Phoenix 2772 – Space Firebird
Alternate Titles: Hi no Tori 2772: Ai no Cosmozone (火の鳥2772 愛のコスモゾーン)
Original Japanese Release Date: 1980
Episode Length/Run-time: 122 minutes
Summary:
Godo is born from a test-tube and raised by robots in a world far in the future. Olga, his automated caretaker, oversees his well-being and raises him to be a great space pilot. When he is of age he leaves his pod and goes out into the real world to furfil his duties of how he was raised. But he finds the world to be a cruel place, biased against robots, and heartless to those who stand in the way of what is deemed the well-being of the majority. Godo works to find his place in this unexpected world while living up to his ideals.
Review:
A bit of background is needed to really appreciate this space-epic anime.
Phoenix the series was created by Tezuka Osamu, creator of Astro Boy and really the “God” of anime as we know it today. He began it early in his career and had the series progress from the stone age to far in the future with a reoccurring theme of rebirth and progression in time. This move is another cycle of his grand story and can be appreciated on it’s own or in conjuncture with the series.
This movie by itself is, in a word, epic. It follows Godo from his birth to his death (which shouldn’t be a surprise given the nature of the Phoenix series). Godo ages throughout the series in realistic way, going from a sheltered innocent man-child to a strong and driven warrior. Other characters come and go throughout the series and in the normal Tezuka fashion you will see resemblances to his other characters from previous works.
Sometimes the movie seems to drag but this is because they’re trying to fill a relatively small amount of time with a colossal amount of information.
This movie is a great watch, if for nothing more than it’s classic importance and well-done execution. I highly recommend it for any anime fan.
[starrater]