Series: Human Crossing "Families, husbands and wives, lovers and people. Dramas that emerge from life's human crossroads...
Ordinary people muddle through life and intersect with one another in random ways. Like people walking along road crossings in different directions with no apparent destination in sight. Human Crossing is a realistic portrayal of everyday people in modern Japan with all its beauty and ugliness. In this volume, Human Crossing examines the lives of a female prisoner who longs for a reunion with her family in "Message in White", a business man who receives a surprise visit by his father's mistress in "The Smile" and a painter who rediscovers his passion in Paris in "City". Human Crossing is a collection of short vignettes about hope, a reminder of the small victories one can achieve amid the vicissitudes of life." Each story is about the human need for hope in the face of all logic and odds. They don't employ supernatural means or highly technological gimmicks and the end result is a rather pleasing set of stories that would all fit right in on network television if done in an anthology format with live actors. The first episode of the trio was Message In White, the story of a female prisoner about to finish her sentence in jail for embezzlement. She fell prey to the usual human weaknesses in her previous life and was now fighting her return to society based as much on her fear of what would happen to her life next. The second episode was The Smile in which a member of an extended family in Japan worms her way into a family after the passing of a man. His son is at odds with his wife about how to handle the woman and in the course of the episode, we learn that not all family is strictly blood related. The last episode was City in which the comforts of a successful life and all the trappings that go with it eventually steal the passion out of a relationship. Each of these shows managed to say something about the human condition and how we compromise to fit our circumstances, sometimes leading us away from who we are deep inside. If we let society determine our goals, we lose some of what makes us unique but the cost in terms of identity is sometimes more than we care to think about until it's "too late" (or nearly so). Upon reflection, each of the episodes lends itself as a guide to keep in mind the bigger picture, defining success is vastly different terms then we're used to in order to avoid the trappings of society. So, what do you rate a show that is pleasant but has little replay value and only offers three episodes with bare extras? Well, as much as I liked the DVD, I think a rating of Rent It is the fairest I can be to it. As I said earlier, it's not my favorite type of anime but it did manage to grab a hold of me in a way I have yet to define. I'd love to see the previous volumes to see if they were as good as this one since I think the episodes have a universal appeal to them but I recognize that this one would need to be marketed in a completely different manner to most shows I've seen in the past to get the kind of attention I think it warrants (on several levels). If you check it out, you'll see what I mean but steer clear of it if all you want is the kind of thrill a minute action shows most anime producers offer.

Okay, the second volume of the series, Human Crossing V2: The Cicadas of Winter was the standard for the series with a mere three episodes to enjoy, albeit without any meaningful extras to add value. The episodes were 5) The Cicadas of Winter, 6) The Beautiful Afterimage, and 7) Sidelined. In Cicadas, a successful up and coming actor on the rise forgets about his promises and suffers the results as he struggles to make a name for himself at the expense of family. His father had been an unknown bit role actor and that was not the fate he wanted so he overlooked his pregnant wife and friends as he sought to have it all; ultimately at great expense. In Afterimage, an idealistic professor working at an exclusive Christian University seeks to remove himself from his roots as the son of a bar owner in a rough part of town in favor of his hard fought for status. When he is approached by his brother for a favor, he is confronted by the demons of his past as well as needing to reaffirm his stance that whatever else, he must remain true to himself and his principles; regardless of those around him taking shortcuts. In Sidelined, a journalist on the way up in his career gets sent off to a remote community where a scoop might be rare and costly; failing to see the bigger picture as a result of his ambitions.

The moral points of the lessons could sometimes be over the top in terms of how preachy they were but the common sense and human elements were all highlighted to show that even in terms of black and white solutions, compromises that everyone could live with were easily found. I watched three volumes all at once and while I was never bored with them, I can see why your usual anime loving geeks might find these a bit dry. The lack of extras and minimalist manner in which the three episodes were lain out made me consider this to be another title to merit a Rent It but if you buy the boxed set containing all four of the volumes for a dirt cheap price, it was a pretty sweet value so check it out if you want to see other ways that anime can tell a story without the need for the colorful antics of teenagers gifted with super abilities defying any logic whatsoever.

Picture: Human Crossing was presented in the original 1.33:1 ratio full frame color it was produced in for broadcast in Japan. It was clean looking with a low frame rate but the background detail was often very interesting to look at. The colors were accurate and I saw few problems (a bit of shimmer and pattern noise a few times) as I watched it twice. There were no compression artifacts during my viewing and it fit the story elements nicely. Still, the animation was far from fluid and appeared to be a low end project in terms of funding, lacking the splash factor some of the better titles have provided of late. That doesn't mean it looked bad but it was quite basic in most ways.

Sound: The audio was presented in a 2.0 Dolby Digital offering with a choice of the original Japanese soundtrack or an English language dub; both with optional English subtitles for the dialogue or the signs only. I actually liked both tracks here with the subtitles showing me the dub track must've been translated differently since it wasn't quite the same. The dynamic range was limited in both but I thought the dub did manage to sound better in terms of the score and how crisp the vocals were; the original track looking more closely in tune with the lips moving if you know what I mean. I alternated between tracks and did not pick up on any major flaws though so you may appreciate one over the other more than I did.

Extras: There was a clean closing, some trailers, and a paper insert that only offered up a list of upcoming titles.

Final Thoughts: Human Crossing was one of those shows where you could perhaps entice someone less interested in anime into watching to see the kind of human drama offered up in realistic settings in hopes of converting them into a fan. As such, it was worth watching but also for the little touches displayed throughout the episodes that showed more compassion and care than I usually associate with an anime release. In that sense, Human Crossing V2: The Cicadas of Winter would serve nicely as a means to get newcomers to see the potential of anime as a medium for story telling rather than the usual cartoonish material made for the young (and young at heart). In either case, check out the boxed set as the best value for the series.

If you enjoy anime, take a look at some of the recommendations by DVD Talk's twisted cast of reviewers in their Best Of Anime 2003, Best Of Anime 2004, Best of Anime 2005, and Best of Anime 2006 articles or their regular column Anime Talk.