Product Details

• Actors: Carrie Savage, Chris Patton, John Burgmeier
• Directors: Christopher Bevins, Taliesin Jaffe
• Format: Special Edition, Color, Subtitled, Widescreen
• Language: Japanese, English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: Funimation
• DVD Release Date: June 23, 2009
• Run Time: 90 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (67 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B0023S49YU
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #13,444 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
  • #90 in Movies & TV > Blu-ray > Anime & Manga
• For more information about "Origin: Spirits of the Past (Special Edition) [Blu-ray]" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

The rebirth of the past from the ashes of the future...

The rebirth of the past from the ashes of the future...A young boy named Agito enters a forbidden sanctuary where a glowing machine resides. This machine preserves a young girl named Toola, who has a mission entrusted by her from the past. Three-hundred years into the future, the Earth's environment has been ruined by the interference of mankind, and in between the 300 years, the forest has come to life and is at constant war with man. It is an unsteady peace in an unnatural time. Only by searching their souls and examining the past will Toola & Agito realize the origin of all things and unite mankind with the forest.

Features:

• "The Making of Agito" 50-Minute Documentary Including:
• Interviews with Producer Koji Kajita and Director Keiichi Sugiyama
• The Quest for Never-Before-Seen Visuals - 3DCG, Animation Character Design, Coloring, Visual Coordination, Animation Check, Drawing by Hand, Photography Direction, Mechanical Design, Editing
• Voices to Give Life to the Art - Interviews with Director Keiichi Sugiyama and the Cast
• The Harmony of the Visuals and Sound - Importance of Music (Director Keiichi Sugiyama), Music (Taku Iwasaki), Encounter with KOKIA (Director Keiichi Sugiyama)
• The Premiere, and Then to Asia - China Premiere Looking Back On It All (Director Keiichi Sugiyama)
• Theatrical Trailers
• TV Spots

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

66 of 69 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars really enjoyed this one, June 24, 2007

By 

S. Cronin (Hendersonville, NC USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Origin - Spirits of the Past: The Movie (DVD)

reading the mediocre reviews here at amazon for this anime really had me questioning my purchase, but i am glad to say i really enjoyed my 'origin' experience. i just didn't watch it thinking "well...this has all been done before"....it was more like "ahhh that's really cool and a creative way at looking at the future", and the 'feel' of the film is very nice. sorta laid back with no outragous child-tantrum moments most anime's seem to be plagued with. english voice acting was great, music was great, the whole thing was just great and really really well drawn. very vibrant and clean colors, textures were excellent. i don't regret this purchase at all.

88 of 99 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars unoriginal, but visually stunning, January 6, 2007

By 

Mori Girl Alice (Neverland) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Origin - Spirits of the Past: The Movie (DVD)

If a flying fortress, technology from the past, a hero with possessed powers, and a moral struggle with nature and humankind sound familiar, it's because they've all been done before. Origin doesn't add much to the pot in these areas, featuring rather depthless characters and a plot with less twists than Interstate 40. It borrows heavily from Ghibli greats (Nausicaa, Castle in the Sky, Mononoke), but lacks the charm and conviction of these films. Still, Origin will likely win its share of fans thanks to the visual adventure and immersive backgrounds. If characters and plot aren't an issue, and you just want to be entertained, the eye candy that is Origin may be for you.

62 of 69 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic!, August 14, 2007

By 

Nikki "Bona na croin!" (Boise, Idaho) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Origin - Spirits of the Past: The Movie (DVD)

I'm getting rather sick of reading reviews criticizing this movie on the basis of its perceived lack of originality in the storyline department. When did people stop enjoying classic plots and themes? Remember fairy-tales, folktales, sitting around campfires listening to stories you already knew but relished nevertheless? This movie is simply wonderful -- stunningly gorgeous visuals, classic characters and plotlines, archetypal themes, all skillfully and impressively executed. If you enjoy these things and don't expect every film you watch to be the absolute pinnacle of originality and complexity -- in other words, if you still have a part of you that delights in simple joys and wonder -- then you will probably adore this movie.

I also think many viewers are missing a crucial plot point, which may have been too subtle for its own good. Read on only if you don't want a -

*SPOILER*!!!!!!!!

A major crux of the story is that when Agito's body has been absorbed by the tree, but his consciousness is intact on another plane, the Forest reveals to him the truth about the relationship between itself and the humans. Agito learns that the genetic admixture that gives humans extraordinary strength and eventually turns them into trees is really a two-way exchange; it also changes trees in the Forest, causing them to give birth to new humans in giant fruits. These new humans appear to be a stable product of the combined genetic material of plant and human. The Forest, seeing that Agito can possibly teach humanity that there is no need for either hostility or separation between themselves and the trees, grants him his human form back. The point here is that even the "Neutrals" are not truly living harmoniously with the forest; they still hold themselves apart, trying to preserve that which is in an inevitable process of transformation. Hence the veiled, cautious passive-aggression between the Forest and Neutral City, whose denizens do not understand that their days are numbered and that the strange little nymph-like creatures who speak for the Forest truly represent the future of humanity.