The Animatrix

1. Final Flight of the Osiris
The crew of the Osiris discover an army preparing to invade Zion. While one crew member races inside the Matrix to get the message to Zion, the others try desperately to buy her enough time while fighting off an onslaught of Sentinels they can't possibly defeat.

2-3. The Second Renaissance Part 1 and 2
Humans have created the ultimate AI, which is just as smart as they are. But complications arise when these robots and the humans try to exist peacefully, and eventually all-out war breaks out. The humans ultimately lose the war, and become trapped in the Matrix as seen in the live-action films.

4. Kid's Story
A young man discovers that his world isn't real, that it's a computer-generated fantasy land created by robots using humans for energy. He escapes with the help of the hacker Neo. Based on the Matrix trilogy.

5. Program
Cis and Duo engage in battle in a virtual recreation of Feudal Japan.

6. World Record
While running the fastest race in his life, a champion track star breaks free of his computer-generated world for a small period of time. When he goes back to the real world, he has no memories and is placed in a nursing home. Based on the Matrix trilogy.

7. Beyond
While looking for her lost pet, a young woman meets up with some kids in Tokyo to play in a "haunted house," which is really a glitch in their computer world. Based on the Matrix trilogy.

8. Detective Story
A detective named Ash is called upon by a mysterious organization to hunt down the notorious hacker Trinity.

9. Matriculated
A group of scientists capture a robot and place it in a surreal fantasy world. When the robot's friends come in and kill most of the scientists; however, the robot and the last scientist remaining face isolation in the computer-generated world. Based on the Matrix trilogy.

(Source: ANN)

Yoko Main

Machi, Rie Japanese

Trinity Main

Tsuru, Hiromi Japanese

Popper, Michael Karl Main

Midorikawa, Hikaru Japanese

Davis, Dan Main

Touchi, Hiroki Japanese

Ash Main

Tsukayama, Masane Japanese

Jue Main

Yuuya, Atsuko Japanese

Cis Main

Kouda, Kaho Japanese

Thadeus Main

Ootsuka, Akio Japanese

Duo Main

Morikawa, Toshiyuki Japanese

Neo Supporting

Hirata, Hiroaki Japanese

Arias, Michael Producer, Special Effects

Tanaka, Eiko Producer

Takeuchi, Hiroaki Producer

Watanabe, Shinichirou Director, Script

Reviews

Jan 15, 2024

Pentex

Recommended

The anthology to trump all anime anthologies.

The Animatrix is without a doubt, the greatest thing to come out of The Matrix trilogy. (that 4th one isn't real.)

The Matrix itself has a pretty spotty track record. From the masterpiece original, to the flawed, but awesome second, to the forgettable third.

The Animatrix cuts all the fat and gives you what the series always should've been. As much as I like all the existential cerebral thinkpiece essays mouthed off in the movies, Animatrix strips itself to the bare essentials of the plot and concept of the Matrix. The animation varies in quality, (from great, to excellent) due to ... its episodic format of utilizing a different studio and director for each part.

They pulled out every ace in their pockets for this. The minds and animators behind some of the greatest anime of all time give their talents to this anthology, from Ninja Scroll and Blue Submarine No. 6. (The latter being one of the best ever) All the way to Aeon Flux and Akira. It truly is an amazing lineup of the all time greats. It also works as a time capsule for the best era of anime, the early to mid 2000's.

The compilation covers how the whole idea of the Matrix began, to the people living in and around it, to the industrial dystopian aftermath of the rise of the machines. It's a heady, abrasive, and electric showcase of a re-industrialized world thrown in chaos.

I'm sucking this hard, but for a good reason. Talented animators and artists collaborating with a single goal in mind. Expand an already riveting world, and getting the freedom to bend it to their will.

Reviewer’s Rating: 10

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Apr 19, 2014

angelsreview

Mixed Feelings

It’s rather hard to talk about a show like this because it’s mostly like a range of different episodes. They may all contain the Matrix like style but there really isn’t much that connects them. From the story to the animation, each part is different and told in its own way. The movie gets more and more confusing as the stories keep going, making it hard to get what is going on. There isn’t an indication of if you are inside the Matrix or outside it. All I could understand was how pretty the animations were at points and how ‘crappy’ they were in others. ... The whole mix of samurai to space age, to computer simulations that look so real that it could be live action, all of that just seemed a little overboard.

Question, why does it start out with a man and women undressing each other with katanas? Is it just for sexual looks or is there actually a reason for it? Can someone answer this part for me?

The animation was all over the place from CG to Cartoon, to whatever. I felt rather bombarded by all the different art styles just as it happened in ‘Dante’s Inferno: An animated epic’. The only thing that saved this a little was that the stories were not all linked to one storyline like Dante. When I say Crappy artwork, I don’t mean bad artwork. I just mean stuff that really doesn’t look right in my eyes. The style that is so loaded with detail that you can see almost every line in the face right next to stuff that is very simplified. I may not be using the right word for it but I have no other idea what to use for it. Now the detail work pretty much is nice in the CG part, but I thought it never worked in the cartoon part of the show.

