Part I: The Top 10 Greatest Animes I've ever seen in my life! - #6 The Animatrix
#6: The Animatrix - Warner Brothers Entertainment
When the Matrix movies came out years ago, I wasn't all too impressed or even willing to see what they were all about. So what if they have this cool slow motion special effect, I could care less about it and I really didn't feel like jumping on the bandwagon for something I'd probably hate. To this day, I've never seen the Matrix series...all except one little piece and by god, was it one of the greatest pieces of animation I've ever seen in my life! PERIOD. <3
Enter "The Animatrix". A 2003 direct-to-video compilation of 9 animated shorts all focusing on certain aspects of the Matrix Universe. There's no real plot, you get thrown into different situations and scenarios. For instance, one story follows on missing plot point in the movies, then another focusing the background story of a robot uprising before the Matrix even began and another focuses on a detective trying to get one last decent gig while trying to solve one of the biggest mysteries of his career. There's no end to the randomness here but they all have 1 thing in common, they are all connected to the Matrix in some form or manner.
I can't explain how many times I watch this little movie. Despite not knowing squat about the Matrix, I found myself pretty intensively impressed by everything happening the movie. Not only do we get different stories and characters for each episode, we also get different styles of animation. Some stories were shot in CG, some were using the watercolor effects and some were using traditional anime style. The movie is literally like a box of chocolates, you have no idea what you gonna get!
The beauty of this is that you don't need any prior knowledge of the Matrix. NADA! I went into this knowing nothing. I was able to understand the character's dilemmas as well as understand the meaning behind each story. Its like they all separate from each other not fully connecting but as I said in the beginning. They are all still in the same universe as the Matrix.
Another juicy bit of details is the voice acting. The Animatrix managed to get Keanu Reeves (Neo), Carrie-Anne Moss (Trinity), and Clayton Watson (Kid) for cameos. Ontop of that, you also got Tara Strong (Powerpuff Girls), John DiMaggio (Futurama), James Arnold Taylor (Final Fantasy X), Pamela Adlon (King of the Hill) and so many more!!! <3
If you wondering what my favorite short is, its got to be "Beyond". The title is pretty self explanatory. This short couldn't be more further away from the Matrix. In fact, the only thing that really connects to it is slow motion effects and the ending. Everything is just a normal day. XD 2nd is because this has to be the most beautiful style of animation I ever layed my eyes on! <3 Just every movement is awe inspiring! <3 3rd and certainly not the least, the star of the short is played by Hedy Burress. The voice actress of Yuna from Final Fantasy X. (My favorite game of all time. James Arnold Taylor who played Tidus is also in this movie but not with Hedy). She may have only had a short amount of lines but this was truly a gift in of itself! How much more could I love "Beyond"? <3
There's a lot to explain about the other shorts that I loved but since they all are hardly a half hour long, I can't ruin them for you. So you have to see this movie, get it! You don't need to see the Matrix at all! Your common knowledge is the only thing you'll need trust me! XDD
If you want to see "Beyond". I left the link here for you! The video is apparently going faster then normal, I dunno why, but its still the whole episode. If you love this, you'll certainly get a kick out of the rest of the film.
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