Spirit of Wonder

Publisher
Bandai
Director
Masaya FujimoriMasaya Fujimori, Takashi Anno
Production
Toshiba EMI
Country of origin
Japan
Format
OVA
Running time
97 minutes
Year
2001

Spirit of wonder

By David Rasmussen
17th Nov 04

Company - BANDAI
Rated - Older Teen (16+) (brief nudity)
English/Japanese Dialogue
Optional Extras? - See below
Time 97 minutes
Original Story and Characters by Kenji Tsuruta
Executive Producer - Ryohei Tsunoda
Planned by Kazumi Kawashiro
Producer - Kiyoshi Sugiyama
Animation Producer - Masahiro Okamura
Produced by BANDAI Visual
Site - www.spiritofwonder.net

Before we begin...
Sometime back Dark Horse ran a mini series for Spirit of Wonder, but I didn't get it.
Wish I did now, after reviewing this, but too late for regrets now.
This might have been your first exposure to this title.

There is also an Anime out there... prior to this of course... which might also be your first exposure to this series. Either way if you missed both then here's your chance to get it now.
I don't know if this is significant or not, however it might be important to dig around if you can and get a copy of that Dark Horse series (Trade Paperback) because it seems to me that somehow it ties into things that happen here (somehow). I haven't seen it yet but that's my impression of things! I could be wrong.

Spirit of wonder
This DVD is broken up into three parts
"Scientific Boy's Club" (2-parter)
This is the "meat" of the DVD, if you will, with the two Miss China shorts surrounding it.

The story starts in 1976, as a group of Mars specialists and enthusiasts are about to receive the first views from a Viking probe sent to Mars. This scene sets the stage for what's to come, and as the first images come in we flash back to 1958 and the story itself.

Once upon a time there was a group of young boys (Cooper, Gordon and Shepherd), and they were fascinated with the solar system, or to be more precise they were fascinated with ONE planet in the system - Mars. Ever since theories of the possibility of life on Mars were published by one Percival Lowell (who was at the time one of the most influential people on the subject) these boys were hooked with the idea and the dream of life on the red planet. Because of this fascination, the three formed the club known as the "Scientific Boys Club."

Years pass, and boys grow into men, but the club endured and survived. For 50 years these three kept the club, and their dream, alive. But now, with the help of Gordon's daughter (Windy) and her husband Jack, the members in good standing of the Scientific Boys Club are about to pursue their lifelong dream of traveling to Mars - that is, if the way they get Jack/Windy's help doesn't ruin their marriage first!

You see, Jack returns home after six months at sea on a ship and he is awfully skittish about his luggage - why? Well, the newspaper reports that the original "globe" of Mars made by Percival Lowell was stolen from its resting spot in Flagstaff, Arizona (USA) and who should end up having it - Jack.

He brought it back for the "boys" because on this, the 50th Anniversary of the founding of the Scientific Boys Club, they're taking a trip to Mars - bad move. First they try to keep it secret from Jack's wife Windy, but it seems she's quite an expert on a key element of the trip and without her help the trip is a no go! Good thing she loves her husband Jack so much that she'll eventually get talked into helping, which leads to the construction of the "Spirit of Science" and the trip to Mars.

But what will they find on the Red Planet? And how does this tie into the events in 1976? You'll have to find that out for yourself when you watch this!
Oh, right, one more thing... how do they get there? Sorry, that's yet another surprise I'm going to leave hidden for you to find out. Let's just say this - Miss China fans will see her cameo in this, but unfortunately her cameos consist of her having her skirt flipped up by one of the "bad" boys of the club (twice), and, when the Spirit of Science passes over her restaurant, a view of her looking out the window of her bathroom naked (topless) (Hence why this gets a 16 and over rating).

(She makes sure the guy doing the skirt flipping gets his though, so he always ends up with food on his face and common sense kicked out of him at the end of each skirt flipping scene - though he also flips Windy's skirt twice so he's a bit of a bad, bad boy.)

"Shrinking of Miss China" (Short Story 1 of 2)
Shows between Parts 1 and 2 of "Scientific Boy's Club"
Miss China, who is she, you might ask? (You missed the original Graphic Novel too, huh?)
Miss China operates a Chinese restaurant in Bristol (a small port town in England) - no, that's not a pun, a girl named Miss China running a Chinese restaurant - then again - anyway, back to Miss China. She's beautiful and sexy (but you can see that for yourself when you watch) and she knows her fighting styles because she's a "Kung Fu master who knows how to fight." (Though I'm certain that at no time during her training was she ever called "Grasshopper,")

She's quite cool, character-wise, and interesting. Hmm - makes me want to get the other Spirit of Wonder anime if I can find it. Probably not considering how long it‘s been.

Anyway, her only joy/headache in life (headaches that is past the thing about taxes, and the shop's mortgage payments, the bills, the occasional unwanted visit from Wolfgang Puck's relatives looking for new recipes and all that accounting stuff) is one Jim and Doctor Breckenridge.

Jim, the assistant to the bad doctor, is in love with Miss China, and I think she has feelings for him too - aww! Breckenridge, on the other hand, is a "self-proclaimed genius inventor" (he said so himself) who rents a room from her - is actually a self-made parasite who NOBODY has feelings for... geh.

