Chage & Aska: On Your Mark (1995 Music Video) User Reviews

Short & Sweet

[silentcheesedude · 8/10 · 6 June 2005]

So how could a short, 7 minute anime action/music video get so much attention and high score? Hayao Miyazaki is the answer.

Two futuristic/alternate reality policemen become involved with an unusual prisoner, a girl with wings. Realizing that she must be set free, they set a course of events to free her. No words are spoken by the characters. And no need to sit for 2 hours worth as to why the girl has wings, or why the police decided to do what they do. It would make a great movie, I'm sure, but it's to the point subtlety is what make this interesting, what it's meant to be. The music that plays isn't bad. And Miyazaki leaves his usual trademark with someone flying.

It isn't the most perfect short I've ever seen, but I'm glad I watched. If your a fan of Miyazaki, anime, or anything animated and out of the ordinary, hunt for this.

Incredible short anime film

[annepackrat · 9/10 · 19 May 2001]

Miyazaki is considered one of the greats of Japanese animation for a reason. This film is a great short piece set to the song "On Your Mark" by Chage and Aska. The only problems with it is that it's a bit confusing due to its two endings. Repeat viewings are recommended.

A great anime music video by Miyazaki

[emasterslake · 8/10 · 14 March 2005]

This is Miyazaki's first music video anime short. It's only like 6 minutes long, but it's still considered a masterpiece like his other works. This is also his first anime that's 2-D animated(with the help of computers). There's no dialog besides the singers who are singing in the background.

Pretty much the whole music short is taken place in a time yet to be, it's a sci-fi related short and has some high tech stuff in it. Contains a Flying reference in it like an average Miyazaki film.

Contains repeated scenes just for the flow of music and lyrics. But besides that it's a great music short to see. Might of made a good movie to someone, but I think it's perfect as a music video.

I rate it 8/10. If you want to see it, I suggest internet search till you find a download of it.

6 1/2 minutes that will change your opinion of anime

[Motaba · 10/10 · 9 August 1999]

On Your Mark is a music video created by Miyazaki Hayao for a song by the popular duo Chage and Aska. It tells a story (of sorts) which is a little confusing, owing to how it does not follow a linear time-flow, and has no dialogue. However, the stunning visuals and amazing sound-effects enable the viewer (even if unfamiliar with Japanese) to create their own story. Definitely more entertaining if you are familiar with Miyazaki's work, as certain motifs (the face of the angel, flight, etc.) reappear from his earlier work.

I frequently show people unfamiliar with Japanese animation my copy of this video to change their opinion of what is possible in animation, which usually helps removed those negative pre-conceived notions people pick up from American animation. I have created a number of anime fans with this method.

Everything you've come to expect from Miyizaki plus more!

[chadwholovedme · 10/10 · 8 May 2005]

If you Like Hayao Miyizaki's work it's hard not to like this music video. While the music may not be to everyone's tastes I can't say I wasn't enjoying it, plus it would be hard to enjoy on your mark without its soundtrack.

What is most stunning about On Your Mark is Miyizaki's converging of many of his traits and themes. It's great to see Imagery from Miyizaki's Long serialised 'Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind' Manga, Even though that appeared as a film in 1985, we get to see much of what wasn't in the film but was in the Manga. Also familiar are the two leads who aren't too far from his interpretation Of Lupin and Jigen from Miyizaki's Cinematic Debut 'The Castle of Cagliostro'. Present too are so may other touches, not least his depiction of the girl and his love of flight. What is new territory is how the future is envisioned, Many of Miyizaki's Films are set in the past, but On Your Mark is actually stylistically similar to other Anime that being a Blade Runner, Metropolis Dystopia, perhaps a set not too far in the future, whereas Miyizaki's only other future world in Nausicaa is far more sparse and Sombre.

Anyway, On You Mark is a truly wonderful and entertaining piece off work. It all seems too easy?

Short, but still full of Miyazaki's magic

[neenahhh · 7/10 · 3 May 2011]

6 1/2 minutes. That's a record for Miyazaki. But despite its length and the fact that not one word was spoken during its entire duration, this short music film still managed to show the magic that's seen in all of Hayao Miyazaki's feature-length films.

This short film is accompanied by a song of Chage and Aska's. When I think of a film about two policemen teaming up to help give freedom to a girl with wings, my choice of music would have been very different from what was given. But it worked! The music went great with Miyazaki's animation and the storyline itself.

