One of the interesting things about visual storytelling is that it can help convey so much with minimal dialogue, it gives the audience something to invest in such as the world we are looking at and what the characters are doing and where they are going. Once you have the mythology laid out and a motivation for the characters to slip into everything falls into place, the art would have a very clever way of telling it's story and really pushing ahead with how to tell that story in a well structured way. Sadly one of the errors with visual storytelling is letting the art do too much of showing us some great visuals and having the story that is written into the final product really fall into the category of just mind-numbingly boring, which sadly can be said for The Weathering Continent.
Based on a series of light fantasy novels written by Sei Takekawa and illustrated by Mutsumi Inomata, The Weathering Continent is set during the age when the kingdom of Atlantis has fallen into ruin and the world has been rendered into a barren wasteland. The story focuses on 3 travellers, Boice – A stoic and burly warrior, Tieh - A delicately handsome sorcerer & Lakshi – a young headstrong woman who are wondering across the wasteland in an attempt to find water. After encountering the remains of a ruined village and a survivor who dies of fatigue, the 3 travellers find themselves in the city of Azec Sistra – a city build for the dead. Once there, they encounter a troupe of bandits who are in the city for the pursuit of richs, unaware that the city of Azec Sistra is cursed…
This is a movie that sadly suffers from quite a lot, while it’s very beautifully designed and everything about the world really sounds like it should pull you in and not let you go till the end of the running time, The Weathering Continent is incredibly dull and doesn’t leave you with much of anything to get you fired up or invested in. The characters are a problem because of how dull and paper thin they are, the main cast being the trio of heroes don’t have much in the way of personalities or anything that would make them interesting or engaging. Boice – who is the warrior of the trio, armed with a big sword but has the personality of a piece of cardboard and just appears very stoic, Tieh – A sorcerer who really doesn’t have much to provide in this movie other than the plot exposition, Lakshi – who while she has abit more life and soul and does have an interesting backstory, really has nothing else to offer in this other than a few snarky comebacks.
The bandits led by their leader Rakumu Gaten, doesn’t have much motivation other than the pursuit of the treasure of the city of Azec Sistra and is sadly written like a villain with “I want money and that’s my only reason for being in this movie” which is a troupe which is an instant throw away for the motivation of the villain. What boils down for the most part is that these characters are very linear and severely lack any depth or development, as well as anything that makes them interesting. Compared to how the plot feels which has a lot of potential, it drags very badly and it does a good job of being very forgetful about what the goal is for this movie.
The biggest strength (and probably the only strength in this movie) is the production. Animated by studio Production I.G (Ghost in the Shell, Psycho-Pass, Eden of the East), this is a movie that has quite a lot to offer in regards to its scenery and it’s rather deep art design for the world this movie is based in. Seeing the remains of city of Azec Sistra and how because the people that occupied this now ruined metropolis enjoyed the wealth and prosperity that they thought it could last forever, the purpose of the city was even in the afterlife the endless wealth and spoils can be enjoyed so the citizens bound themselves in mummification in their fabulous attire, once deceased the body could survive after years of catastrophes and climate changes that the soul can endure for the longest time. Directed & Written by Kōichi Mashimo (Madlax, Noir, Dominion Tank Police) sadly this isn’t his best work as years later he would go on to create some rather grand shows, the writing for this is incredibly brittle and dry but the art direction for this really stands out for how rustic and at times worn everything appears. With the character designs by Nobuteru Yūki (Escaflowne, Crono Cross, Angel Cop) the look of the characters actually is rather rewarding because of how everyone appears, Yūki’s style has been known for it’s long and slender bodies and pointed noses. Here the designs while exaggerated in a typical anime style, everything for the look of the characters and the attire works pretty well.
Next to the production, the audio side of this is rather pleasing to hear. The score by Michiru Ōshima (Fullmetal Alchemist, Ico, Boys Over Flowers) while not being anything that is memorable or even ground-breaking has some bit of majestic vibe to it, the score becomes sweeping and grand for scenes where the characters would be engaging in very minimal fights to something sombre and gentle for the backstory of Azec Sistra, accompanied with the art direction both of these go well hand in hand.
For the English dub though, everything just falls very flat because of how dull this film is. The dub by NYAV post doesn’t have anything really special about it, the voice actors play their characters decently and that’s about it. Marc Diraison plays Bois like a typical warrior, brooding and stoic. Jamie McGonnigal as Tieh is a fitting choice but isn’t really given much to work with; he plays the character very straightforward and a tad feminine but other than that nothing really that special. Veronica Taylor as Lakshi is just okay, she plays the character really as how she is written. Upbeat but at the same time ready with some snarky comeback to any of the characters questions, Dan Green as Rakumu Gaten really just feels null and void. Additional voices such as Megan Hollingshead, Mike Pollock, Wayne Grayson, Michael Sinterniklaas & Sean Schemmel are just okay to be honest. Everything else just feels really listless, and that’s about it.
There clearly is a lot to like about the idea behind The Weathering Continent, especially looking at the story of the 28 novels this is based off of. The ruined kingdom of Atlantis and how years of war and ecological disasters have rendered most of the world into a barren husk, three survivors who have joined together to fight to survive against whatever is put up against them as well as finding anyone out there who might still be alive, whilst also trying to find water as well. Where this movie really falls apart is its wasted opportunities to tell a great story, to develop the mythology and have some interesting characters, but also take some time to really develop the characters and find out more about them and the world they live in. The tone of this movie is incredibly dry, the pacing really seems very listless for the most part and just about everything else really goes by without anything to linger or even anything to pay attention to. The production and the team that went into making this movie really what make this stand out, showing us how detailed this world is really gives you something to look and appreciate every background, character design and environment that occupies this movie.
Overall The Weathering Continent sadly is very dull. Running for a time length of 60 minutes, this feels like a good idea executed really poorly, the build-up is interesting but the payoff at the end really leaves you very unfulfilled. Not a bad movie, but only worth watching once just to kill some time.
Sami Sadek is a lifelong Transformers and Anime fan, and can often be found propping up bars or appearing in the background of Auto Assembly vids. He has also talks on Youtube, Tumbls on Tumblr, Tweets on Twitter, doodles on Deviantart and is a regular co-host on this very site's Cyberritz. He has never had a swordfight atop a church whilst a crow watches. Honest.
