I didn't know it when I sat to watch it but this is essentially a music video since it was made to go under an existing song as opposed to the other way round. I came to it knowing nothing other than that it was a short film from Hayao Miyazaki and as such I was expecting something more in line with the films he has made. In way this is the case but there is a lot more "traditional" anime action in here than I expected. The plot sees a police raid on some sort of religious cult where they rescue a girl with wings like an angel. The angel is rescued into custody and two of the police men decide to then rescue her from that so she can be free.
This is about the extent of the plot and it has a few moments where it jumps backwards and plays it out again in a different way, but the story is less important than the delivery (again, this is a music video more than a film). Visually the film is impressive because of the detail and the vision. So many visions of the future from 20 years ago or so now look dated and silly but not here, it still looks fantastic in the color and the imagination behind it. The film very much relies on the visuals and the movement but there is lots going on here and on a couple of viewings I did find myself focusing on different aspects of it. It wasn't the music any of these times though, since I personally didn't care for this but the animation was full of greatness whether it was in the small detail of the vastness of the city.
It is more of a violent anime than casual Miyazaki viewers such as myself may expect, but it is visually arresting and has enough going on to warrant several viewings – although the music may start to wear on you after them.
