Angel's Egg Review: Mamoru Oshii's 1985 Anime Philosophical Adventure

The Enigmatic World of Angel's Egg

This 1985 anime is a true curio: a furtive, portentous odyssey into a hollowed-out landscape told largely in symbolist images. A million miles away from director Mamoru Oshii's often-logorrheic films (such as his best-known work, Ghost in the Shell from 1995), it still swills around plenty of philosophical concepts linked to his fascination with Christian theology.

The Story Unfolds

The waif (voiced by Mako Hyōdō) carries this ovum under her petticoats, like some pre-pubescent immaculate conception, while scavenging a dark, mittel-European-style city for flasks of water. One day, she's startled to see a skinny princeling (Jinpachi Nezu) step out from a giant mechanised war machine trundling down the street.

Exploring Themes and Symbolism

Oshii certainly breaks a few doctrinal eggs and gives them a good whisking here. The boy recounts a version of the Noah's ark story – but one in which the dove, and hope, never returned. Long silences and loaded questions suggest this might be what's he's looking for inside the girl's prize.

Artwork and Atmosphere

Overseen by conceptual artist Yoshitaka Amano, Angel's Egg's artwork is ravishing throughout. Stripped down to a pallid near-monochrome and using far fewer frames than the anime norm, it musters hypnotic eeriness and poise.

Conclusion and Release

Regardless, this unsettling parable has a scriptural concision and mystery. Angel's Egg is in UK cinemas from 17 June.