This little-known feature from 1986 didn't receive much attention when it was brought in America, but I have a strange attraction to it. WINDARIA was probably my absolute FIRST experience with mature-themed Japanese anime. I purchased this title blindly without knowing the meaning of the catch phrase "animation for adult audiences", but viewing WINDARIA left me with surprise.
No, it's not graphically violent or sexually explicit like some other "adult" Anime available, but WINDARIA is very much an animated fairy tale aimed at grown-ups rather than children. Set in a lavish countryside where a giant tree looms over everything (shades of Miyazaki's CASTLE IN THE SKY here), WINDARIA's plot involves two kingdoms at war with each other. The prince and princess from each empire are deeply in love with each other, but their romance is both forbidden and doomed by the unyielding conflict between their parents. This ROMEO AND JULIET style set-up is merely a back-story to the tale.
The real main character is a young farmer who dreams of a chance to be a hero and famous. When a mysterious stranger arrives with an offer to act as a spy for the warring kingdoms in return for wealth and fame, the young farmer jumps at the chance. He ends up paying a terrible price, however, for in carrying out his mission, the farmer betrays both his devoted wife and homeland--and even destroys an entire kingdom.
If the above sounds downbeat and depressing, it is. Indeed, I was totally unprepared for such a complicated, dark story involving deceit, greed, and infidelity. What made WINDARIA appealing, however, were the artwork and the lovely soundtrack. The frame rate is a bit on the stiff side, but the character designs and backgrounds are gorgeous and imaginative. Satoshi Kudakura's score is beautiful and tearjerking, and can easily hold its own against Joe Hisaishi's works for Hayao Miyazaki's films.
The U.S. release, however, is another story. At the time I purchased the video, I did not realize that I was watching a heavily edited, outrageously rewritten version of what was once a more complicated story. From what I have learned across the net, U.S. distributor Harmony Gold and its script writer, Carl Macek, saw fit to market this adult story toward children, hence why some of the more intense scenes were omitted and, probably all the characters were renamed from Izu, Marlin, and Jihl to the likes of Alan, Marie, and Roland, respectably. In addition to which, they even added a narrator (the protagonist at an older age who recalls his vile deeds from long ago) which was NOT in the original version. This is why many Anime purists have held this edited dub (in addition to many others produced by Mecak and his equally controversial company, Streamline Pictures) in extremely low regards. (In all fairness, the production company behind WINDARIA, Tatsunoko Productions, is to blame, too; apparently they didn't provide Macek with any materials to the story or the characters, hence the rewritten script.)
I can't tell you how dismayed I was to find out about this, because I was emotionally impacted by what was left of WINDARIA, even before learning about what was done to it. It's unfortunate that this movie was cut down from its 101 minute running time. Even more so because there is indeed a lot more subtlety and complexity in the Japanese version that you don't get from this edited version; for instance, the ending is arguably even MORE depressing than the watered down rewrite.
Equally dismaying is that this is the only version of WINDARIA that is available on our shores to this day. Indeed, the DVD from ADV Films, a company who has the resources to redub older titles (they did a stellar job redubbing an earlier title from Mecak's, Gainax's NADIA: THE SECRET OF BLUE WATER), is basically just the Carl Mecak dub (with its new title, ONCE UPON A TIME) with NO Japanese LANGUAGE TRACK. I can imagine Anime fans skipping over this, especially since it has become common nowadays to release Anime with its initial language track as well as an optional dub.
Yet as I write this, I credit WINDARIA for being the title that introduced me to Japanese Anime; without it, I probably would never have discovered the countless amounts of titles that exist from this multi-faceted genre (Miyazaki's works, LODOSS, NADIA, SLAYERS, HIS AND HER CIRCUMSTANCES, THE VISION OF ESCAFLOWNE OUTLAW STAR... the list goes on and on). It's a shame, though, that this title fell into obscurity; for in spite of its grievous edits, WINDARIA remains a powerful, compelling drama with meaningful messages to take away from. Here is hoping that this underrated title will receive a better treatment with an all new, uncut, faithful dub and its original Japanese language track. It would certainly be best for both the original creators and devoted fans of animation.