Boy, if this was turned into a real feature-length film, how great would that be? Lots of questions would be answered and we'd have a better background on our characters and the story itself. But I guess the beauty of this film comes from the fact that it still managed to deliver a whole set of emotions even if it was just under 7 minutes.

Some may find that their understanding of the film changes after a succeeding viewing, and I think they're right. This film definitely deserves more than one viewing, as to better understand the concept of the film.

Viewed on: May 4, 2011

Emotionally powerful animated film in spite of the song that inspired it. (Spoilers)

[Jeremy Bristol · 10/10 · 4 June 2001]

Has there ever been a film that so completely overshadows its impetus? (Okay, maybe Casablanca and Star Wars, but who's really counting?) Hayao Miyazaki's animated musical, which only follows the accompanying song (by Chage and Aska, a Japanese pop duo) in the timing of certain events and in the multiple endings (one of the lyrics says something to the effect that "I'll keep on trying until I succeed"), is in many ways his best work. Simple, direct, exciting, with all of his usual motifs (environmental concerns, old-fashioned duty, flight sequences, angels (?--see below), pigs, a short-haired girl, and redemption of humans as a species) packed into just over six and a half minutes, there is nothing included that could be cut and nothing that can be overlooked.

There has been much discussion as to whether the girl is really an angel. While it is widely known that Miyazaki is more or less an atheist (he's a humanist, trusting humans to make their own decisions in this world and not worry about (or worse, make decisions based on) what may or may not be in the next world, such as the cult holding the girl), he never treats religious people with any less respect than others he disagrees with (something I wish other filmmakers would practice, since most of them expect the same respect of their own beliefs). Sometimes, in the case of the comic book version of Kaze no Tani no Naushika (Nausicaa of the Valley of Wind), he depicts some of them with reverence. Even so, I don't really feel that the girl is an angel.

In the Nausicaa comic, there is a legend of a winged apostle (a fresco of her on a ceiling looks extraordinarily like the angel from On Your Mark), who the reader latter discovers may have returned to the earth on several occasions throughout history, when the world was in peril. Spoilers: By the end of the series, though, we learn that everything--plants, animals, Ohmu, even humans--have been genetically engineered or altered to survive in a world contaminated by nuclear war. As it turns out, the winged apostle (the new one being Nausicaa) may well have been a genetic trait, timed by scientists to "go off" every few generations to help them with the pre-designed events leading up to the cleansing of the world. I think that maybe the angel in On Your Mark was the first of these--a prototype version that may have passed into legend by Nausicaa's time, making the music video a kind of prequel to Nausicaa.

Anyway, watch the music video, watch the Nausicaa anime, and read the Nausicaa comics. They are likely all related.

A music video that can change your life.

[CaptWill69 · 10/10 · 9 September 2006]

This video helped myself get into anime. I too have also used it to get people into anime who think all Japanese animation is like the stuff found over on American television.

The video is without dialog and leaves you to determine the storyline of the video. On top of that, it also seems to not stick to a regular time line.

The way I find it is two soldiers find a winged female during a raid. While rescuing her, officials in contamination suits apprehend her from them for study. The two men plan a break out. The part I love most about this video is that Miyazaki in the video added it's own alternate ending (or the woman has special gifts to rewind time). There is one where the two men are trapped in their falling vehicle while getting the girl outside to fly off, and the other is they escape and set her free.

the simplicity of its message comes through powerfully through the use of Miyazaki/Ghiblis' imaginations

[Quinoa1984 · 9/10 · 12 January 2007]

It must have been a small but extreme labor of love to make On Your Mark, a short film directed by the great Hayao Miyazaki with his Studio Ghibli crew working at full throttle. It gets right to the heart of the idea in seven minutes through an immediate array of strange but deliriously exciting images, and its story gains momentum by the end. The end, also, is one of the happiest I've seen in Miyazaki's work (if a little fuzzy with an angel flying high into the sky). On Your Mark tells of such a winged being who becomes prey to the horrors of civilization, plague, technology, when she only got there through a tremendous blunder. But when two men finally decide they've seen enough, they go through the security, through the swarms of bio-chemical suited soldiers, and through a desperate escape they make it through the explosions and action.

