The anime series 'The Freedom Project' is the result of a unique marketing manuever commissioned by Nissin Cup Noodles in Japan that has evolved into a six part Original Video Animation (OVA). Normally I would shrug off this kind of production as simply a corporate gimmick, but this one is intriguing in that it boasts Katsuhiro Otomo ('Akira,' 'Steamboy') as its lead character and mech designer. For those new to anime, Otomo's involvement with Nissin on 'Freedom' is the equivalent of Martin Scorsese working on a television show commissioned by Campbell's Soup.
The direct-to-DVD series itself is being released one half-hour episode at a time every few months in its native Japan, backed by a publicity blitz that has littered streets and subways with posters, banners, and character art for over a year now. Given the onslaught of awareness that has surrounded the series in Japan, US anime fans (myself included) have been clamoring to get a look at what all the fuss is about. Uniquely, 'Freedom 1' makes its U.S.-based home video debut *only* as a twin-format HD DVD release, meaning that this is the only edition of the disc currently being released in the U.S.
As the series opens, we learn that in the middle of the 21st century, Earth was devastated by a dramatic climate shift that killed billions. The survivors colonized the moon and formed a new society called Eden, which was built as a series of lunar cities meant to form a utopia, but it's become a grimy neo-Tokyo with abundant problems. The year is 2267 and Eden educates its children until the age of fifteen. At that point, they're granted a brief period of freedom before they're reintegrated into the system to serve in a pre-assigned position in the workforce.
Takeru (voiced by Daisuke Namikawa) has just graduated and wants to race in a dangerous series of tunnels with a shoddy vehicle (Lunar Terrain Vehicle or LTD) of his own design. His friends Kazuma (Shotaro Morikubo) and Bis (Kappei Yamaguchi) support the young dreamer and help him with his LTD's mechanical problems, but the direction of the series is set when Takeru stumbles upon a secret that threatens to call Earth's fate and Eden's livelihood into question.
Before I jump into my critique, I should mention that my biggest disappointment with 'Freedom 1' was its length. In following with the Japanese DVD release scheme, this disc includes only the first episode of the series, which (subtracting the opening credits and the end credits) only lasts a little over twenty minutes. As a result, it's tough to get much of a feel for the story or the characters.
That complaint aside, I'm an absolute sucker for Otomo's artwork and I was really struck by the expressiveness of his characters. With so many near-photo quality CG films in theaters these days, I'd almost forgotten how much I love the quaint realism applied to the screen with quality traditional animation. Thanks to a solid script, colorful characters, and emotive dialogue, I had an easy time immersing myself in Takeru's underground subculture.
I also quite enjoyed the rough line art of the production and the painted backdrops used to frame the character animation. Character lines are crisp, but the backgrounds look as if they've been reprinted from a manga comic. This disjointed look is appealing because it has such strong roots in graphic novel artwork -- the resulting effect is like flipping through a manga and watching as it comes to life on the page. The addition of CG animation (even when its used for the main characters) isn't distracting, and generally blends well with the 2D animation. The only hiccup is consistent with every anime that uses this blend of old and new -- the CG animation has noticeably more frames per second than the hand drawn elements.
Even though this disc only contains the first episode, the story does have a nice setup. Once I've seen the entire series, I may end up reversing my thoughts, but taken on its own, 'Freedom 1' does everything an opening volley should -- it develops tension, introduces endearing and sympathetic characters, and sets the stage for more epic events to transpire. The city feels intentionally dead and the despair inherent in the survivors of humanity is immediately apparent, creating a really nice contrast that propels the rebellious Takeru forward -- his dreams and aspirations are more believable because Eden is so superficial.
I suppose I should mention the cringe-inducing theme song ("This is Love") by Japanese pop singer Utada Hikaru. I dig all of the eccentricities Japanese culture sprinkles into anime -- it's part of the appeal for a fan from the US, but I cannot, for the life of me, understand the continual use of pop songs that seem to contradict the tone of the anime they accompany. The end credits of 'Freedom' feature a percussion-heavy score that (in my opinion) is far superior and more fitting.
As it stands, I'm really looking forward to seeing future installments of 'The Freedom Project.' I wish more episodes were available at once so I could get more of an overall feel for the series, but the fantastic art and the intriguing story are enough to get my initial buy-in. Hopefully this series will continue to impress and not fall into the clichés of the genre.
