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Strange Dawn is a surprisingly good show for how obscure it is, but has some crucial flaws that prevent it from being great. In this case I think the flaws are more interesting to look at, so that's primarily what I'll be focusing on, but keep in mind that I think it's an overall good show worth watching.

The writing is mostly solid, with a well-paced and engaging plot tackling interesting themes. The characters are well-rounded and seldom completely good or evil. The animation is also well-done, especially considering it's a 2000 show. The background music is charming and appropriate to the tone, and the voice ... performances are generally good.

The art style, however, is one of the major problems. Except for the two main characters, all the characters are drawn in a super deformed style, or "chibis". While there's nothing inherently wrong about this, it really doesn't fit the tone of the show, which is a pretty serious and at times violent fantasy series. This style of character design is traditionally used for more comedic anime like Hetalia or Damekko Doubutsu, and so it just doesn't feel right to have to take them seriously when they talk about politics and war.

I would assume that the choice to make the inhabitants of the strange world super deformed came at least partly from the realization that it's a simple and cheap way to draw and animate characters; anime is after all a medium that evolves through figuring out how to do things effectively on a small budget. However, this decision affects the show in more ways than just the general sense of tone mismatch.

The premise of the show is a well-known formula: our protagonists get mysteriously transported to a foreign world, where they get involved in local affairs while trying to figure out how to get back home. The inhabitants of the foreign world all being tiny, the protagonists are initially feared and respected, as their sheer size makes them forces to be reckoned with, especially in a pre-industrial world where the main weapons are tiny swords and bows and arrows. Despite this, throughout the show they are mostly passive bystanders, victims and McGuffins. Although it tries to use this to further a theme of learning to stand up for yourself, the cinemanarrative dissonance of seeing these giant God-like creatures so easily restrained and bossed around by people so small they'd die if you stepped on one is too strong to really make it believable.

Not only do the protagonists often feel powerless, they don't even feel important to the story a lot of the time. As characters they're well-written, they have an interesting relationship and they have some good development, and yet it feels like it'd only take 10 minutes in the writer's room to patch up the hole left if you just took them out. Of course, as with all works with this kind of setting, having a representative of Earth Humans present can make it easier to quickly and efficiently introduce the world and point out its differences to ours, which absolutely has its advantages, particularly in shorter works, but if that's all they're going to contribute it would be better to cut them and introduce the world more naturally. I half-seriously suspect that the only reason the main chars were added was so they had an excuse to use super deformed art designs for most of the cast and cut down on costs.

Finally, although the plot is quite high quality most of the way through, the ending feels very abrupt. Without any inside info I can only speculate that perhaps it was intended to be longer (it did feel like a 2-cour show to me in terms of pacing for a large part of the show), but it got pulled prematurely. While this is a shame and I would have liked to see a better ending, I doubt it would have done much to alleviate its other issues.

Psycho-Pass is an ambitious and technically well-made anime tragically ruined by a handling of the setting and the ethical questions it raises that is either incompetent, deliberately fascistic, or both.

First, the positives. Visually, Production I.G. does a great job in all areas. The animation is nice and smooth, the world design rich, the character designs memorable without being too flamboyant. The more elaborate setpieces also showcase some pretty nice cinematography.

Sound-wise I'm also a fan, not just because I love Rin Toshite Shigure, the background music is also pretty decent and the voice performances are good. As a long-time fan of HanaKana I especially enjoyed seeing ... her in a more serious role, and she delivers competently as Akane Tsunemori. The rest of the cast is quite star-studded, and none of them disappoint.

The characters are for the most part well-written as well. The cast size seems just right, and the show does a good job of focusing mostly on developing the central characters and giving them engaging arcs without sacrificing pace or world building. The significant exception is the main antagonist, who I will get back to.

Now, for the main part of my review and where the problems lie: the writing. This will be difficult to go into detail on without spoilers, so be warned. First of all, let me say that I consider Urobuchi Gen to be a very competent writer, and loved his work on Madoka and Fate/Zero, which just makes his failings here so much more frustrating.