All through this Miyzaki and his team create small wonders frame by frame, with small details like falling rocks just as fascinating as the large-scale amazements like the 'city' at night in neon, or the shots of the getaway vehicle running along the highway, with the helicopters chasing afterwords. How or why this has happened to the angel is never made clear, but in such an amount of time Miyazaki can only show so much. What comes through best, in the end, is the immense talents of his team, his collaborators who transform such a near fairy tale into a one-of-a-kind show. The music, too, is a curious addition, as I don't think I would've cared for it much taken apart from the animation. With it, the song works on a romantically charged, epic scale (if it were in English, I might've mistaken it for an 80s power ballad). It won't remain as a true landmark achievement for Miyazaki like Princess Mononoke, but if you're already a fan of his &/or Studio Ghibli's works and you can find it (online is the best bet), it's more than worth it, it's a must-see.

Not one word spoken, yet one of the most powerful animes yet.

[JeffyP · 10/10 · 16 March 2001]

On Your Mark is a quasi-movie that has everything except words, and that's just the way it was meant to be. Being a little under 7 minutes long, you'd think that it couldn't offer much in the way of content, but it's simply a monumental achievement. The song "On your mark" by Chage and Aska is the only accompaniment to the masterful sound effects throughout the animation.

As with most anime, though, you may have to watch it multiple times to absorb all that's thrown at you, but since it's so short, this is easily done. The story follows two soldiers' experience after a raid on a violent cult headquarters. What they discover hidden away in the back, however, will change their lives and the way they think forever. You'll laugh at some of the sound effects, and maybe a tear will be shed with the ending. On Your Mark is of the caliber of such movies as "Macross Plus", and even better that "Mononoke Hime". One that should be remembered always.

Studio Ghibli flexes its muscles....

[Adrian Wong · 10/10 · 23 December 2001]

...and produces a wonderful piece of animation, the visuals are really something to behold even by Ghibli standards. A non linear story is told without dialogue in this 7 minute music video, allied to a catchy song and with an uplifting conclusion this is a brilliant appetiser.

If you enjoyed watching this I urge you to seek out other Ghibli works, however I do believe I'm preaching to the converted...*lucky aren't we*

Best Short Film. Period.

[HPeep · 10/10 · 28 November 2002]

A truly thought provoking and odd experience. The film runs 6mins40secs and has almost as much depth as The Matrix (1999) which runs 136mins10secs. I think that this belongs as a short film and not a feature-length film. You'll get what's happening after about three viewings. I've seen it eight times and it still blows my mind. Show this to anyone who doesn't like anime. Grade: A+

Falling Upward

[frankgaipa · 10/10 · 24 August 2002]

The music's forgettable but will have become part of you, once you've replayed "On Your Mark" enough times to decipher it. Bypassing as much as possible of what's already on this page, what struck me, last viewing, was except for very beginning which is really a flash forward to the very end, nothing takes place at ground level. Everything seems to happen in or between towers. Falling's a big deal. Witness the oh no!/yes go! collapse that ends the rescue sequence. Finally the two rescuers are grounded, though speeding forward, and the `angel' appears to fall, though naturally, with as little trauma as imaginable, upward. The hands' release modifies the Sistine Chapel detail, but also echoes many of Robert Bresson's shots of hands.

Mini-Miyazaki movie

[csi_yellowknife · 17 March 2003]

This is a film my anime guru Miyazaki. That'll take care of the first 1,000,000 people who scramble around looking for it. The for rest, read on:

The music is nothing special, but that may just be my personal tastes. Then again, the video more than makes up for it. The somewhat confusing video plot deals with two policemen who free a strange angel-like girl.

The short video contains three of Miyazaki's traits: The sweet-looking but strong girl (but never in a lewd, creepy way that so many try), scenes of flying, and that mixture of strange but beautiful animation and storyline.

There's a lot to catch in this little flick, and it'd be too much of a spoiler to give it all away. Even more, it's probably not a movie that you'd expect to make a lot of sense. That's okay, just sit back and enjoy the ride.

See it, its definatley worth 6 minutes of your time!

