Anime Munto

[Dagger]

[url=http://www.centralparkmedia.com/munto/][u]Munto[/u][/url] is a short (~50 minute) OVA about the crumbling of a world in the sky and its king's quest to recruit the help of a schoolgirl with psychic powers (what else?) to save it. The interesting thing about Munto, though, is that the schoolgirl in question [spoiler]never actually travels to the alternate world or whatever it is.[/spoiler] Instead, the emphasis is mainly on the contrast between her peaceful home life and the tumultuous wars in the sky.

Given its length, Munto doesn't manage to have much of a story. Most of the characters and names are just trappings, and the conflicts taking place in the heavens are hinted at but not fleshed out. Thanks to good direction, though, it actually manages to feel pretty meaningful, even if the message is heavy-handed; there's a delicacy and honesty to it that impressed me very much. Munto 2 delivers more of the same, but it has rather more subtlety to it and does a good job in deepening the relationships between Yumemi and her friends.

Where both of these OVAs really excel is in their visuals. Munto is nothing to sneeze at, but Munto 2 is basically a movie-quality piece. Kyoto Animation's work just makes you want to forget about the plot threads that go nowhere and revel in the battles and slice-of-life scenes (which are equally good as eye candy). Unfortunately, Munto 2 leaves things more open than its predecessor, so I hope that more gets made... although it would be weirdly fitting if that were the the real end, since [spoiler]it stops with Yumemi being carried away into the world in the sky; without the juxtaposition of the two worlds, Munto very well might not have a leg to stand on.[/spoiler]

~Dagger~

[Kaze]

[font=Times]Munto is yet another work I've never even heard of, every thing you post shows me how uninformed I am when it comes to anime releases. :animesigh

I went to the store section and that dates its releases as November, 2004; so I'll be checking this out once I'm able. You'd recommend both of these as outright buys?[/font]

[Dagger]

Well... not really. There was a lot that I personally enjoyed about them, but for other people, I would suggest a rental first. Although they're worth seeing just for the visuals, and I liked the characters, there's a lot of stuff in there that doesn't get the chance to even start developing. It's barely clear, for instance, why there's trouble brewing in the heavens to begin with. You'll spend a good portion of the story just trying to keep people's names straight, and I was almost finished with the second OVA before I finally noticed a key plot point. This is a case in which your mileage could vary significantly.

~Dagger~