Weathering Continent

Original Title: 風の大陸
Romanized: Kaze no Tairiku
Literal: Continent of Wind

Plot Synopsis

In the distant past the once-proud continent of Atlantis lays dying, ravaged by war and natural disasters that have left only a handful of desperate souls struggling to survive on the desolate land. Across this bleak world wander Lakushi, whose compassion has somehow survived the crushing hopelessness, Tieh, a sage man trained in the arts of magic, and Bois, a quiet swordsman. In this story, their wanderings bring them to the ruins of an ancient city fabled for its wealth, but now perhaps cursed by more than just the bandits who prowl the wastes around it.

Review

Rating: 1 / 5
Reviewer: Marc
Review Date: 2005-10-01

Based on its style and story, Weathering Continent could have been a lot of things--overblown shoujo tragedy, harsh and powerful dark fantasy, or allegorical social commentary. Sadly, it is better categorized as an unsatisfying fragment of a story blessed with quality visuals and cursed by a choppy, pointless storyline, underdeveloped characters, and a truly awful soundtrack.

Its strongest point as a story is the setting, which also happens to be by far the most developed character: an ancient, abandoned city that is a place with history, substance, and culture. The grander setting is also well established as a harsh, dying world with a palpable sense of bleak hopelessness on par with the best post-apocalyptic science fiction. The wandering heroes seem to know that there is little hope for them or their world, giving their perseverance and relatively upbeat personalities a tragic but vaguely inspiring undertone.

Unfortunately, that's more or less all the compliments I'm prepared to give. The main characters, unlike the ruins they're exploring, are thin on character and nearly devoid of backstory. Only Lakushi's is touched on at all, and even her background and how it drives her is hazy and underexplained. The other two characters can be almost completely summed up as "Tieh, a very pretty magical monk-type fellow who spent time on a mountain", and "a scarred swordsman named Bois." Seriously, that's it. We aren't even given the courtesy of a voiceover explaining why these people are traveling together or where they're going.

Even were the movie only intended for fans who already know the characters (which, since it's based on a Japanese novel, will be few), there is still nearly zero character development. Outside the tragically touching scene that opens the story, the entire plot consists of little more than explaining the history of the ruins and watching a bunch of generic bald baddies get their supernatural comeuppance.

This is illustrated with lots of detailed art, impressive scenery, and creepy settings, along with Tieh posing with wise, knowing looks as only pretty men with long blond hair can, but there's only so far you can stretch 15 minutes of retread plot before the lack of substance starts to overwhelm the attractive visuals.

Surprisingly enough, the story isn't even the worst part of Weathering Continent; that dubious honor is reserved for what must be the worst good soundtrack I have ever heard. The compositions themselves are generally attractive and creative, ranging from airy vocalizing to grand and playful classical themes, and the performance feels expensive and suitable for a grand fantasy story. That's the good part.

The bad part is that as a soundtrack it's more like an assault on the story than background music. Not only is the music obnoxiously loud and almost constant--my ears were begging for some respite by the end--but half of the pieces are wildly out of synch with the scene, utterly destroying any atmosphere that might have been there without it. Long sequences that should have been tense or creepy are paired with a loud and lively orchestra, resulting in an almost comedic dissonance. Even silence would have been a huge improvement--that would have actually enhanced the dark settings and bleak story.

The Japanese acting, or what little there is, is solid, although I thought the main trio weren't well cast; Tieh sounds too effeminate even for a character that is mistaken for a woman during the story, and Bois a little too baritone for a relatively smooth-looking muscleman. The contrast between the three is good, though.

In all, Weathering Continent is the sort of anime that should appeal to fans of nice-looking art, bleak stories, and dark fantasy, but the only people who are likely to actually enjoy it much are fangirls who can't get enough of Tieh and his sad smile and a handful of folks who love the setting and don't hear well. Calling the story hollow, predictable, and unsatisfying fails to capture just how little substance it has, and the moody tension--all that it has going for it--is ruined by the annoying soundtrack. I can't call it anything but an impressive failure.

Related Recommendations

Ironically the most similar series is probably the shoujo-tinged fantasy epic Heroic Legend of Arislan, with which this was originally shown; the entire Arislan series, though less bleak, is still dramatic and has a much more satisfying story. For a more modern take on the same style, X and Earthian serve up equally dark shoujo stories (the former being more of a stylistic match). There are plenty of other well-known fantasy series, but none quite as dark as this.

US DVD Review

The DVD's most notable feature is the attractive but oddly oriented cover art (it's "letterbox" style, so to speak, with the spine on the horizontal). As far as actual material goes, the video and audio transfers are acceptable but nothing more, and the only special features are two original trailers. The box also inexplicably claims the movie is twice as long as it is--a completely random "125 minutes" when it doesn't approach half that even including every trailer on the disc.

Content Guide

Rated 13-up for realistic violence and some mature themes.

Violence: 3 - Not overly gory, but several people meet with unpleasant ends.

Nudity: 1 - Nothing of note.

Sex/Mature Themes: 1 - Some implied mature themes.

Language: 0 - Nothing of note.

Notes and Trivia

Based on a novel by Takegawa Sei, which isn't available in English, so there aren't likely to be any carryover fans. It was, apparently, originally shown in theaters as part of a triple feature that included Silent Mobius 2 and the second Heroic Legend of Arislan feature (ironically both sequels, whereas Weathering Continent just feels like one).

Availability

Available in the US from Anime Works on hybrid DVD.

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