As I mentioned in the introduction to this review, 'Freedom 1' is the first twin-format HD DVD/DVD to hit the US market, although from looking at the disc itself, you'd never guess it's anything special. Unlike combo discs, one side has a printed label, while the other side looks just like a normal HD DVD disc. Pop it in an HD DVD player or a standard-def player, however, and the twin-format disc starts to work its magic, auto-detecting the player format and hopping to the proper layer without the user having to make any selection.
Presented in 1080p with the VC-1 codec, the HD DVD presentation of 'Freedom 1' is a vibrant wonder that looks very good all around. The standard-def DVD transfer included on this disc (encoded with MPEG-2) looks good as well, but in a direct compare, it doesn't come close to the high-def presentation.
Bandai has said that it worked with Microsoft to optimize the VC-1 codec for anime, and the results are quite impressive -- the HD DVD layer boasts vivid colors, perfect black levels, and crisply detailed linework. Most impressively, the textures in the background paintings are phenomenal. Just look at the lunar surface and the industrial imperfections of distant buildings -- you can see the brush strokes of the hand-painted elements. I was also pleased to see that the color fills fit snuggly into the linework -- there aren't any instances where the seams of the animation show through the high-def presentation.
There are a few problems, but most can be attributed to the master print rather than the HD DVD transfer. Slight color banding is present in places like the orange sky during the first street race, as well as on the visors of the spacesuits later in the episode. However, the banding doesn't shift with movement which leads me to believe it was present in the original coloring of these elements. Likewise, when the bikers first confront each other on the street, the orange sky has slight compression artifacts littered across the expanse. Again though, when the shot pans, the compression artifacts are unaffected -- leading me to conclude that the compression is an element of the original graphic file used in the background, rather than the HD DVD transfer.
The only issue that seems to be presented by the VC-1 encode itself is a slight pixilation to thin lines (particuarly around the eyes of the characters). This isn't distracting per se, but does pop up quite frequently once you start looking for it. All things considered, however, these issues are so insignificant that most fans won't even notice -- the picture is gorgeous, and only makes me excited to see more 2D animation released in high-def in the future.
Unfortuntely, the audio package on this HD DVD forces fans to make an annoying choice -- either you go with a full Dolby Digital-Plus 5.1 surround mix (1.5 Mbps) or a front-heavy uncompressed Linear PCM 2.0 track. The use of surround channels on the Dolby mix provides the best overall audio experience, but the PCM track provides the best sound clarity. Because the bike races are more exhilarating when they fill the soundfield, I personally recommend the Dolby mix.
Both tracks are presented in Japanese with optional English subtitles. Each mix boasts clear dialogue, good prioritization, and subtle channel movement. Sound effects are typical for anime (occasionally drifting over the top), but explosions and crashes are authentic and convincing. Treble tones don't waver and the bass ranges boom and rumble (just listen when Takeru fires his boost rocket near the end of the episode). Even better, the Dolby surround mix features an impressive soundfield that feels full and rich -- the racers whiz across the entire soundscape and eerily move from the rear channels, to the front, and back to the rear channels in half a second.
Like most 2D animation, the sound design tends to explode during action beats, but feels a bit empty during character interactions and dialogue scenes. There doesn't seem to be many varying room acoustics in 'Freedom 1' except for moments where an auditory discrepancy would be painfully obvious (inside a spacesuit or a tunnel for example). Overall though, the sound design seems to have received a lot of attention and it feels weightier than some of the soundwork I've heard with other anime series.
The only supplement included on both the HD DVD and DVD layers of 'Freedom 1' is a trailer for the next episode of the series. There are, however, several additional HD DVD-only supplements...
Groundbreaking in more ways than one, I really enjoyed this first episode of 'The Freedom Project' on HD DVD, and I have every intention of checking out the rest of the series -- the picture was beautiful and the audio package was full of life. And while the advanced technical features on this disc don't add much to the overall presentation, they're certainly impressive and fun to play with. Having said that, given the fact that the main feature on this disc is only twenty-five minutes long, the list price of $39.99 ($27.25 at Amazon) is likely to be a tough sell for all but the most dedicated anime fan. If you're not already a fan of the 'The Freedom Project,' your best bet may be to try to find this one as a rental before you buy.
Portions of this review also appear in our coverage of Dunkirk on Blu-ray. This post features unique Vital Disc Stats, Video, and Final Thoughts sections.
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