Origin: Spirits of the Past

Let me start off by saying what my one problem with the UK release of this DVD was - the theme tune hadn't been translated into English for the English track so to understand it you have to turn the subtitles on and then turn them off again when the story starts. Obviously not a big problem, and may prefer to hear the opening sequence it in Japanese anyway.

The story is set in 300 years into the future when the face of the planet has been changed by trees that were genetically engineered to grow in harsh environments. Due to the impatient nature of one of the scientists the experiment (which was taking place on the moon) goes out of control and eventually splits the moon in two - sending seeds to the Earth. On the Earth however this got out of control and quickly overgrew cities and destroyed civilization. The main protagonist of the story is Agito, a young boy who lives in Neutral City - a place that exists between the forest and the military city of Ragna. Him and his friend, Cain, are racing from the top of the city down to the water provided by the forest, but careful not to disturb the druids that protect the forest. They are caught and Agito dives underwater where he discovers a building from the old days and discovers a girl in stasis, Toola.

In fear, the forest empties the water from the pool, flooding the building Agito and Toola are in and they narrowly escape and get back to Neutral City. It is then that we learn that there was another person awake from stasis years ago who eventually decided to leave Neutral City and go to to Ragna. This other, Shunack by this time has learnt of Toola's existence and believes her to be the key to restoring the world to it's former "glory". Agito explains to Toola the history of their city and how his father Agashi was one of the ones who helped build the city after being "enhanced" by the forests power. Those who are enhanced have their hair colour changed to silver from the effects of this power. When Agito takes Toola to see Agashi we learn more of the effects of this enhancement - over time someone who is enhanced slowly becomes part of the forest. Agashi is practically a tree when Toola see's him and is at first a little afraid of this. When he tells her that she must decide whether to let go of the old world or leave, she runs off upset and comes across Shunack who is waiting for her.

Agito sees Shunack is going to take Toola away and tries to stop him, but Toola goes willingly in hope that she can make a difference and get the Earth back to the "way it was meant to be". Toola and Shunack head back to Ragna by train - this bit has an interesting change in animation style. It seems whenever we see an external shot of the technology, rather than it being hand-drawn it looks more like CGI. Agito then returns to his father to tell him the news, but is told that he will soon become one with the forest and it is up to Agito to make his own decisions. Now that his father, the wise mentor, is ready to pass on Agito decides to become enhanced by the forests power (much to the dismay of Minka) like his father was. He travels down to the forest and asks for the power to be able to go after Toola and stop the destruction of the forest. They grant this power and almost immediately is the first trial of his new powers as he stops some Ragna war machines from attacking the forest. So, begins the "hero's journey".

After getting his new powers, Agito runs as fast as he can to Ragna in an attempt to save Toola. When he gets there he sees Toola, now dressed in the same clothes as the other people of Ragna which is symbolic of the "shapeshifter" archetype whom changes sides. They're all there waiting for Agito at the "train station" ready to spring what is obviously a trap. Despite his new powers, Agito is subdued with knockout gas and awakes in manacles with Toola and Shunack watching over him. Shunack, as a typical villain does, tells Agito their plans to leave Ragna and use Toola's Raban (kind of like a PDA worn as a necklace) to activate Estoc, the device that will change the world. They leave using this peculiar train like vehicle that is basically two trains on separate rails with a big engine that pulls them both. Agito uses his newfound plant powers to break free (changing his right arm into a plant kind of like Swamp Thing) and chases after the train. In an attempt to kill Atigo, Shunack orders the other train to be released and then fires on it with a rocket.

Whether we join the forest or fade to dust, our future depends on you now
-- Agashi to Agito

When Agito recovers, Yolda (the leader of Neutral City) helps him and explains that Agito should concentrate on "the seed within" him to return his arm to normal otherwise he may not be able to change back to human form. At Estoc, Shunack shows his true colours by turning on the military of Ragna and declaring that the weapon is for him alone to use and then leads Toola into the complex. When Toola inserts her Raban into the dias inside Estoc it turns out that it is inside a volcano that has been turned into a huge weapon capable of wiping out all life on Earth, thereby creating a kind of "reset". Meanwhilst the Raban military prepare to attack the traitorous Shunack as the mountains separates from the ground and sprouts huge metal legs and starts walking towards the forest. This part I had a bit of problem with as I don't believe it's technically possible for a volcano to be moved with technology no matter how advanced yet still have it active. I ignored this though as it's supposed to be a cross between science fiction and fantasy anyway. We learn at this point that Estoc was built by Toola's father as a fail-safe for the people in stasis to return the planet to "normal" in the event of the trees getting out of control. Not only this but we learn it was her father that headed the project that created the trees, and it was Shunack's fault the experiment got out of control with his over eagerness to excel and prove his work successful.

Atigo manages to get on board and faces off against Shunack. The two fight and eventually Atigo sacrifices himself to give Toola a chance to remove her Raban from Estoc to stop the process of it destroying the forest. In his sacrifice he becomes a great tree and traps Shunack inside of it. Toola realises the importance of the forest and removes her Raban - almost immediately the mountain starts a self destruct that threatens to kill anyone who's still inside. Instead of trying to escape Toola climbs back up to the tree that was Atigo and cries at the side of it. At this point we see what I presume is a scene on the "spirit plane" - Atigo see's his father, and a redeemed Shunack and they say his time to join the forest has not come yet, he must teach others of the importance of the forest and that the forest can give birth to humans. Atigo then falls from a "pod" on the tree and escapes with Toola.

The animation style is very good, and many of the shots of the characters and the long shots of the places contain a lot of detail making it visually pleasing with well designed set pieces. The character development is also pretty good though doesn't delve deep enough into the history of Toola, nor the druids. It would have been nice to learn more about the druids and dryads to see just what relationship they have with the forest, and more of what the world was like before the devastation. The opening theme and the music throughout is quite good, although the opening theme is by far the best music in the film. Unlike some anime, the voices are well dubbed for the western audiences.

There isn't really any extra features on the first disc other than some trailers, but on the second disc there is a "Making of" documentary that is quite good and goes into a reasonable amount of detail.

To conclude, following the "hero's journey" type of story gives the story some edge and is enjoyable to watch whilst also being visually pleasing. Although there are better films out there (many of which this one has borrowed from) it is a recommended viewing for any Anime fans.

Rating: 3.5/5

Opening Theme: