Strange Dawn

Original Title: ストレーンジドーン
Romanized: Strange Dawn
Literal:

Plot Synopsis

Yuko and Eri are two normal girls with a big problem: a princess in a mysterious world populated by tiny people has summoned them as "Great Protectors"--magical giants of legend who protect the land in a time of strife. The two girls, discovered by the people of an isolated village, set out on a mission with a group of warriors from the village to find out what power brought them here and what might return them home. But there is a war brewing, and these two Great Protectors, like it or not, are the political tool that every faction lusts for to rally the people to their side.

Review

Rating: 4 / 5
Reviewer: Marc
Review Date: 2004-06-13

Strange Dawn is indeed very strange. On the surface it sounds like any of a dozen generic series: High school girls get sucked into an alternate world filled with pint-sized people who think the girls are their saviors. What makes Strange Dawn so strange, however, is that it's presented in an utterly straight-faced manner, with as much realism as the odd premise permits. The girls, far from your average chipper heroines, are disinterested and have no special abilities whatsoever, and the cute little folk aren't actually cute at all.

Strange Dawn declares that it's not just another generic fantasy show right out of the gate--the two displaced schoolgirls, Eri and Yuko, stand out as a pair of pragmatic, modern, and uncomfortably realistic heroines. Neither wants anything to do with the people who have adopted them as saviors, and they're more interested in figuring out how to keep their clothes clean than in being heroes.

On one hand is meek Eri, who has a kind enough heart to want to help somehow, but is almost paralyzed by her lack of self-confidence. Yuko, in stark contrast, is more upset by the fact that her cellphone doesn't work than that she's stuck in another world--her denial and self-centered take on the situation is believable and both amusing and a bit sad. This makes for some interesting and rather unexpected situations; for the most part she honestly doesn't seem to much care what happens to these people, leaving her isolated and harsh toward everyone around her. It's also not entirely clear which, if any, of the various factions in the war she'll choose to ally with--good, bad, or the large grey area in between.

The various residents of the world these two girls are thrust into are plenty interesting on their own. There are Mani and Reca, two headstrong village girls romantically involved with Shall, a warrior who was the pride of the village, but after falling in love with a princess has fallen from grace with both the government and his hometown. Shall's icy brother Shura, the good-hearted but bumbling Beret and his nonchalant sidekick, two manipulative military leaders intent on fomenting a boarder war, and the blindly ambitious chief of the village guards are more of the many, many characters who make up the large cast. Each has their own set of motives, and the variety of individual plans and ambitions intertwine to make a complicated web of relationships and intrigue, on both a personal scale and in the tides of politics and war.

These characters are just part of what makes the munchkin-like inhabitants of the world so fascinating. The culture we are introduced to is old-fashioned, but they are never treated as anything but mature adults and serious characters, and the political intricacies of the war their land is embroiled in are plenty serious and extremely complex. The odd juxtaposition of an amusing demeanor and utterly straightforward everything else is hard to see past, but there's actually a believable culture in there--from details like ceremonial dances and sexual taboos regarding exposed feet to legends and complex politics. It's interesting enough on its own, and the culture clash with two very modern Japanese girls is even more fun.

After the initial shock of the diminutive residents of this Strange world wears off, the "realism" of it is quite striking, and it's sort of amazing how well it all works, almost in spite of itself. So long as you can take it seriously, the result is undeniably unique.

The obvious question, then, is what possessed the creators to force themselves to work so hard at making the story work, but it seems to make perfect sense if you look at what's actually going on: It effectively contrasts the straightforward motives of kids--both the sort of obvious wisdom they're blessed with and the less positive traits of youth--with the layers of complex meaning, deceit, and political manipulation that the adult world is built around.

By making the kids big, adult looking, and worshipped for perfectly legitimate reasons, and the adults with all their problems cute little things running around hitting each other, Strange Dawn almost effortlessly draws into sharp focus how pathetically self-centered modern life has made some kids, as well as the intrinsic beauty of asking simple questions about why people deceive and kill each other for equally pathetic reasons buried under layers of culture and history. That's the meat at the heart of Strange Dawn, and although it's certainly an unusual way of presenting it, I loved how it turned out.

In the process the story also illustrates some of the many ways religion--the two revered girls, in this case--is used by different people: some follow unswervingly, some question it, others manipulate it into a tool of control. (If you really want to read too much into it, you could even find a subtle commentary on the maturity of aboriginal people despite the normally dismissive way they're viewed by the "modern" world, though I doubt that was intended.)

Looked at on the whole, I was very impressed with how well it all comes together--the collection of characters with their various motives and flaws (no one is perfect, and each has at least some agenda of their own), the political drama, the detailed presentation of a different culture, and just a hint of some greater power at work (although for the most part the story is without supernatural influence past the initial premise).

Unfortunately, I can't honestly say the series is without flaws, even if you accept the premise. It's biggest problem is that it tries to do too much. Once it gets going, there are usually two or three parallel subplots going on simultaneously, and combined with the glut of characters and complex political drama (which is by necessity difficult to follow), it adds up to information overload. Some of the blame falls on the flow of the story, which drags a bit in places and rushes very good scenes elsewhere. The short length doesn't help any, either--a slightly more leisurely pace would've smoothed things out.

Past the (admittedly not huge) general flow issues, the characterization also isn't perfect; although Eri and Yuko are at the center of events, the very large number of other characters aren't always given enough time to develop. The personality and depth are there, but with so much going on it's easy to miss the subtleties unless you pay close attention or watch more than once.

One other potential issue is the fairly complicated political plot driving the story forward; it's packed with so much detail and subtext that it's easy to get lost. This is almost certainly intentional, though, and is a necessary facet of the plot--the two strangers in a strange land aren't following the details closely, either, and I expect we're supposed to join them in feeling a bit lost amid all these little folks and their overblown problems.

My only other complaint is another of the series' strong points: The main characters, particularly Yuko, aren't all that likable. Their frustrating and abrasive personalities aren't easy to empathize with, but that's also a lot of what makes the series fresh, realistic, and unpredictable, so it's hard to call it a fault in the end.

Remaining to cover are the visuals, which are flat-out beautiful. The character art is very attractive on the two human girls, and although the rest of the cast are cute and somewhat simply drawn, they also have a variety of interesting design features--unusual haircuts, outfits, and accessories. The background art, depicting a mostly Earth-like but slightly alien planet, is gorgeous all around--despite being painted loosely, it feels rich and subtly exotic. The animation, which isn't terribly expensive, is the closest thing to a weak point, but thanks in part to well-done character animation and the quality of the artwork, isn't a noticeable issue. The opening credit sequence deserves special note for being particularly beautiful.

The music, likewise, is almost uniformly spectacular, the only exception being a lame and badly sung end theme. Save for the closing theme, the music is by Kaoru Wada, the fellow responsible for the equally fantastic Record of Lodoss War TV series soundtrack; the rich themes are beautifully written, and their slightly exotic lilt matches the scenery and setting perfectly.

The acting in Japanese is mostly solid. I thought the voice behind Eri, though certainly meek enough, was a bit too stereotyped and soft-sounding (some of her emotional scenes are particularly flat), but her counterpart makes up for it by being surprisingly harsh and abrasive. The rest of the large cast is consistently well voiced, though there aren't any particular standouts.

The English dub is... well, strange, to say the least. The fact that most of the cast sound Australian was somewhat unusual, but being entirely inconsistent about the accents of the characters from the fantasy world is just weird. For example, of the two girls from the same small village in this wondrous fantasy land, one has what sounds like a French accent and the other sounds like she might be American, except she pronounced "hostages" in what I can only assume is the British way, "hoe-stages" (instead of "haw-stages"), which, mixed in with an otherwise US-English accent, seems bizarre. Yuko is the worst of it, though--she seriously sounds like a 50-year-old, and no amount of imagination on my part (or looking at the attractive image of the character onscreen) could keep me from laughing long and loud. The rest of the casting is uneven at best (Beret apparently voiced by a woman?), and the editing and dialogue are consistently awkward. The only notably good performance is the one behind Shall's even, appropriately stoic voice. Why somebody made these choices, I do not understand, but I really don't recommend the dub for anything other than a laugh.

