About.com Rating

What They Say

Nominated for the 2014 Academy Awards©

Four of Japan's finest animators showcase Japan's culture in stunning style in this omnibus collection of animation. Lead by director Katsuhiro Otomo (Akira), Short Peace is a tour de force in animation and an essential part of the modern film fan's collection.

Possessions: A traveller seeks refuge in an abandoned shrine and instead is forced to confront the remnants of what's been left behind.

(Directed by Shuhei Morita)

Combustible: A tale of star-crossed lovers set to the backdrop of an ancient Japanese art scroll.(Directed by Katsuhiro Otomo)

Gambo: An isolated town seeks a saviour against a menacing red demon that continues to attack them.(Directed by Hiroaki Ando)

A Farewell to Weapons: In post-apocalyptic Japan a group of men are forced to battle robots as they explore abandoned cities.(Directed by Hajime Katoki)

The Movies

Short Peace, the second anthology project by lead director Katsuhiro Otomo (the mind behind 1988’s “Akira") is a compilation of four short films focused around the common theme of Japan. Each director brings to life a different story, three from the past and one from the future. Before the main feature starts, the viewer is treated to a short animation sequence in which a young girl playing hide & seek finds herself lost in a strange, imaginatively conceived world. This intense short is a great introduction, utilizing awesome visual and surround sound effects to grab the viewers’ attention and lead them into the first film, Possessions which follows a traveller seeking shelter in a small shrine from a storm.

After falling asleep, the traveller wakes to find himself trapped in a small room haunted by spirits of things left behind by other visitors. This is a story that takes aim at consumerism, touching on humanity’s tendency to discard physical objects when they break, instead of working to repair them.

The animation is detailed and fluid, particularly in the scenes featuring brightly colored paper umbrellas and damaged paintings of beautiful geisha. Fabrics are given an impressive amount of texture and this combined with the lush 2D/3D presentation makes Possessions a visual highlight of the collection.

Set in feudal Japan, Combustible tells the story of love between childhood friends. While one grows into a beautiful woman who is to be married off against her will, the other becomes a young man who yearns to become a firefighter. Using an unusual scroll-like presentation, this is a hauntingly tragic story of unfulfilled desires and is the most emotionally engaging of the films. Combustible is criminally short and could easily fill a full feature on its own, ending just as the viewer finally starts caring for the characters. The film would have benefited from showing more of the world they inhabit, as it is set in a time when fire fighters did not use water but instead would pre-emptively destroy buildings in the path of the fire.

The third film, Gambo revolves around an ancient Japanese town being terrorized by a demon, and the white bear that comes to the town’s aid. Immediately the viewer is shown scenes of violence and betrayal, and it is in these initial moments that an unlikely bond is formed between the last remaining girl in the village and the bear as it defends her. This is a violent film and yet it also brings with it a growing sense of hope regarding when humans and animals come together to defend against a supernatural evil. Comparisons of visual style and theme could easily be made between Gambo and the Miyazaki feature film Princess Mononoke.

The final fourth and final anime film looks to the future. A Farewell To Weapons, the longest of the four films and easily the standout of the collection, follows a team of four men travelling around a decimated future Tokyo hunting down and collecting old weapons. They also encounter a robotic tank that attempts to kill them.

The longer runtime allows for extra character development which gives more emotion to the events that occur when things inevitably go wrong. A Farewell To Weapons serves as a fitting end to the Short Peace collection with a good mix of humor and action and a strong moral warning of the dangers artificial intelligence can pose.

Blu-ray and Special Features

Short Peace on Blu-ray fully utilizes the format with its crystal clear, Full HD 1080p visuals and 5.1 DTS-HD surround sound in both English and Japanese audio. The English dubbing on all films is superb, particularly in A Farewell To Weapons.

This release of the Blu-ray collection includes several physical bonuses such as a decorative slip cover, reversible cover art showcasing characters from the films and four gorgeous postcards. It’s unclear if all releases of Short Peace will come with these bonuses or just the first printings. The disc itself includes a set of four trailers and a credits list.

Who Should Watch?

Considering this is a collection of four very different stories, one of which features high levels of blood, gore and nudity, Short Peace is best suited to an adult audience that would appreciate the finer story elements and unique animation styles. This would be an ideal collection for someone who is interested in Japanese stories and directors and those who follow the work of director Katsuhiro Otomo specifically.

Overall

Short Peace is an impressive collection of stories. Even through two of the films are obvious standouts, they all work well as a whole and leave a lasting impression on the viewer. Ultimately this is a collection of films for fans of cinema and creative storytelling. Mainstream anime moviegoers will enjoy the visual delights on offer, but the short nature of each film will leave most wanting something more substantial and feature length.

CONNECT WITH PETER: Twitter | Google+ |  Facebook

Disclosure: A review copy was provided by Hanabee. For more information, please see our Ethics Policy. The Blu-ray featured in this review is the Zone B Blu-ray release by Hanabee. Alternate releases are available in other regions.