I saw this some years before it got it's official US release. Sadly, under Sony/Columbia, this never got an on time decent US release, so will often get ignored by the usual anime aficionados.It's a bit of a shame, really, because Memories is a bit meatier than your usual anime. Besides the a-list anime directors behind this project, the stories have a lot more worth than your regular violent anime with bikini clad buxom heroines. It's also got one of anime's foremost geniuses behind it - Katsuhiro Otomo.Memories begins with the haunting Magnetic Rose, which has three travelers exploring a mysterious spaceship haunted a woman's memories. The idea of isolation, abandonment and long lost memories come together in a chilling work that is made all the more beautiful by the accompanying score incorporating Madame Butterfly.The next two stories showcase something that Otomo has a flare for, but is somewhat forgotten when Otomo's name is uttered. That is the fact that Otomo has no shame in doing satire in a grand tradition that questions such things as how a government would foul up in trying to avert a potential disaster and then how to cover it up and the universal topic of war.The first of the satiric pieces is Stink Bomb. It has a dark sense of humor about it, as people die so nonchalantly after merely smelling the everyman "hero" of the story. What makes it so funny is how the government handles this situation, often with ineffective violent force or laughable meetings with all the government leaders. The look of this piece is also to be lauded as there are often contrasts with beautiful flowers and trees contrasted with with all this death and destruction. Again, the soundtrack is humorous, upbeat, and utilizes jazz to evoke a light tone.This segues into the Otomo directed "Cannon Fodder," a more direct piece of satire which obviously targets the world's obsession with war and its use of force to solve a lot of problems. It's a cautionary tale where people fire canons at each other and a child is seen taking pride in what his father does and there is no denying what he wants to do when he grows up. Otomo uses a different style than we are accustomed to seeing. It's dark, and the drawings are rough and crude in comparison with Otomo's other work. This chaotic look seems intentional as it sits well with the story's theme. The look owes a bit to Fritz Lang as he separated different groups and classes, something Otomo would become more familiar with when he did Metropolis. The poignancy of the piece hits home though when the boy does asks his father who it is they are fighting. This exemplifies the wonderful ability of Otomo to not only be a great master in animation, but a relevant storyteller as well.

Amazing anime trilogy from AKIRA's Katsuhiro Otomo, who presents three unrelated sci fi stories directed by different directors (he did the last one, writers/first-time directors Tensai Okamura and Koji Morimoto did the other two). They are amazing vignettes with some stupendous animation in three different styles. Otomo's is especially unique in that there are no cuts – the "camera" moves fluidly through every scene without a jump or a stop. Morimoto's 40-min "Magnetic Rose" is stunningly animated, the most amazing of the two, telling of a space ship's investigation of a distress signal discovering a magnificent world created by a woman's memories – the music takes advantage of the operatic aria, Madame Butterfly, arranged by Yoko Kanno, who also supplies an excellent original score. "Stink Bomb," the middle segment, is clever and funny and fast-paced; Otomo's anti-war statement in "Cannon Fodder" closes out the film with a subtle bit of thought-provocation about a city whose entire purpose is the firing of cannons at an unknown enemy.

This was an amazingly beautiful film, filled with great music that only pushed each scene along wonderfully. I thought this was a great piece of film. I have had the pleasure of showing this to friends that have always looked down on what anime is, and walk away stunned. Some might find these stories slow, but I think if you have any real appreciation of anime, you will find this to be an interesting piece of work. It consists of three stores. Koji Morimoto's "Magnetic Rose", Tensai Okamura's "Stink Bomb", and Katsuhiro Otomo's "Cannon Fodder". I would say that Magnetic rose was perhaps the deepest of these three stores. Offering a beautiful mix of classical music, with a futuristic settings to offer a sense of contrast. Stink Bomb being the more lighthearted of the three. While still maintaining a grim reality, and almost eerie sense of setting, using a more modern day look, and music. Then Cannon Fodder, right from an Orwell idealized future, with the loud sounds, and marches. These movies all offer up something different, and wonderful, while still working there way along a nice line of thought.