He blows all his cash on strange inventions (like that flux capacitor schematic he bought from that Brown guy back in 1955, only to read the fine print later to find it said "Delorean not invented yet") and NOT on the rent! So, consequently, he is months behind on his rent (of course).

If it wasn't for the fact that Jim works with him, and Miss China is really keen on Jim, then she wouldn't tolerate Breckenridge. And this time out, when she shows up to collect the once again late rent, she gets showered by a mysterious beam - well, that might be her fault because she kicks in the door like her own one woman SWAT team which knocks over the table holding the shrinking beam which zaps her which causes the chaos.

Ahhh - I'd take it the alternate title of this story could be "Honey I Shrunk Miss China"! Dammit! Didn't he learn anything from the mis-purchase of that flux capacitor?!? It's a fun story, and while the ending will be happy (no sad "We've lost her forever" thing), it's also quite unexpected and funny - (smiles) - oh, go find out for yourself! Quite good!

NOTE - Just as she cameoed in their part, look for a cameo from the boys of the Scientific Boys Club to cameo in this Miss China short!

"Planet of Miss China" (Short Story 2 of 2)
Shows after Part 2 of "Scientific Boys Club"
Well, it looks like Miss China will never be rid of Dr. Breckenridge - good thing he has Jim, otherwise Breckenridge would have been put out on the street a long time ago! Well, when Jim and Miss China eventually marry they can "adopt" him as a surrogate father-in-law and thus justify him being under her roof without paying any rent... maybe adopt him as their son, he seems childish at times...

This time out he's made yet another "genius" invention - apparently in a scheme to "compensate" Miss China for those 4-6 mon- THREE YEARS of backrent?!? Man, it MUST be love if Miss China is going to tolerate this freeloader for that long - though I mean towards Jim and not the doc. Anyway he's inviting Miss China (and his black market parts dealer, a young woman who runs a produce shop in town but secretly aspires to sell black market technology once there‘s an actual business for black market technology past Dr. Breckenridge) on a "Martian Tour" with his newly invented "Space Reflective Telescope."

This "telescope" acts more like a huge sensory collector device which relays the information it gathers from a distant target into a "holodeck" style holographic projection around the viewer. What they see, however? Well - Mars is too far away. But they do get a good view of the planet. Miss China, however, isn't going to be put off on this trip because she wants to see the canals of Mars - why? Well, you'll have to see this yourself to understand why.

They all get drunk, she talks them into boosting the machine to full power and - somehow they end up on Mars, but it's an illusion right? Well, things get wonky from that point and we're reminded at the end once again of the Miss China "Ring" incident which I'm sure is in the Dark Horse Trade Paperback - but I won't say more because this is one wild trip! You'll have to see this one for yourself!
As Keanu Reeves would say if he was along for the ride - "Whoa."
Not that you'd WANT Keanu Reeves along for the ride. Go away. Shoo, Neo, shoo.

Okay. Let's view the optional extras and then break it down.

Optional Extras
Art Gallery - It's broken down into two parts. Color images (12) and line art (19), and it's all good viewing.

Interviews - It's broken down into four parts.
One is a Creator interview, two interviews with the directors (one the director of the Scientific Boys Club "movie," the other the director of the Miss China shorts), and one interview with the publisher.
I'll leave these for you to discover on your own, viewing-wise.

Miss China Mini Poster - The optional extra password today seems to be Mini Posters. It's part of the booklet in this DVD case (but unlike Love Hina it incorporates both a poster AND info on the contents of the DVD as well as opposed to just a poster) - which of course leaves you with a quandary. While the booklet in Please Teacher and Love Hina was just a mini-poster and served no practical use, this one has information on the DVD contents and staff credits - well, it's up to you how you use your mini poster.
Previews - Basically it's stuff we're either reviewing now (Banner of the Stars), or reviewed in the past (Arjuna). Nothing new here to point out.

Spirit of Wonder Breakdown
What's Hot? - This is quite hot! I watched it from end to end and enjoyed every minute of it! It's most definitely going to be one of the DVDs I'm going to list at the end of the year as my Top Ten favorite movies/one shot DVDs of 2003! It's beautifully rendered with lively animation, nice musical scoring and superb acting (Japanese dialogue version). I just sat there and watched and watched and watched. Sigh. Now it makes me want to see more! Argh - is there more? I have to look!

What's Not? - Nothing. It's quite good, and for 97 minutes you get quite a bit to enjoy. Nice DVD!

Moments to Remember? - All of the DVD is quite memorable! Miss China's shorts are definitely memorable because they're quite fun. The main "movie" is also quite memorable too - oh, it's all good.

What to Ignore? - Uh - maybe you should ignore the fact that Miss China's cameos in the Scientific Boys Club 2-parter seems to be mainly fan service. Two skirt flippings and a view of her breasts - she does kick around the offending party in the skirt-flipping incidents though so that's cool.

Overall? - It's a nice fun little romp and a DVD well worth owning. Spirit of Wonder is most definitely one of my favorite views of the year and one I insist you take the time to enjoy as well! Good viewing, and a must have for your collection! (Don't forget to dig around for a copy of that Dark Horse TPB as well!)

-- David Rasmussen 17th Nov 04

Spirit of Wonder Images