ANI-MOVIES, *Promare

Following up Kill La Kill and Gurren Lagann, Studio Trigger combined alot of the story elements along with profoundly similar character designs from both shows into a full-length animated movie. Promare is a bizarre sci-fi shonen action film colliding numerous anime cliches in the spirit of bombastic movies like Redline. Directed by former Gainax alumni Hiroyuki Imaishi, and written by mecha anime genius Kazuki Nakashima, the movie became a huge success with fans on both sides of the Pacific.

Sometime in the mid-21st Century, different individuals around the world start self-combusting, killing off a good portion of the population. From the ashes of this, rise a small number of pyrokinetic mutants known as the Burnish. The remaining humans rebuild society with fire safety being the largest concern, with the Burning Rescue department using elaborate mechas to fight fires, while a special cyborg soldiers called Freeze Force handle the Burnish terrorists. One attack has the Burnish's leader Lio Fotia being foiled by hot blooded Burning Rescue firefighter Galo Thymos, leading to the Burnish all being sent to a little freeze prison, but it was all a part of their plan to break out their pyrokinetic brethren. However, the seemingly benevolent Governor Foresight has anticipated this move, and hiding his own agenda to lead an elite selection of mankind to another world as an exodus, because the Earth itself is set to be overrun with volcanic erruptions. Lio and Galo set their rivalry aside to recieve a literal "Deus ex machina" from Foresight's former partner to stop the deluded leader's ambition, which could lead to the either the complete eliminatiion of the Burnish who are the fuel for Foresight's space ark.

Lot's of shonen hero speeches and incredible giant robot action culminate into a largely satisfying viewing experience. The 3D computer animation merges well with quick as lightning fighting scenes. A few of the drawbacks though is that there seems to be a new opposing faction of characters introduced every twenty minutes, along with prolonged exposition and numerious plot twists. It's possible the story might have worked better as an OVA series instead of a nearly two hour movie. If your not into the tropes of your average anime titles, then Promare might just be a really fun acid trip of animation instead.