Or, as the Japanese kids say, Gin-iro no Kami no Agito, is the feature film headed by Gonzo that came out last year. Or 銀色の髪のアギト? Whatever.

There was some fanfare surrounding the film, but somehow during the flurry of joy that is Haruhiism in early 2006, all things small and curious was lost. It’s now a Funi title and soon getting a screening in the US, and a dub and everything.

So I did see the trailer and that got me curious, so somehow I procured a copy of the film to check it out. My impression is overall positive, but aside from being the well-put-together audiovisual experience, Gonzo manages to make Gonzo out of this film, too.

I’m going to say this is probably the least unconventional work they have released in recent years. The story, character, and dialog follows cookie cutter Epic-Anime-Film patterns and even then they botched on a few key (although common mistakes) elements, such as the characterization of the antagonist and dropping the ball developing even the lead female character…

But it is so pretty. KOKIA and Taku Iwasaki combined in force to create a very rich soundtrack and a very memorable theme song. Really digged the beginning scene.

Still, all that visual and aural goodness don’t fix a mediocre film. Definitely watch this relatively short feature to get yourself acquainted with the high standard of quality that Japanese animated films have today; leave the rest of your senses home. It sounds like a harsh criticism, but this film puts Steamboy to shame in the visual department IMO; it’s that good.