[Fangor · 8/10 · 1 October 2003]

The song was ok, nothing more. But the animation is great, Its interesting to see a storyline produced without a word said... the story even manages to have some twists to it, some humor and beautifull images (and angels, love angels...), dispite the meager song, I feel happy whenever I see this small piece. See it, its definatley worth 6 minutes of your time! Average 8.7(10)

A full story in six and a half minutes

[Tweekums · 9/10 · 4 April 2008]

This is the shortest of Hayao Miyazaki's films that I've seen which isn't surprising as it is six and a half minutes long. Like all his work it is beautifully animated. To go along with the animation is the song of the same name sung by Chage and Aska, I'm not familiar with their work but this song goes well with the animation.

It is surprising that s film this short and with no dialogue could have an interesting story but it does: It starts with police storming a cult headquarters and after a fire-fight finding a girl in chains, she clearly isn't an ordinary girl as she has wings, She is soon whisked off my men wearing protective suits. The two policemen who found her decide to rescue her from the scientists but trip an alarm as they flee with the girl.

While crossing a very high bridge they are intercepted and the bridge brakes leaving them falling, they try to get the girl to fly but it appears that despite having wings she doesn't know how... as the impact the story resets to the point where they find her however this time when the bridge is broken instead of falling the vehicle flies. After crashing into a large building they escape by car through a tunnel which leads out of the city into a supposed danger zone. The two policemen then coax her to fly and the film ends with her soaring high above them looking down.

Unfortunately it isn't on DVD in the west, hopefully one day it will be included as an extra on a later release, till then it can be seen on line, if you haven't seen it yet it is certainly worth looking for.

Best animation from any music video?

[Jeremy_Urquhart · 8/10 · 11 March 2024]

When you've watched all of Hayao Miyazaki's movies, you can either rewatch them, or try and find some of his short films (which is easier said than done, as I think a fair few are only accessible in the Studio Ghibli museum in Japan).

On Your Mark was one I was able to find, and as far as music videos go, it's very good. I at first thought the song wasn't much, but it grew on me. The narrative is nice and simple, but it works; I thought the very last moment was touching and built up to well. It's also just as well-animated as most of Hayao Miyazaki's movies; he really seemed to go all out for this project.

It's one of those slightly hidden titles within a director's body of work that's actually very easy to recommend to his fans. I think it's always nice to find titles like that every now and then.

The Ghibli touch is given to a Japanese rock duo.

[LTPHarry · 9/10 · 26 October 2022]

This animated music video for Chage & Aska's song On Your Mark was directed by Hayao Miyazaki as a side project during his burnout making Princess Mononoke.

The story of the music video involves two policeman who are modelled after Chage and Aska, trying to protect an angel they find at all costs. What I love about the video is that the music allows the animation to tell itself without requiring words, and it tells the entire story in under seven minutes, and yet it doesn't feel rushed or unfinished. The only problem goes with the ending, as it shows two different climaxes, but that's to make the viewer decide what the fate is like.

Being something from Miyazaki, it has his trademarks. It has environmental messages, it has flying, it has top-notch Studio Ghibli animation, and it has the feeling of "effort" put into it. What is also notable is that it takes place within the same universe as Miyazaki's Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind. In fact, even if you didn't know this and saw Nausicaa, you could still tell it from the art style right away.

The song: "On Your Mark" is also a great song even if you don't know the words. But in case you don't, the lyrics are inspired by the lifestyle of the Japanese bubble economy. There is an English version of the song called "Castles in the Air" but the lyrics have no connection to the original song.

Another problem with the video is that it is quite niche and obscure, with only the biggest of western Ghibli fans knowing its existence. The reason why is that it is only available on VHS, DVD and Blu-Ray in Japan. If you do happen to come across it, it's worth a watch - in fact, this video alone was worth the £9 I paid for the Ghibli ga Ippai Special Short Short DVD, which is a bit rare nowadays.

Sadly, the video and the song have been overshadowed by Aska's drug issues, which led to a planned re-release in the Japanese Hayao Miyazaki boxset in 2014 delayed so Disney could remove it and Ghibli ga Ippai Special Short Short going out-of-print. However, Disney reconsidered the ban and Studio Ghibli later offered a standalone Blu-Ray to anyone who owned the boxset, and it was soon included on Ghibli ga Ippai Special Short Short 1992-2016.

Even with that, On Your Mark is one of the best music videos for a song ever produced, and I recommend you see this if you're wanting a good dialogue-less story and great music as well. It's well worth a recommend.

