Nagamine is a young high school student who lives a fairly typical teenage life: hanging out with friends, attending class, and falling in love with a wonderful boy. But when she enlists in the galactic army, who is desperate for candidates to fight an alien war, she finds herself drifting farther away from her first love, Noboru. In the depths of space, where a simple email takes eight years to be delivered, will their love truly flourish, or simply fade away?
Novelty
Voices is likely more well regarded for being the product of such a small staff. Otherwise, the story beats have-been and continue-to-be reflected in many other mecha series. Massive points for this effectively being a completely homegrown operation. I had initially rated Voices lower, but brought it up a full two points on the creator’s sheer audacity to make this happen.
Plot
I’ll avoid trashing this series as there’s some serious thought being put into the concept, rather than it being a calculated attempt to sell toys. The central concept is a cell phone and two people whose ability to communicate over time becomes increasingly distant. As they start missing each other, the realization of distant becomes overwhelming. This reminds me of a short story that would fit within a larger compendium of an author’s collected stories.
Design
It’s ok. Some of the atmosphere is stunning, but the early 2000s CGI has not aged very well. I suppose I realized this was going to be the case all the way back when I was watching Blue Submarine No. 6. The jarring CGI does carry its own charm, though, as janky as it is.
Characters
Frankly, the runtime was too short to develop any real connection to the characters, especially Noboru. Points, though, for the creator (Makoto Shinkai and his wife) for tag-teaming the VA duties and making this feel all the more real.