The voices are actually pretty well done and one of the only fluid parts of the show. They have voices that work out rather well for the mood that the ‘scene’ is trying to show. If it’s intense, it sounds intense, if it’s slow, it has that feeling. Some of the characters sound like they were voiced by some of the voice actors that were even in the matrix itself.

Reviewer’s Rating: 5

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May 22, 2015

ratchet573

Not Recommended

I’m not a big fan of The Matrix trilogy, one of the more mainstream science fiction spectacles of the past twenty years. When I was a kid, I loved it. It was my first R-rated movie, it was dark and edgy like any kid is bound to like, and it had neat martial arts action. But as I grew older I finally watched the second and third films and began to hate the series. Anymore, probably thirteen or so years after watching The Matrix for the first time, I think it’s overrated and I can’t see the appeal. It hasn’t aged well and that, on ... top of pretty bad storytelling as the movies continued, led me to neglect the series for years…

Until now. I never watched the Animatrix, I don’t think I had any intention to after Revolutions. So now, years later, allow me to break down the pieces that comprise the Animatrix and tell you which are good and which are bad.

Final Flight of the Osiris-Written by the Wachowski brothers and animated by Square, this nine minute segment looks like the opening cutscene of a PS2 game. It starts with an entirely pointless fight where two characters cut the clothes off each other. They are suddenly pulled out of the simulation as Sentinels are chasing down their ship in the real world. What follows is a six minute sequence ending in a climax that isn’t satisfying, nor really matters. This entire short is nothing more than an introduction to the style of The Matrix rather than pulling us in early on. The writing is lame, the CG is very dated, and you’ll find nothing of value here.

The Second Renaissance Part I-The second short details events before The Matrix, namely the divide between humans and machines. What you’ll find here is an interesting background story about humans and machines having a schism that leads to animosity and violence. The machines build their own nation, wind up creating better technologies and having more valuable currency, which doesn’t make humanity happy at all. This is all visualized stunningly, with many disturbing images as well as copies of real life historical moments such as the tank running a robot down a la Tienanmen Square. A fan of the movies will enjoy this history lesson.

The Second Renaissance Part II-While containing some of the fantastic visuals of part one, part two is a lot less compelling. The humans put a dome around the Earth so the machines can’t operate on solar power leading to a war that ends with the machines realizing they can harvest energy from human brains. Thus the Matrix was born. This part was pretty stupid. While the first part set up the idea of a smart science fiction story, the second reveals how ridiculous the plot of the series really is and how much the Wachowski’s love to ruin good ideas with nonsense. If you watched the first part, watch the second, but be forewarned, it’s stupid.

Kid’s Story-The first visually appealing short from an artistic standpoint, Kid’s Story is directed by my biggest adversary in the directing world, Shinichiro Watanabe. A high school kid realizes he’s inside of the Matrix, leading to agents coming after him while Neo guides him toward escape. While not the most impressive in plot, the animation is gorgeous. For style alone, I’d suggest this segment. It’s the best of the bunch.

Program-A shorter piece, this one is another visual feast that concentrates on two people fighting over ideologies in a feudal Japanese setting. The action here is crisp, the dialogue is pretty smart, but it, penultimately, doesn’t matter. I feel that to have a good short here, you need a beginning, middle, and end, not just a singular idea that doesn’t go anywhere. Program is nice, but I still don’t see how this is enriching me any further in the world of The Matrix.

World Record-Here is the story of an Olympic racer who runs so fast he breaks the Matrix while some agents go after him to keep him locked within the program. That’s it. The animation isn’t that great, the story isn’t exciting, and I think this may have been the weakest segment so far.

Beyond-A pretty good short about a group of kids discovering a glitchy area in their town and exploiting the glitches for fun. While again not telling a compelling story this one does give us an idea of the process that is gone through to repair problems in the Matrix. It has good animation and ideas, but it’s an otherwise unremarkable piece.

A Detective Story-Another piece from Shinichiro Watanabe, this one is a noir adventure about a detective who is recruited to track down the hacker known as Trinity. From the outset you can see and hear the style (of course, very typical of Watanabe). This one’s a good short with an actual plot, neat design, and it ties into the movies, making it feel more relevant.

Natriculated-This one is made by the people who gave us Aeon Flux and is another eh on my part. It’s got the trademark style of Flux but I wasn’t impressed by the story nor did I find it to be exciting in any regard. As a finale, it’s weak.

The Animatrix is a very mixed bag. There are a couple of notable segments but it’s just about as underwhelming as the actual Matrix movies. If you’re a fan of the movie series, then you’ll find some enjoyment here, but if not it’s an lame grab bag of great talents producing mostly half-assed shorts.

Reviewer’s Rating: 4

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