| Average |
5.2 |
| Animation |
7 |
| Sound |
7 |
| Story |
6 |
| Character |
3 |
| Value |
3 |
| Enjoyment |
5 |
| The first Ideon Movie, A Contact, is pretty much to Space Runaway Ideon what End of Evangelion is to Neon Genesis Evangelion (at least if I have the order right). It provides a retelling of the events in the series in a concise format. I would highly, highly recommend those who want to watch this movie to see the series first, because it's intended to go alongside the series to explain further how the clash between the Buff Clan and the colonists came about, with a few new scenes to describe how Cosmo and the others came to pilot the Ideon and how they figured out its purpose in the midst of a long space opera. Yet, this movie is only one of two intended films set to conclude the series in its entirety.
To give you a straight (non-spoilerish) summary of what this movie is about: the Buff Clan comes across a refugee planet in search for the Ide, a powerful mecha termed a "space god" and unknown in its range of power. On the opposite end, a group of former Earth residents study the Ide, whom they term "Ideon", with not much knowledge of its purpose or power. The forces of the Buff Clan and colonists collide under unfortunate circumstances, either unwilling or unable to understand the other.
Cosmo is one of the colonists caught in the cross-hairs of the conflict, and he becomes the pilot of the Ideon, alongside a rather diverse crew: Deck, Kasha Bes, Sheryl, and a Buff Clan princess named Karla. A group of civilians among the colonists also find themselves along the journey, as the vessel for the Ideon coincides with the place they fled to for safety.
From that point on, it's more or less the story of how the Cosmo and crew find themselves taking the journey home, fighting against the Buff Clan and also discovering the story behind the Ideon.
The restored animation and the additional scenes added into the mix were probably what kept me watching this, as it recaps most of what occurs in the 39 episode series in close to a 90 minute movie. A few scenes are considerably edited/changed (including a minor character's respective death), which irked me considering I remembered how the original series treated them, but I was able to overlook it because it manages to weave in the progression consistently despite the changes. There's no doubt that if you watch this without the context of the series, it feels rushed, but it's not meant to be taken as stand-alone. You won't find the many character interactions or growth that the series provides, but it fleshes the story a bit more than the series does in places, and adds some needed clarity to the transitions the series takes. The characters are strongly asserted, but in this "recap" movie, you really don't get the full impact of everything that happened in the context of the series, which is the precise reason why characters are rated low in this, but don't think that's a measure of their weak construction, it's more or less what the movie does to not necessarily build them accordingly and allow you to know them instead of seeming like just a recap of events.
Animation clarity is much better than the respective series, as the production is improved and the scenes are restored. Character design is consistent and never awkward in transition. The action sequences remain much the same, and while there are character deaths and mecha fights, they still show in pale antiquation with respect to contemporary series, but for its time (1982), it works.
Music also shows its age too, but at the same time, I liked the orchestrated values and thought them appropriate for the time the series was crafted. The voice acting is kept consistent with the series, so I had no complaints with those measures.
Overall, this is only a movie to watch once if you've seen the collective series. I don't think it would have a high rewatch value in the eyes of people who see it once, because it refreshes your memory of what occurs throughout the series (albeit some minor changes), but other than that, you're probably better off watching this once as a measure to get to the second movie, which ties the final threads in what the series has to offer.
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