Arion Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		3.0
Overall		4.0

Arion Blu-ray Movie Review

Arion is a classic of Japanese theatrical animation and a must-see gem. The feature-film production showcases stunning animation by Sunrise (Cowboy Bebop, Mobile Suit Gundam Wing). Produced by Bandai Visual, Sunrise, and Tokuma Shoten, the film features a remarkable theme song performed by Kyouko Gotou. Created by Yoshikazu Yasuhiko, Arion is executive produced by Kazuo Haruna, Masanori Ito (Crusher Joe: The Movie, Mobile Suit Gundam: Char's Counterattack), Ritsuo Isobe (Only Yesterday, Pom Poko), and Yasuyoshi Tokuma (Castle in the Sky, Kiki's Delivery Service). Produced by Hideo Ogata (GoShogun: The Time Étranger), Hironori Nakagawa (Dirty Pair: Project Eden), and Tetsuhisa Yamada (Document Fang of the Sun Dougram), Arion is an essential anime and one that has earned a great reputation as an important classic with good reason.

Arion (Shigeru Nakahara) was born into a world where gods and men would intermingle. The world shaped by the gods while men roam the Earth. Arion was born the son of his blind mother, Demeter (Reiko Mutoh). Arion would grow up to be trained to be an elite assassin. Yet despite this role as an adult, Arion finds himself involved in an ongoing war brewing between Poseidon (Kiyoshi Kobayashi) and Zeus (Masanobu Okubo).

Despite other powers struggling to control Arion and his every move, Arion is determined to be in charge of his own destiny – bypassing Ares (Bin Shimada) and Athena (Masako Katsuki). Yet the greatest obstacle in Arion’s way might be none other than Apollo (Hirotaka Suzuoki). Arion must do whatever he can to be the hero of his own tale and find his own destiny. Using a elite weapon created by Prometheus (Hideyuki Tanaka), Arion aims to be the hero of the story. Arion and his close friends do what they must for the good fight. Can Arion take on Zeus as he travels to Mount Olympus for an epic showdown?

The animation is stunning and one of the best aspects of the feature-film. The art style is something that is utterly hypnotic here and something that one can easily be engaged by. The art direction by Hidetoshi Kaneko (Doomed Megalopolis, Texhnolyze) and animation direction by Yoshikazu Yasuhiko (Mobile Suit Gundam, Crusher Joe: The Movie) is first-rate on every level. A beautiful aesthetic and one that simply amazes from first to last frame. The character designs by Yoshikazu Yasuhiko (Mobile Suit Gundam, Venus Wars) are brought to life with equal splendor.

The cinematography by Akio Saitô (Mobile Suit Gundam, Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam) is essential to the aesthetic of the production. The cell-based hand-drawn animation is like a work of art throughout the entire film. There is something magical about classic Japanese animation and especially with films that are as ambitious as this one. The art style is so exquisite it is as though every frame of the art could be displayed in an art museum – the individual cell-based art showcasing a rewarding tapestry for the art accomplished by the animation team. The style is something that cannot be easily duplicated with the modern anime styles, but is so rewarding when done right with classic anime – as was done here in a perfect and highly artistic way.

The score composed by Joe Hisaishi (Spirited Away, Princess Mononoke) is a masterpiece of score composition. Hisaishi is one of the greatest composers in film history – working on both Ghibli productions and other Japanese anime and live-action classics. Hisaishi is a genius and the music provided in Arion is so beautiful that it is a total delight to simply revel in the music and the sonic soundstage. The score is hauntingly beautiful and a testament to the enduring legacy of Hisaishi.

Directed by Yoshikazu Yasuhiko (Venus Wars, Crusher Joe: The Movie), who co-wrote the screenplay with Akiko Tanaka, Arion is a masterful film and one that has so many compelling scenes. The film certainly feels more ambitious than most feature-films (modern or otherwise). The filmmaking is breathtaking and the production scale is enormous. Yasuhiko made several great anime classics, Arion being one of the filmmakers’ gems. A must-see anime classic.

Arion Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Released on Blu-ray by Discotek Media, Arion is presented in 1080p MPEG-4 AVC encoded high-definition in the theatrical aspect ratio of 1.78:1 widescreen. The presentation on the release is outstanding beautiful. The hand-drawn animation looks exquisite on the release with a quality presentation reproducing the cell-based animation. The film print is in exceptional shape and the restoration work is fantastic. The scan looks lovely and there are few issues with the print: lovingly restored, Arion has lush colors and the detail in the encode is exceptional. A great effort by Discotek Media.

Arion Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The release is presented in Japanese uncompressed PCM 2.0 (with English subtitles). The release does not include an English dubbed version. The release capably preserves the sound direction by Kōichi Chiba (Crusher Joe: The Movie, Venus Wars) and the sound effects by Kazutoshi Satō (Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, Venus Wars). The lossless audio encoding is outstanding on the release – providing crisp detail and clarity. Dialogue is exceptionally crisp sounding and well reproduced on the release. The score by Joe Hisaishi is an essential highlight of the release. The lossless encoding helped to preserve the brilliance of the score and made the viewing experience all the more immersive and rewarding. A quality lossless encode by Discotek Media.

Arion Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

The release provides a nice o-card slipcover with the package.

Features/Trailers:

The Making of Arion (HD, 18:46)

Promo Video (HD, 14:25)

Theatrical Teasers (HD, 1:12)

Theatrical Trailer (SD, 2:33)

Art Galleries:

Key Art includes 12 click-through art slides.

Backgrounds – Part 1 includes 40 click-through art slides.

Model Sheets includes 23 click-through art slides.

Backgrounds – Part 2 includes 48 click-through art slides.

Backgrounds – Part 3 includes 38 click-through art slides.

Arion Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Arion is a masterful anime classic from director Yoshikazu Yasuhiko (Venus Wars). The filmmaking is exquisite from frame-to-frame. The animation looks beautiful and ambitious. The entire experience is a rewarding one: Arion takes audiences on a thrilling adventure and a journey that is exceptionally grand. The Blu-ray release provides a first-rate high-definition restoration and beautiful sounding lossless audio preserving the score by composer Joe Hisaishi (Spirited Away). The release also includes a nice selection of bonus features. Highly recommended.