No, it's not graphically violent or sexually explicit like some other "adult" Anime available, but WINDARIA is very much an animated fairy tale aimed at grown-ups rather than children. Set in a lavish countryside where a giant tree looms over everything (shades of Miyazaki's CASTLE IN THE SKY here), WINDARIA's plot involves two kingdoms at war with each other. The prince and princess from each empire are deeply in love with each other, but their romance is both forbidden and doomed by the unyielding conflict between their parents. This ROMEO AND JULIET style set-up is merely a back-story to the tale.
The real main character is a young farmer who dreams of a chance to be a hero and famous. When a mysterious stranger arrives with an offer to act as a spy for the warring kingdoms in return for wealth and fame, the young farmer jumps at the chance. He ends up paying a terrible price, however, for in carrying out his mission, the farmer betrays both his devoted wife and homeland--and even destroys an entire kingdom.
If the above sounds downbeat and depressing, it is. Indeed, I was totally unprepared for such a complicated, dark story involving deceit, greed, and infidelity. What made WINDARIA appealing, however, were the artwork and the lovely soundtrack. The frame rate is a bit on the stiff side, but the character designs and backgrounds are gorgeous and imaginative. Satoshi Kudakura's score is beautiful and tearjerking, and can easily hold its own against Joe Hisaishi's works for Hayao Miyazaki's films.
The U.S. release, however, is another story. At the time I purchased the video, I did not realize that I was watching a heavily edited, outrageously rewritten version of what was once a more complicated story. From what I have learned across the net, U.S. distributor Harmony Gold and its script writer, Carl Macek, saw fit to market this adult story toward children, hence why some of the more intense scenes were omitted and, probably all the characters were renamed from Izu, Marlin, and Jihl to the likes of Alan, Marie, and Roland, respectably. In addition to which, they even added a narrator (the protagonist at an older age who recalls his vile deeds from long ago) which was NOT in the original version. This is why many Anime purists have held this edited dub (in addition to many others produced by Mecak and his equally controversial company, Streamline Pictures) in extremely low regards. (In all fairness, the production company behind WINDARIA, Tatsunoko Productions, is to blame, too; apparently they didn't provide Macek with any materials to the story or the characters, hence the rewritten script.)
I can't tell you how dismayed I was to find out about this, because I was emotionally impacted by what was left of WINDARIA, even before learning about what was done to it. It's unfortunate that this movie was cut down from its 101 minute running time. Even more so because there is indeed a lot more subtlety and complexity in the Japanese version that you don't get from this edited version; for instance, the ending is arguably even MORE depressing than the watered down rewrite.
Equally dismaying is that this is the only version of WINDARIA that is available on our shores to this day. Indeed, the DVD from ADV Films, a company who has the resources to redub older titles (they did a stellar job redubbing an earlier title from Mecak's, Gainax's NADIA: THE SECRET OF BLUE WATER), is basically just the Carl Mecak dub (with its new title, ONCE UPON A TIME) with NO Japanese LANGUAGE TRACK. I can imagine Anime fans skipping over this, especially since it has become common nowadays to release Anime with its initial language track as well as an optional dub.
Yet as I write this, I credit WINDARIA for being the title that introduced me to Japanese Anime; without it, I probably would never have discovered the countless amounts of titles that exist from this multi-faceted genre (Miyazaki's works, LODOSS, NADIA, SLAYERS, HIS AND HER CIRCUMSTANCES, THE VISION OF ESCAFLOWNE OUTLAW STAR... the list goes on and on). It's a shame, though, that this title fell into obscurity; for in spite of its grievous edits, WINDARIA remains a powerful, compelling drama with meaningful messages to take away from. Here is hoping that this underrated title will receive a better treatment with an all new, uncut, faithful dub and its original Japanese language track. It would certainly be best for both the original creators and devoted fans of animation.