Review of Venus Wars

When he wrote this adaptation of his own manga Yoshikazu Yasuhiko was already renowned as a manga creator, illustrator, character designer and director. Joe Hisaishi wrote the stirring score, and he had worked musical magic for Studio Ghibli on My Neighbor Totoro (1988) the previous year. The rest of the senior staff brought solid reputations and worked in top form to make Venus Wars a glossily produced, well-designed, exciting piece of science-fiction. The mecha designs are excellent and the moody, deep-toned backdrop paintings set the tone for a bleak war story where youthful passion runs into reality with devastating consequences.