Beautifully simple

[geekstudio · 10/10 · 6 February 2023]

A very interesting (and beautiful) experiment from Ghibli: the animation is wonderful, the action is amazing, and the story definitely benefits from its duration. This videoclip manages to make you laugh, cry and smile in six and a half minutes, but most of all, the fact that it manages to do all this without a single word, and without putting anything into context is an amazing achievement that you can only get through a music video.

For the cons: the music, while fitting, isn't really a masterpiece, and sometimes, due to the repetitive nature of music videos, the editing is a little bit unflattering, although it manages to subvert it at the end when it portrays multiple endings, one after the other, wich is very cool.

Beautiful

[Rectangular_businessman · 10/10 · 5 July 2012]

A truly beautiful music video done by one the great Japanese animator, Hayao Miyazaki (Director of wonderful films such as "Princess Mononoke", "Porco Rosso" and "Spirited Away") which, in just a very few minutes is able to contain all the magic and captivating elements of his feature films.

Not only is the quality of the animation incredible (With a high level of detail, fluid movements, magnificent backgrounds and also very nice and expressive designs) but also the story, without any word, is able to communicate many subtle feelings that vary from sadness and tension to happiness.

The ending is particularly moving and heartwarming. A must-see.

Cool music video

[briancham1994 · 8/10 · 25 August 2020]

This short film (or music video) is a condensed and fast-paced portrayal of two police officers rescuing someone with wings. It's a simple premise and the short length means it is very streamlined, getting to the point and showing all the action. It was quite engrossing.

Blade Runner + Edge of Tomorrow mashed together

[matrix-baker · 9/10 · 2 December 2021]

Alright, get this - you're a civil protection police scum who hunts down oppressed minorities in a cyberpunk Los Angeles (minus the ecological devastation of suburban outskirts). And somehow you're the good guy in this story!

Mix together Blade Runner, Edge of Tomorrow + razor-sharp capture of humans' affinity for projecting the outcome of our actions (and to get attracted to biblical angelic figures) and moe art style and you get this brilliant little short that only gets one star retracted from Griffindor for slightly unfitting (at the beginning) lyrics of the song with the presented imagery.

It's so much fun, Jan - get it!

Miyazaki meets Prison Break

[Horst_In_Translation · 8/10 · 7 September 2013]

I've been trying to get a hand on several of Miyazaki's short films, but it proves rather difficult. So I'm quite pleased to have been able to watch these 7 minutes and I don't regret it at all. It's about two friends and their mission to free an angel-like winged girl from her harrowing imprisonment. The animation is well done, but that's a given with Miyazaki of course and the characters' emotions are displayed in a captivating manner just like their journey together. Also the song, which runs throughout the whole short film, is as simple as it's catchy and already stuck in my head.

Recently, 18 years after this short film, there have been rumors that Miyazaki is going into retirement with the release of his newest project "The Wind Rises". He's 72 years old and has left us a filmography that's only matched by very few in the business, so it would be understandable, but I'd love to see him expand a feature film on the mysterious winged creature in this little short movie. I'm sure he'd come up with something great.

Visually arresting and engaging

[bob the moo · 3 February 2014]

I didn't know it when I sat to watch it but this is essentially a music video since it was made to go under an existing song as opposed to the other way round. I came to it knowing nothing other than that it was a short film from Hayao Miyazaki and as such I was expecting something more in line with the films he has made. In way this is the case but there is a lot more "traditional" anime action in here than I expected. The plot sees a police raid on some sort of religious cult where they rescue a girl with wings like an angel. The angel is rescued into custody and two of the police men decide to then rescue her from that so she can be free.

This is about the extent of the plot and it has a few moments where it jumps backwards and plays it out again in a different way, but the story is less important than the delivery (again, this is a music video more than a film). Visually the film is impressive because of the detail and the vision. So many visions of the future from 20 years ago or so now look dated and silly but not here, it still looks fantastic in the color and the imagination behind it. The film very much relies on the visuals and the movement but there is lots going on here and on a couple of viewings I did find myself focusing on different aspects of it. It wasn't the music any of these times though, since I personally didn't care for this but the animation was full of greatness whether it was in the small detail of the vastness of the city.

It is more of a violent anime than casual Miyazaki viewers such as myself may expect, but it is visually arresting and has enough going on to warrant several viewings – although the music may start to wear on you after them.