Edition 05: Wonderful Days
(All info is currently from the Korean release)
The Delos Center of the self-sustaining city, Ecoban is infiltrated. Jay learns of her first love Shua’s survival. The same Shua that told her that the sky is blue and who promised to show her. But then he disappeared one day and was presumed dead. Jay, who waited for her first love to return, must now cope with him being an enemy even as Simon, who has also learned of his survival, works to eliminate him…
http://wonderfuldays.co.kr/english/ - U.S. Official Site
http://wonderfuldays.co.kr/index.php - Korean Official Site
Korean Staff/Cast:
Director:Moon Saeng KIM
Cast: Ji-Tae Yu, Joon-Ho Chung, and Hee-Jin Wu
Il Won (Music Director)
Mi Chung (Digital Coloring Director)
Kyung Hak Lee (Producer)
Kang Yong Ko (Miniatures)
Release Information:
Running Time: 87 min.
Theatrical animated feature film
Color
Filmed by: TIN HOUSE Production
Associated with Samsung Venture Investment
Korea Culture & Contents Agency
Released in Korea : July 17, 2003
Thoughts:
Dark Wind:
Wonderful Days is a new film out of South Korea done by the newly formed Tin House animation studio and directed by newcomer M.S. Kim. The film was the most expensive Soth Korean animated film ever to make, so the animation in it looks jaw-dropping, with a mix of 2D characters and designs on 3D backgrounds, for the most part. It looks amazing, and the music is nothing to scoff at either, having this ethereal feel to it, which fits the look and style of the film.
The story itself is about the constant struggle between two very gigantic cities, one that is powerful and has very advanced technology (which is in the air, no less), which policies the other city, which is on the ground, a very downtrodden area where people live meager lives. One man from that area wants to show his love the beauty of the sky (you can’t see the sky anymore, it’s all red) so he tries, but a noble enemy from the “upper city” has come to stop him. It’s all very interesting, and I’ve been anticipating it’s US release for months. Currently, I’ve been told Tin House is still shopping for a US distributor. Let’s hope it gets picked up, and sometime soon.
Stikz:
My first impressions of Wonderful Days are very similar to the way I felt about the trailer for Spriggan. I thought it was absolutely astounding. After watching the dazzling, CG laden, scenery and design of WD trailer, all I could say was…WOW! It was completely breath taking. Similar to how you feel when a plastic bag is held over your nose and mouth. (LOL, Well you get the picture).
Seeing as I haven’t heard a thing about it, I asked myself why not! Something as beautiful as this should be seen by everyone. Simple words cannot convey the sheer scope of this magnificent work of art. You must see it in motion. And this is from Korea you ask? Yes it is. I leave you with the homepage so you can see the trailer yourselves, http://wonderfuldays.co.kr/english/, bringing you ‘Wonderful Days’ indeed.
Piro^kun: The Korean sci-fi animation film “Wonderful Days” was made with a gigantic budget of nearly 13 billion Korean won, making it the most expensive Korean futuristic drama ever made. And it certainly looks worth the money. ^_~
Using a mix of 2-D animation, 3-D animation, miniatures and live action photography, “Wonderful Days” looks simply amazing. As for the story…it looks to be an interesting mix of drama, romance, and action. There are a few vague allusions to Christian and Buddhist religious beliefs, but it is not overly preachy. I think this is going to be somewhat of a sleeper hit…and I know I, for one, will be sure to check it out.
Alpha:
Wonderful Days is about a sinister group named ECOBAN. ECOBAN’s energy source (the DELOS System) comes from pollution, when there is not enough of pollution, they go and create more. The pollution done by ECOBAN is so bad that the blue sky is no longer visible. Everything is in darkness, crops do not grow, because of the lack of sun light, and people who were refugees are cast out of ECOBAN and are called Marrians. These rioting Marrians despise ECOBAN for everything they have done to their environment. They make them do gruesome work, which can be comparable to slavery.
Here comes Shua, an ex-ECOBAN member, he left ECOBAN, because of his pursuit of what he calls “Wonderful Day”; a blue sky and another reason too. With ECOBAN doing what they are, there is no chance for this Wonderful Day to happen. He begins his attack on ECOBAN and that is basically the introduction of Wonderful Days.
I am sure you have heard of the money that was put into this movie, and I am sure you have also heard of the astonishing visual effects. I will stop wasting everyone’s time by not stating those two again (Oops, I kinda just did 
). As we all know, an anime is not judged by how much money went into making it nor is it judged by the quality of the animation. This movie is truly very thoughtful, and I cannot wait to get my hands on a copy.
Alpha: What do you think of this edition of The Watcher? Comments? Suggestions? E-mail us!
Wonderful Days Screen Caps:
