Review for Welcome To The Space Show (Blu-ray & DVD)

Introduction

We should have had Welcome to the Space Show back last Christmas, but due to unforeseen circumstances (the dub taking longer to complete), it hasn't reached UK shop shelves until this July. It's one of those serendipitous delays however, as I can't think of any anime feature film since Summer Wars so suited for a summer viewing. Actually given the story of Welcome to the Space Show, and its target audience, I don't think that there could be a more perfect summer movie. It's also the first anime feature film since Millennium Wars for which Manga Entertainment has commissioned an English dub (Musashi: Dream of the Last Samurai was a voiceover, so doesn't count). What this means is that we are the first English speaking territory in the world to get Welcome to the Space Show! For once, we beat the US and Australia to the punch, and Welcome to the Space Show doesn't even have a distributor yet in the US. Waiting an extra six months doesn't feel so bad after all. You can get Welcome to the Space Show on DVD, or you can opt for the Dual Play Blu-ray DVD edition. I received just the Blu-ray check disc for review, so I can't comment on the DVD component, or the packaging.


Summer camp is a venerable school tradition, one that promotes self-reliance and independence in children, fosters friendships and gets the kids out of the house for a week during the summer holidays. That's even true for the small village schools in the country, although their camps aren't quite as extravagant. For Natsuki, Amane, Noriko, Koji and Kiyoshi, the sole students in their local school, summer camp basically means spending the week sleeping in their classroom, with the eldest Kiyoshi supervising. When the school pet rabbit goes missing, the five children go looking for it, but find an injured dog instead. Except that this is an injured dog that can stand on its hind legs and talk. Pochi is an alien, on Earth researching the local flora, and he's grateful for the children's help, so grateful in fact that he's willing to take them on a trip, and not just any ordinary excursion. A trip to the dark side of the moon is the most out of this world school trip there has ever been, but this is only just the beginning of a fantastic adventure that will take the children across the universe, and draws them into an intrigue that spans universal domination, the most popular television show in the galaxy, and wasabi?

Picture

Welcome to the Space Show gets a 1.78:1 widescreen 1080p transfer on this Blu-ray disc, and it's a peach of a transfer. The image is clear and sharp throughout, the resolution brings across the detail brilliantly, and the high quality animation is vividly reproduced. It's smooth, clear, rich, and colourful, and the only indication of compression is the minor digital banding that appears around light sources when the scenes fade in or out. I saw this happen just twice during the film, and both times when the moon in the sky was the centre of attention. The animation as I have said is top notch, it gets the full theatrical treatment, meaning every frame is used, and the way that the characters are observed and animated approach Ghibli-esque levels of sophistication. It's also a film rich in imagination and scope, as there is practically a whole galaxy of worlds, aliens, and ideas brought across on screen. Welcome to the Space Show is one of the most inventive anime creations I have seen.

The images in this review are sourced from the PR, and may not be necessarily representative of the final retail release.

Sound

You have several options here, with the DTS-HD MA 5.1 Surround tracks in English and Japanese the most appealing. If HD audio isn't your thing, you also have PCM 2.0 English and Japanese stereo. There is a sole translated English subtitle track to go with the film. I went with the Japanese DTS-HD track, and was very happy with the way that the film came across, a nice immersive cinematic experience, with the dialogue clear, the action impressive, and the film's music score very theatrical and warm. One thing that I did notice in the subtitles was that the Japanese references were on occasion translated to US equivalents, yen to dollars for instance. I sampled the film's English dub and it seemed to be a nice quality effort suitable for the film, although where the Japanese cast were actually children, the English dub casts adults in the roles. One thing missing was a signs only track for the English audio, and onscreen text goes by un-captioned for dub fans. And yes, that is Susan Boyle singing the film's end theme song.

Extras

Welcome to the Space Show gets a nice animated menu, but the extras are limited to a 3 minute HD trailer, 3 minutes worth of SD storyboards, and the English dubbing credits.

Conclusion

Welcome to the Space Show is a great family film, and an ideal summer movie, one that adults can enjoy along with their children, or a great film to keep the little 'uns occupied while you do something more tedious instead. In the tradition of all great kids' movies, five friends go off on a fantastic adventure one summer, one that is literally out of this world, and all become better people as a result. It's an adventure that is comical, dramatic, epic, and exciting, with all manner of strange wonders and fantastic characters to encounter along the way. I found Welcome to the Space Show to be charming and entertaining, wonderfully retro in its simplistic approach to storytelling, putting me in mind of the adventure stories that so entertained me when I was a child.


I do have to say though that this film will probably appeal more to the younger generation than the older. Its overall plot is simplistic and unexceptional, and the way that it is structured comes across as a series of little adventures that the children have on their way around the galaxy. First there is summer camp and finding Pochi, then there is their adventure on the moon when they discover that getting home isn't as easy as getting to outer space, then there is the trip on the express, the adventure on Pochi's world, and finally the climax in the Space Show. The Space Show arc of the story does develop through the film, as do other various elements, but the focus of the story remains on whatever adventure the children are having at that moment. It's great storytelling for children, and can entrance those of shorter attention spans who prefer their stories in nice digestible chunks.


The irony of this is that the same approach can evoke a little tedium in older viewers, who would prefer a stronger plot running through the film, with a little more foreshadowing, and more calling back to what has occurred previously. Older viewers will also notice some weaknesses in character development. This film really is about the relationship between cousins Natsuki and Amane, who have to redefine their relationship now that they are living together under the same roof. Natsuki thinks that Amane is less reliant on her than she used to be, while little Amane thinks Natsuki isn't as much fun anymore. This all comes to a head when Natsuki loses the school pet rabbit, which creates the friction between the two cousins that they have to resolve on their adventure. This is the strong character arc of the film and the one that you pay most attention to.

Koji also has a nice character story that unfolds, when he meets an alien girl on the moon, and a summertime first romance of sorts develops between the two. She's a mechanic who's travelling the galaxy with her father, while Koji wants to be an astronomer when he grows up, so the two have a lot in common. Kiyoshi is the eldest of the group, but his character arc is the least stated. He's responsible for the rest of the children, and is at something of a crossroads in his life as he decides what he wants to be. The shadow of his late father looms over this decision somewhat, making him a more reflective and introverted character. And it seems that poor Noriko is there merely to make up the numbers, as her presence rarely registered in the film.


Weaknesses in the plot, and character deficiencies aside, there is a lot to appreciate about Welcome to the Space Show. It's a thoroughly entertaining adventure story, brilliantly animated, rich with imagination, and with just the right blend of action, drama, comedy, scares and delights to keep any young child absolutely enthralled, and grown up children can enjoy it too. The world of Hollywood animation has gone completely 3D CGI. They just don't make films like this anymore. Not too long ago, films like Welcome to the Space Show were the province of Disney and Dreamworks. Films like Titan AE, Treasure Planet, Atlantis the Lost Empire were mainstays of the summer multiplex. We should be grateful that someone still knows how to make 2D animation, and can bring to life those adventure stories that come from the heart, and appeal to the innocent in us all.