Once Upon A Time
ウインダリア, 童話めいた戦史ウインダリアTwo pairs of young lovers become embroiled in a war between two rival kingdoms, the primitive but resplendent Isa and the militaristic but undisciplined Paro. Izu and his young wife, Marin , are simple farmers who live in the unassuming village of Saki, which lies directly between Isa and Paro. While Saki does not have the beauty of Isa nor the war machines of Paro, they do possess a magnificent tree known as "Windaria," to which the villagers give their prayers in return for "good memories." When the war erupts, Izu decides to join Paro's army, enthralled by the fantastic motorbike "given" to him as a bribe. Before he departs, they each take a vow: He will definitely return to her, and until he does, she will wait for him. The other two lovers are Jill, the prince of Paro, and Ahanas, Princess of Isa. They initially want nothing to do with the rapidly escalating conflict, but after Jill's father, Paro's king, dies by his son's hand in an altercation over the war, Jill has little choice but to realize his father's final wish: the taking of Isa. The only problem is that he had promised his beloved, Ahanas, that he would not become involved. Windaria is a war parable set in a fantasy land of unicorns and ghost ships. (Source: AnimeNfo)
Reviews
rupert91 - 2015-10-01 02:20:35
Believe it or not, this was one of the movies that turned my attention to anime; and I was like 5 or 6 years old. XDD
Although I've seen some low scores while skimming through reviews on google, personally I think this was a pretty good movie full of complexities that are interesting; at least as far as I can remember.
To me it was like a romeo and juliet story with two pairs of lovers that give two interesting perspectives of this fantasy/sci-fi world torn by war.
While you have one couple who is involved in the broad schematic of the plot with the two countries fighting against each other, you have the other couple who represents the provincial life caught in the middle of it.
And while the tragedy with the first pair of lovers is in the fact that they are forced to clash with each other due to their positions and responsibilities, the tragedy for the second pair is in the selfish desires of one of them to escape the simple life of farming for the excitement that one country offers him.
I'll probably have to rewatch it to give an even thorough review of it, but I can honestly say that this is a movie worth watching if you've got the time.