First, the setting. The dystopian sci-fi is one of my favorite genres, as it's a great medium for looking at contemporary social issues in a more removed way making it easier to recognize (in Psycho-Pass, for example, the idea of digital surveillance is taken to extreme lengths), as well as a tool for examining current technological progress and the potential implications of it. While Psycho-Pass' setting is not the most unique one (the "stopping crime before it occurs" bit is probably most famously explored in Minority Report), it seems like one that should be ideal for exploring a wide range of interesting questions around technology, ethics, crime, surveillance, mental health and a wealth of other areas.

However, for the most part the show just ignores that it's set in an oppressive police state dystopia, and is more concerned with run-of-the-mill cop and robber stories that just happen to involve the sci-fi technology. There is some hinting at government corruption, and at times it looks like Tsunemori is going to bring down the insane brain scanning system and change the world, but ultimately the only thing she does is give the system an upgrade and continue being a cog in it. Unlike the finale of 1984 (one of the many classic dystopian sci-fi works namedropped during the show), where the surrender to to Big Brother reads as a tragedy, as the protagonist being crushed by the oppressive system, Psycho-Pass' protagonist only ever takes issue with specific details of how the system operates and even when confronted with real criticism flat-out ignores it and continues happily maintaining the system.

But hey, at least the criticism is present, right? Well, kind of, but not in a way that supports a reading that the protagonist is not the moral center of the story. As an example, when Tsunemori has a problem with the indiscriminate murder of would-be criminals as defined by the Sibyl system, her solution is to set her own gun to stun mode. This tells us a lot about the views of the person who wrote it: The moral thing to do in a situation like this is to take the most ethical action you can while never breaking any rules or challenging existing power structures in any way.

To be fair, there is one source of actual scathing criticism of the system itself: Makishima Shougo, the main antagonist. However, the way this character is presented is probably the most damning aspect of the entire show. Before we're even properly introduced to his ideology, he's shown as a cackling psychopath who happily kills random people just to prove that he's able to. Contrasted to Tsunemori's calm, composed and by-the-books demeanor, it's made ridiculously explicit that this is an insane villain whose ideas are not worth entertaining.

Overall, the moral lesson of Psycho-Pass seems to be that radical change is never an option, and the only way to improve the world is by working within the system and never breaking any rules, no matter how oppressive the system becomes and how little room you have to maneuver. Also, anyone who threatens the current order needs to be destroyed, preferably with a bullet which makes your entire body blow up in an almost comically gory fashion. What implications this ideology has for contemporary politics should be obvious.

Finally, it's hard to look at Psycho-Pass and not compare it to Ghost in the Shell, another Production I.G. franchise. Both are dystopian sci-fi settings featuring a female cop who leads an elite squad of special enforcers (and both love quoting/namedropping texts it's supposedly inspired by). However, GitS, in every iteration of the franchise, has always shown a willingness to explore the interesting ethical questions surrounding the technology and world it presents. Psycho-Pass' unwillingness to do the same does not make it look good in comparison.

Disclaimer: As this obviously hasn't been subbed yet, and my Japanese is nowhere near fluent, it's possible that certain minor details in the plot might have escaped me. Please keep this in mind while reading the review.

Makoto Shinkai's most recent work is something quite new for him. The main criticisms of his works has as far as I can tell been the character designs being to simplistic and rough, as well as all his three longer works being quite similar. Though I would contend the latter point, it's certain that Hoshi wo Ou Kodomo is different, in both aspects. It would seem that Shinkai has ... moved away from his tragic love stories with sci-fi elements and to something more Miyazaki-inspired. But does he succeed? (OK, I guess this isn't much of a cliffhanger considering my scores.)

Story: Our heroine, Asuna, lives a relatively normal, albeit busy life somewhere on the countryside, until she one day gets attacked by a strange beast and saved by a mysterious boy. This leads to an amazing adventure in the strange underworld Agartha. Sure, this doesn't sound like anything new, but the progression of the story is quite interesting, unpredictable and exciting. All the characters have their own stories and agendas, and the film manages to involve us in all of them without losing focus. The climax is extremely moving in the way only Shinkai can manage, and nothing ever feels unnecessary or forced.

