Sol Bianca 2

Original Title: same
Romanized: Sol Bianca 2
Literal:

Plot Synopsis

The crew of the pirate ship Sol Bianca are back and are just as ready to wreak havoc as before. This time out, the five felonious females (I'm starting to sound like AD Vision's ad writers now) are out to steal some of the most valuable substance in the universe--Pasha. Small problem: they're not the only space pirates after the stuff. But, no big deal--they'll just burgle the burglars. That works out fine, (if you don't count the little incident where they get their clothes burned off) except that the captain of the other ship doesn't take his defeat lightly and manages to infect the Sol Bianca with some machine-eating worms before getting arrested. Now they're stuck in jumpspace, and worse yet for the five, June is as sick as the ship and they don't even know what's wrong with her.

By the time the crew figures out why nothing works, the police have shown up and the only plan they manage to come up with is to have Feb and April surrender and wait for the ship to recover. This would probably work, if it weren't for a mysterious fellow who is not only trying to corner the market on Pasha, but seems to know all about the Sol Bianca and her crew--and he wants the captured pair transferred into his custody immediately. Meanwhile, Janny and May are trying to take care of June, who still hasn't recovered, and they don't even have a working ship to rescue their comrades with (gee, that sounds familiar). Then there's that pirate fellow, who has escape plans of his own... and a serious grudge against the Sol Bianca and her crew.

Review

Rating: 3.5 / 5
Reviewer: Marc
Review Date: 2003-06-22

I'll start off by saying that Sol Bianca 2 was definitely a different movie than the first, with a somewhat different mood and a more of a focus on the characters. This will no doubt put off many fans of the first one (and probably explains why this one isn't as popular), but I wasn't disappointed. On the contrary, I think I actually enjoyed this one more; it had the same great style to it, a helping of wild technology (though less than the first), and a longer and more detailed look into the down time and interplay between the five women on the crew. It also had less extreme action and more weird plot, the former of which was a little disappointing, and the latter of which I thought worked quite well. There was a definite tradeoff, but since I liked the characters in the first one so much, and am a general fan of downtime and character interaction in stories, I was quite pleased. Let me make it completely clear that there was much less action than the first--less gunfights, explosions, ship-boarding, and no spectacular chases. I'll also tell you up front that this isn't some masterpiece of subtlety or a vast departure from the first movie's action-flick roots. But that said, and being that what I enjoyed about this movie was the character interaction, I'm going to focus on that aspect of it, so please bear in mind that the rest of this review is written from that perspective.

The biggest disappointment about this one was the end, in that there wasn't one--this movie is obviously part of an ongoing story, and alludes to a lot more to come. It practically leaves you begging for answers to all the questions asked (a great tactic that the Tenchi Muyo OAVs employed). In and of itself, this would be just fine--I have no problem with continuing stories and confusing hints. The problem is that there is no ongoing story--to my knowledge there is no sequel, nor are there plans for one, and that's downright frustrating. Ignoring that fact, the story is fine--it is paced well enough (if a bit slower than the original), and it does a very good job of hinting and giving you glimpses of the origins of the team and their mysterious ship without quite letting you put the pieces together, and the vagueness doesn't seem set up or forced. But the best part of the plot (and the whole movie) for me is undoubtedly the time we get to spend with the Sol Bianca's crew. The first movie set up the characters, which were distinct and fun, but I kept wanting to see more of their downtime and the chemistry set up between them, and this sequel delivers on that big time. We also get to see more of the Sol Bianca's interior (including where people sleep), and that will be a treat to fans of the ship (well, I enjoyed it, anyway).

In case you were worried, the characters haven't been changed at all (although we do get hints that there is a lot more to June's origin that we know), and they keep up the same great interactions. What probably made the first one so memorable (OK, other than the great action and cool technology) was the characters. But, although they seemed to fit into standard molds for the genre (the gun toting hothead, the brainy one, the cool captain, etc.), they seemed to have little quirks and hints of deeper personality than just the caricatures they're based on; this movie digs a lot deeper and confirms that the glimpses of personality we saw in the first movie weren't some kind of accident. I'm probably reading way too much into this, but I really do get the sense that, as cheesy as the concept of the story may be, these are real people. For example, Feb and April are more low key than you'd expect, and they have a quiet rapport that just feels right. And despite the plot and action, none of the characters are over the top--Janny may be a hothead, but she seems like a real hothead, and you could almost (not really, but let's be reasonable here) believe that May could somehow have ended up piloting a ten foot tall robot on a space pirate ship.

Of course, part of what gives the characters their sense of realism is the character designs, which are quite unusual. True to the first (this one is almost identical artistically), the characters are quite realistic; for one thing, with the exception of May, their eyes are almost normal (real human) size, and their physiques are even believable. Likewise, most of the minor characters have distinct looks, although the nameless goons apparently all got their faces off the same rack. And of course Sol Bianca 2 has that inventive and fun technology that I loved in the first one; this time out, we have suits can pass through walls, ship eating worms, and lots more of the ever-cool Sol Bianca, although overall there is less of it this time out, which was a bit disappointing. Sadly, there isn't as much action this time out, either, and the budget seemed a bit lower, too. Also unfortunately, some of the animation in the action seems a little... soft, for lack of a better word. Not to say that it's bad, or that the show isn't exciting, just don't come expecting quite the thrill ride of the first movie. On the bright side, some of what this one lacks in violent action, it makes up for in great character animation--there is some wonderful attention to detail in the facial expressions and little gestures that give the characters part of their appeal and believability.

Not to beat a dead horse here, but I'll bring up the final part of what makes the characters so memorable: The acting. The acting (in Japanese) may not be dramatic, but it's just plain great. The voices of the five stars are quite distinctive, they're well cast, and they even sound like real people (no barely within the range of human hearing voices in the group, and even May is believable). Better yet, the actors managed to give performances that sound more like a group of real people talking than a cheesy sci-fi babes in space flick or an overdramatic space opera. I'd single out a particular favorite, but I like them all. The other characters are more run of the mill; acted well enough, but not particularly memorable. The background music here wasn't terribly memorable either; that action theme from the first movie is nowhere to be found, and the movie as a whole was relatively quiet (musically speaking, that is--there were several tracks of eerie noises that were used effectively to set moods).

If all that sounded a little deep, and left you wondering where the over-the-top action of the first Sol Bianca went, then I have two thoughts: First, being a fan of the characters, that was what I noticed most. Second, if your favorite part of the first movie was the mass havoc that the Sol Bianca and her crew induced, then you may well be disappointed by this one. There is enough action to go around, to be sure, but the story in this one is definitely slower, more involved, and character driven.

Summing up, if you loved the action of the first, be wary, but if you loved the characters, you'll definitely love this one, and in either case the distinctive art and character designs that made the first one memorable are perfectly intact, even if the animation budget was a little lower. But be warned in any case that the total lack of either a conclusive story or a sequel will definitely leave you wondering what will happen next. Oh, and if you're wondering whether seeing the first movie is a prerequisite to this one, it probably isn't (though I'd of course recommend it)--the premise isn't reintroduced, but you won't spend too much time figuring it out.

Related Recommendations

If you liked the first one, you won't necessarily enjoy this one (see above for why), but if you liked this you're almost sure to enjoy the first one. Nothing exactly comes to mind that is similar to this one, but the latter parts of Maps bear a passing resemblance (in theme, not visuals).

US DVD Review

None available as of this writing.

Content Guide

There is a topless gun battle and a bit of graphic violence, but nothing all that detailed. I would probably call it 13-up, but the nudity makes it push a 16-up.

Violence: 3 - Not really bad, but violent enough, mostly at the beginning.

Nudity: 3 - Again, that scene early on, though it is done very casually.

Sex/Mature Themes: 0 - Nada.

Language: 3 - Not bad, but Janny stays in character in the subtitles.

Notes and Trivia

In case you haven't figured it out by now, this is the sequel to the award winning animated video one shot Sol Bianca. The story wasn't based on a comic book, but there was an American comic mini-series involving the same characters produced later.

Availability

Formerly available in the US from ADV on subtitled VHS, long out of print.

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