This review might contain spoilers. You may proceed if you can handle the truth...

/anime/5819/birds-song-birds-poem

At the beginning of his career in the animation industry, the Japanese artist Yoshitaka Amano, one of the most talented of his generation, designed many characters for mostly tv-series. After he had collected enough experience, he went independent and became a freelance artist in 1982. Against all odds, he found almost immediate success with his illustrations for the novel Demon City Shinjuku and the novel series Vampire Hunter D. The latter received a self-titled film adaptation, one of the first anime movies released outside Japan, in 1985. Because of the film's overseas success and its cult status among English-speaking audiences, Amano quickly became famous for his gloomy, detailed, imaginative character designs. In the same year, he also provided Mamoru Oshii with the art style and character design for the movie director's near-career-ending masterpiece Angel's Egg.

Over the years, Amano created fewer contributions to animated works and focused his efforts on different branches such as video games, art books, album covers etc. Notable are his designs and illustrations for the enormous, successful and famous video game franchise Final Fantasy. Till Final Fantasy VI, he was the main character, image and graphic designer. To this day, he continues to craft promotional artwork and designs logos for the entries in the series. During his prolific career, he also decided to direct two animated, artistic films based on his original drawings: Fantascope Tylostoma (2006) and Bird's Song (2007). Despite their different story, music and appearance, both share the same filming technique: the camera shows the same picture for a couple of seconds by either moving slowly over it or standing still. Although some anime viewers may dislike this style, it is one of the few options to animate full-length movies without the support of a studio in a reasonable time.

Unlike many contemporary animes where a minimal use of computer animation would be unthinkable, Amano used it only sparingly in his minimalistic, gorgeous pictures. Instead, he relied upon his skills as an artist and either drew or painted each scene by himself. Following his detailed, colourful and sinister art style for the Final Fantasy franchise, especially FF6, he managed to pull the viewer into the imaginative delirium of an aged, sorrowful and broken man. While experiencing engaging, paranormal moments, one after another, like in an incohesive dream, the protagonist relives his first and only love as a teenager. For some unknown reason, the relationship comes to an unexpected end. As the years go by, he gets a second chance with his youth love, but he loses her again dramatically. Before he dies, she appears to accompany him to the other world. Like the music of the predecessor movie Fantascope Tylostoma, the exotic score fits perfectly with the emotional but not distinctive story.

To summarize, Bird's Song is a visually outstanding film with a heartwarming but uninventive plot. Albeit not everybody will understand this movie at first glance, repeated watches will not be in vain due to the beautiful pictures and its short runtime. Therefore, casual and more experienced anime watchers should not hesitate to see it. Unfortunately, no streaming service offers the OVA at the point of writing. If you get the chance to see it in the future, do not miss the opportunity.