Art: Art is certainly one aspect where one have high expectations of Shinkai, but he delivers anything one could want and more. Takayo Nishimura, the man behind the character designs in 5 cm/Second is back, but Hoshi wo Ou Kodomo looks distinctly different. The designs are still relatively simple, but bursting with life and charm. I would compare them to the designs found in Hayao Miyazaki's films, which certainly seems a plausible influence. In this way, Shinkai has ridden himself of what some people thought to be the weak point in his aesthetic, while still keeping true to the relatively simple designs he's always used.

The rest of the art is amazing. The backgrounds, whether they're clouds and stars or forests and plains, are breathtakingly beautiful, and what's particularly interesting about Hoshi wo Ou Kodomo compared to Shinkai's other works is the setting. While he certainly has used nature before, there has usually been more focus on cities or space. In this film, both the Japanese countryside with mountains and forests, as well as the fantastic world of Agartha with its plains and ruins, are brought to life splendidly.

Animation-wise there is nothing to criticize. The animation flows smoothly and beautifully, and Shinkai certainly knows how to work the angles and perspectives to get the most out of the scenes. This is very evident in many of the action scenes, and I was particularly impressed by a swordfight during sunset, the amazing colors of the background framing an intense burst of life with the "camera" flying all over the place, creating an incredible impression.

Sound: Tenmon is back, and he's better than ever. Utilizing a range of instruments including his famous piano pieces as well as some wonderful violins, his music set the mood for the film perfectly. What struck me the most was the way the music could change mood in a heartbeat without seeming out of place, particularily evident in a scene where you first get the "hero riding out to save the princess" mood, and when the scene shifts to the damsel in distress, as it were, it seamlessly changes to an intense "our friends are in great peril" theme.

On the voice actor side, Shinkai has managed to score some very talented people. All the three main characters are quite big names, and Kazuhiko Inoue's role as Asura's teacher, as well as Hisako Kanemoto as Asura herself both excel, and really do their part in making their respective characters believable. Miyu Irino as Shin and Shun is also a very fitting choice. However, one of the most impressive voice actors was Rina Hidaka as Mana, a character who doesn't use words, but conveys all her feelings with random sounds. A challenging role to get right, but Mana's character turned out perfect.

Character: Asuna, our main character, is a very busy girl. She lost her father at a young age, and her mother is very busy at work, so she does a lot of chores, while at the same time keeping up her perfect grades and finding time to climb the nearby mountain to listen to the radio her father left her. As the story progresses, she is faced with quite a lot of hardships, and one can see her progress through dealing with them. She is not quite sure why she's on the journey she ends up on, and seeing her discovering more about herself as she faces new challenges is quite moving.

Morisaki is Asuna's new teacher, and one of the main catalysts of the adventure. He starts out mysterious, but one quickly learns of his goal and the lengths he will go to reach it. He's cold and blunt, but though he will not give up on his goal, he is also considerate of others, and his relationship with Asuna develops in quite interesting ways.

Shun is a mysterious boy from Agaruta who, like Morisaki, starts out mysterious and cold. We learn that he's a conflicted and confused boy trying to find his place in the world, and he develops greatly during the course of the movie, finding great courage within himself.

There's also a great supporting cast, such as Asuna's mother, who's very busy, but still manages to care a great deal about Asuna even after her husband's death. The previously mentioned Mana, as well as Shin, are also great characters for their purpose, but the one that really sticks out is Mimi, Asuna's cat, who follows her through the journey and whose vivid personality really makes one attached to it.

Overall: Though I'm a huge fan of his other works, it's great seeing Shinkai going in a new direction, this time aiming at a much larger group of people, from children to adults. The similarity to Miyazaki's adventure films is certainly present, in particular there were quite a few parallels to Mononoke-hime, but he still manages to keep his own unique style, including the extremely emotional scenes that he excels at. I certainly look forward to more Shinkai works, and would recommend Hoshi wo Ou Kodomo to anyone, regardless of whether or not you liked his earlier works.