Appleseed (2004)

The story of 'Appleseed' has been turned into animation before, but since the last iteration was in 1988, maybe it was indeed time to give it a new polish and spin. And so we have this new version, still based on a story by Masamune Shirow whom you might also know from the 'Ghost in the Shell'-series. This does heavily imply that this isn't your straightforward postapocalyptic adventure romp but also deals with more heady themes. 

You would be right. 

Our story begins when Deunan Knute is taken from the battlefield and she awakens in Olympus, a utopian city that serves as the rolemodel for the rest of the world. You see, the world is pretty much ravaged by war and in Olympus, a council of elders and a supercomputer named Gaia are trying to create a better place and hope that the rest of humanity and the world will aspire to that ideal. Deunan meets up with her old partner Briareos, who has been turned into a cyborg as he was gravely injured in a battle. This does create a little tension between the two, because even though their feelings for each other are still strong, Briareos clearly suffers from the fact that he isn't all human anymore. Deunan is also partnered with Hitomi, who has to show her around the ciry. It turns out that Hitomi is a bioroid, a constructed human lacking in emotions but making up for that in reason and diplomatic skills. Bioroids make up 50% of the population and are one of the reasons Eden has so little problems. 

At least, that's what people think. But the very human general Uranos and his disciple Hades hate bioroids and want nothing more than to exterminate them all. But because humanity is so prone to violent behaviour, one solution is to unlock the bioroid's reproductive skills, so they can continue as a new human species. But now the question is: will this make the classic humans obsolete and eventually extinct, or will there be a way for both races to co-exist? 

You see, it's not all that simple and a lot of pretty hefty questions are raised, something that Masamune Shirow is pretty well known for. Especially the question of what it means to be human and whether or not artificial constructs have a soul. There's the link to 'Ghost in the Shell', by the way. Briareos might be the central character, as he is directly in between being human and artificial, and Hitomi looks human, but is more artificial in her DNA-design. 

The story takes a little while to gather steam, as there is a lot of exposition at first as we, together with Deunan, are thrown into the deep end in Olympus. Especially the first part can be a tad overwhelming and hard to follow, but as soon as Deunan has settled in, it all becomes a lot more clear and the storyline less muddled. It does sometimes feel as though there were two ideas thrown in for this film and after about 20 minutes they decided to go with the bioroid-racism angle. It seems as though it is a fairly straightforward idea, but there are deceits within deceits and several revelations turn the plot into new directions. Fair enough, the connection Deunan has to the whole reason why there is conflict does feel a little forced, but on the other hand it only feels fitting that she is the one who links it all. 

The animation is gorgeous. It feels like a hybrid between full CG and hand drawn animation (even though it is all CG), but it looks great. The movement can sometimes be a little stiff, but you can soon forget that. The character models as well are wonderful to look at and the eye for detail is amazing. Sure, Deunan might look a little too pretty for a battle hardened soldier, but it's not as if female troopers can't look good while kicking backside. Briareos' design is very striking and something that has remained imprinted in my brain ever since I read the manga as a kid. Even though he doesn't have facial features as such, his body language conveys it all, which is nice work by the animators. 

'Appleseed' has a lot more action than 'Ghost in the Shell', which is more on a philosophical level. That's why this one is probably easier to get into at first. The action is great, the story works and the ideas that are thrown around make you think as it is easy to draw parallels to the actual world. It is anything but mindless fun, but it sure as hell is a lot of fun to watch. If you like your action and stories without a lot of twists or big ideas, this might not be up your alley, but if you desire something different, then go watch it!