All in all, Strange Dawn is a fascinating series, and not for the children's audience Urban Vision apparently decided to (mis-)target it at. It's too offbeat to be for everybody, but as a fan of creativity and colorful, detailed fantasy worlds and cultures, I couldn't have enjoyed it more. It takes some getting used to, but it's an impressive work in the end and deserves a lot more attention than it's garnered so far.

Related Recommendations

The Twelve Kingdoms, though darker and more mystical, is by far the most similar anime show I can think of; it has similarly realistic main characters, a highly unfriendly but equally realistic alternate world to transplant them into, and a lot of intrigue. There are dozens of other fantasy shows with the same premise, but none really have that much in common; closer matches would be fantasy shows like Record of Lodoss War: Chronicle of the Heroic Knight or the really bad Garzey's Wing.

US DVD Review

The DVDs are basic but functional--the bilingual audio is crisp and clean, the semi-accurate subtitles (not dubtitles, though the dub dialogue is awkwardly close to the subtitles) can be turned off, and the video looks bright and relatively crisp. Extra features are, however, essentially nonexistent, and the end theme changes on the second disc to a weird acoustic piece, which I'm guessing wasn't in the original.

Content Guide

Though Urban Vision rates it as "for most audiences," there is enough violence and mature themes that I'd call 13-up more appropriate.

Violence: 2 - People die, but the violence isn't very bloody.

Nudity: 1 - Nothing really noteworthy, though a big deal is made of exposed feet.

Sex/Mature Themes: 2 - Some sexual violence, discussion, and some strongly implied physical relationships.

Language: 0 - The dubbed version seemed clean, though the subtitles are a bit rougher.

Notes and Trivia

What was Urban Vision thinking?! Seriously, this has to be one of the most badly botched US anime releases since Warriors of the Wind. Ignoring the bizarre dub, the biggest and most baffling problem is that Urban Vision apparently decided that instead of marketing Strange Dawn as the allegory it is, they'd target it as a kids show.

Never mind the fact that the cheerfully colorful box art is about as unrepresentative of the plot and mood as any I've seen, or that kids will likely be utterly and completely lost by the depth of the political story, or that most of the themes (rape, realistic violence, sexual taboos, the corruption and breakdown of religion in the face of reality, and subtle romance) aren't exactly standard Saturday Morning fare, or that Urban Vision actually went so far out of their way as to create a whole new label--"Lil' Vision"--to cover this inappropriate marketing. No, let's just confuse the living daylights out of kids, or encourage them to laugh at characters and situations that really aren't funny.

And as if this gross mishandling weren't enough, they've only released the first two of four discs in the series, leaving the few people who did go out and buy the series high and dry waiting for an end. I can only guess that this insult-to-injury release schedule is the result of predictably poor sales on the first two discs, and have no choice but to desperately hope they'll eventually get so bored with other projects that they finish their release (they didn't, incidentally, respond to a request for any sort of a release schedule).

On a totally different note, the dub took some creative license with the dialogue, but although the subtitles were far more accurate, there were several strangely obvious translation mistakes. The most glaring was that they actually botched Eri's name for the entire first disc--translating it as "Emi", though I believe it was fixed in the 2nd disc. There were other situations in the dialogue where translations were loose at best, or figures of speech were incorrectly translated literally (for example, when Eri tries to make a friendly comment to Yuko outside the cave in the 3rd episode, Yuko's dismissive comment was translated as "It's cold.", when she actually meant "That was a bad joke."--a far more unfriendly remark).

Availability

Available in the US from Urban Vision on their "Lil' Vision" label on two bilingual DVDs spanning the first half of the series. The second half has not been released as of this writing.

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