A Wind Named Amnesia

• Genre: PostApoc
• Release Year: 1993
• Director: Kazuo Yamazaki
• Writer: Y Kawajiri,H Kikuchi, Yamazaki
• Running Time: 80min
• Rating: NR (Anime Nudity, Lang, Mecha)
• Reviewed by: UncleDrax on Thu 6 Dec 07

Official Blurb:
The Apocalypse didn't come with a BANG. Silently, the amnesia wind swept away all of mankind's knowledge. Thousands of years of human civilization vanished overnight as people forgot how to use the tools of modern civilization - who they were - how to speak - everything. Technology decayed as mankind was instantly reduced to level of cavemen.

Now, two years later, a young man explores a nation reduced to barbarism - America. Miraculously re-educated after the cataclysm, he is accompanied by a young woman - somehow spared the obliterating effects of the amnesia wind. Pursued by a relentless killing machine, they search for those responsible for stealing their memories.

Review:
A wind that makes everyone forgets everything that mankind has worked over 6000 years to create. Imagine a world of cavemen that can only communicate with barbaric grunts, running around San Fransisco, worshiping large machines as gods and sacrificing brides to it. That is the world that 'The Wind' left in it's wake.

The story follows a young man named Wataru (which roughly means 'Traveller') on his quest to help rebuild and teach humanity. In the beginning of the story, while exploring the western seaboard, he encounters a police mecha that attempts to detain Wataru ED-209 style. During this encounter Wataru also finds a white haired woman that knows how to speak, a sign that she wasn't effected by 'the wind'. The mecha, called a guardian, will become the known arch nemesis of Wataru on his journey. The white haired woman, Sophia, will become to Wataru's all-knowning seer and partial guide.

Wataru has sworn to look everywhere he can to try and find more people that are were not affected by 'the wind', in hopes to restore civilization. During Wataru's journey from San Francisco to New York, he will discover how the world has changed, and the strange things that still remember the time pre-wind. Was the Wind a military experiment gone arwy? Or was it an alien intelligence that shut down humanity for it's own good? Or something all together different?


I'm not normally a -big- fan of anime, I like a few, and this is one of them. It's not because 'the story is great' or the dialog (in English anyhow) is a work of art, it's because of two things:
One is the idea of how this apocalypse is fairly unique and fascinating to me. Everyone just forgetting everything they know and how to use the tools we take for granted? Genius!
Two is because this is a story about self-discover on Wataru's part. Sophia acts like a mix of Socrates and Yoda trying to have Wataru come to the realizations she already knows.

The whole Guardian thing however was a bit much, in a Terminator sort of way. They shoot it, blow it up, drop it off a cliff, and it keeps going ("It's programmed to rebuild itself").. which I find entirely TOO contrived for a police anti-riot mecha. Frankly in the end, I'm not even sure it's really destroyed for good...

What I liked:
- A great and novel apocalyptic idea
- A fun watch.. not to serious, or too dumb.
- There's some good post-apoc scenery between the locations: San Fran, LA, NYC, and the desert between them. - Any watcher worth their salt already knows Sophia's secret a few minutes into the movie, you'd hope the hero would figure it out before he does.. but he doesn't.
- The English dubs didn't seem full of the stereo-typical anime 'SQUUEEEE's that the female characters often do. I consider this a good thing


What I didn't like:
- The guardian is just TOO contrived.. I guess being a product of Japan, they had to include a Mecha. I mean.. they sort of explain it.. just it's to much.

Rating:

• Genre Feel: 4
• Acting: 3
• Effects: 3
  
• Production Quality:: 4

Final Scoring:

Personal Recommendation: If you like anime check it out. If you don't like anime, you can be content with the plot summary.

Availablity:
  English Dubs, or Japanese Dubs with English Subtitles
  Netflix     Amazon  

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