... than it could've matched the animation. But as it is, unfortunately it only looks good! But then again, that's more than other movies achieve I guess.

That's not to say, that the idea of the story was bad! Quite the contrary, I thought it was quite nice and maybe if they had worked a little bit more on it, it could've been great. But as it goes, this will leave you with the feeling that you watched something beautiful, but will net get you into thinking about it. Or make you want to watch the movie again! Animes tend to be too complex (packing to much story in as little time as possible),this one is also too light on the story side ...

It is the 2142 AD and a hundred years have passed since an environmental disaster. In that time it has rained constantly and most of humanity is gone. The only survivors appear to be the inhabitants of the new city of Ecoban and the diggers, people forced to mine the fuel needed to keep Ecoban running. Now time may be running out for Ecoban; the man who helped create the system that keeps Ecoban running is now determined to stop it with the help of Shua, a man who was forced out of the city some time before. Shua infiltrates the city to steal vital data and while there he runs into his old friend Jay who is now a member of the security forces. He escapes with the data and a plan is hatched; it will mean returning to Ecoban along with members of the diggers.

I must admit I was a little surprised when I started watching this... the DVD box stated that it was in Japanese with English subtitles when it is in fact a Korean film that had been dubbed into English! That wasn't too much of a problem; the dub is decent enough and the visuals are great so it was nice to be able to fully appreciate them. The story might not be the most original but it was well handled and there are a few good surprises. The characters are impressive with likeable heroes, suitably unpleasant villains and some slightly ambiguous characters... most notably Jay. It was hard to know for certain which side she would ultimately side with although most people will probably guess correctly. The animation is really great, nicely combining 3D backgrounds with standard 2D characters. Overall I'd certainly recommend this to fans of animated dystopias.

Looking in many ways like the film the Final Fantasy hoped to be Wonderful Days tells the story of several people in a world underwater and where pollution is the only form of fuel. Its an odd mix of 3D CGI, Models and 2D animation that sets up a world that could be ours several decades from now. The title is ironic, there is little joy and happiness for anyone and the Wonderful Days of the title refers to a shared childhood memory of two friends actually seeing a cloudless blue sky. The plot, concerning an attempt to bring back that blue sky and return freedom to the world has been done before. Whats interesting here is the animation which mixes the various elements into a cohesive whole. The long motorbike ride that opens the film would be stunning on a large screen, had I been lucky enough to see it projected that way. There are numerous references to other films and animated series, (the battle of Spike and Vicious in the church in episode 5 of Cowboy Bebop springs to mind)are nicely placed and not to distracting. The film suffers in the final third as things become less clear until the final tragic battle has a few too many "how did he get here" moments. The ending, as unhappy as the title would make you hope is nicely in keeping with the whole feel of the film. Unfortunately the ending is probably whats going to keep this film difficult to see outside of imports and festival screenings. If you like animation, science fiction or off beat films, see this film, you will not be disappointed.