Voices of a Distant Star (ほしのこえ) is a Japanese science fiction original video animation (OVA) short film created and animated by Makoto Shinkai. It follows the lives of two close childhood friends, a boy and a girl, who are separated when the girl is sent into space to fight in a war against aliens. As the 15-year-old girl goes deeper and deeper into space, the texts she sends take longer to reach the Earth; the film simultaneously follows her battles and the boy's life as he receives her texts over the years.
The OVA premiered in Japan in February 2002 in an advance screening. It was followed by two DVD releases on April 19 and October 6, 2002. ADV Films licensed the OVA for release in North America and the United Kingdom, Madman Entertainment licensed it for Australasia, and Anime Limited licensed it for the United Kingdom. In 2002, it won the Animation Kobe award for packaged work. It also won the 2003 Seiun Award for Best Media. It was very positively received by critics, who praised its artistic dimension, plot, and music; the English-language version, however, was criticized for its dubbing.
The OVA was adapted into a drama CD by Pioneer LDC and a novel was written by Waku Ōba, illustrated by Makoto Shinkai and Kou Yaginuma, and published by Media Factory's imprint MF Bunko J. A manga adaptation, created by Makoto Shinkai and illustrated by Mizu Sahara, was serialized on Kodansha's Monthly Afternoon magazine from February to December 2004, and later released as one tankōbon volume on February 23, 2005. The manga was licensed for a North American release by Tokyopop, which published it on August 1, 2006. It was released on Crunchyroll on December 3, 2025.
Plot
A schoolgirl named Mikako Nagamine (Mika Shinohara (original Japanese), Sumi Muto (Japanese), Cynthia Martinez (English)) is recruited into the UN Space Army to fight in a war against a group of aliens called the Tarsians—named after the Tharsis region of Mars where they were first encountered. As a Special Agent, Mikako pilots a giant robotic mecha called a Tracer as part of a fighting squadron attached to the spacecraft carrier Lysithea. When the Lysithea leaves Earth to search for the Tarsians, Mikako's friend Noboru Terao (Makoto Shinkai (original Japanese), Chihiro Suzuki (Japanese),[1] Adam Conlon (English)[1]) remains on Earth. The two continue to communicate across space using the e-mail facilities on their mobile telephones. As the Lysithea travels deeper into space, messages take increasingly longer to reach Noboru on Earth, and the time-lag of their correspondence eventually spans years.
The narrative begins in 2047. Mikako is apparently alone in a hauntingly empty city, trying to contact people through her mobile telephone. She wakes up in her Tracer orbiting an extrasolar planet. She then goes to Agartha, the fictional fourth planet of the Sirius Solar System. Mikako sends an e-mail to Noboru (which shows the date 2047-09-16), with the subject "I am here", which would reach him eight years later. Some flashes of imagery, perhaps indicative of memory, a hallucination, or even a mystical encounter, are then shown. The room shown at the beginning of the animation is presented again; Mikako is squatting in the corner, sobbing and pleading with her
Production
Voices of a Distant Star was written, directed and produced by Makoto Shinkai on his Power Mac G4 using LightWave, Adobe Photoshop 5.0, Adobe After Effects 4.1 and Commotion 3.1 DV software.[2][3] Around June 2000, Shinkai drew the first picture for Voices—of a girl holding a mobile telephone in a cockpit.[4]
Shinkai said the OVA was inspired by Dracula and Laputa.[5] He stated that production took seven months to complete.[6] He said another inspiration was his frequent sending of
Media
OVA
The Voices of a Distant Star OVA was directed, written and produced by Makoto Shinkai. Shinkai and his fiancé, Mika Shinohara, provided the voices of the characters for the original video. The OVA was released for an advanced screening in February 2002.[10] Yoshihiro Hagiwara produced the DVD release, and the voice actors were Chihiro Suzuki and Sumi Mutoh.[1] CoMix Wave Inc. released it on DVD on April 19, 2002.[11] A DVD Book version of the story was released by Tokuma Shoten on October 6, 2002.[12]
In July 2002, ADV Films announced it had licensed Voices of a Distant Star for a North American release.
Reception
Voices of A Distant Star has received the Special Prize at the 6th Japan Media Arts Festival.[36] It has also won the Animation Kobe for packaged work in 2002 and the 2003 Seiun Award for best media.[37][38] The film was listed 100th on DVD Verdict's Top 100 DVD Films list.[39]
Anime News Network's Jonathan Mays criticized Steven Foster's dubbing of the film. He said, "Foster carelessly omits critical details, completely rewrites some scenes, misinterprets emotions, and even adds new dialogue where the original track had silence".[40] In an Anime News Network interview, Foster said he "made some changes to make the jokes more accessible".[41]
External links
References
- Voices of a Distant Star Characters ADV Films, retrieved December 15, 2013^
- Hoshi no Koe details Anime News Network, August 6, 2002, retrieved November 12, 2010^
- http://www2.odn.ne.jp/~ccs50140/stars/visual.html Makoto Shinkai/CoMix Wave Inc., retrieved December 16, 2013