The Sky Crawlers, like a lot of anime, is an adaptation from a series of novels. In this case The Sky Crawlers consisted of five books written by Hiroshi Mori. This work is seen as a departure from his usual mystery work, but was good enough to spark the interest of some heavy hitters in the anime business. In fact, Mori only agreed to the anime being made when a certain director was on board for the project.

The Sky Crawlers has been animated by Production I.G. and directed by Mamoru Oshii. So we have the director of Ghost in the Shell and Patlabor 2, working with character designer Tetsuya Nishio (Blood: The Last Vampire, The Cat Returns, GitS 2, and Evangelion 2.0), and music director Kenji Kawai (GitS, GitS 2, Avalon). Overall a very strong team and therefore high hopes this would be something very special.

The story of The Sky Crawlers is set in an alternate reality where children who never grow up, called Kildren, fight in a seemingly never-ending battle against the enemy. The reason behind this war is quite simple: to keep the peace. It is reasoned that without war people would not appreciate what peace is and therefore how to maintain it. These Kildren fight to keep the peace, but in doing so live a life full of questions about their past, what they really are, and what the point is of their continuing fight.

To say anymore than that would be to start spoiling the movie. All you need to know is this is a typical Oshii anime with the slow pacing, evolving story, and the viewer left with questions right until the very end. You need to sit down knowing your head will be filled with questions for the majority of this movie.

The time frame this story happens in is intentionally confused. It may be in the past, but could also be a future world. This is clearly demonstrated in the types of aircraft chosen which look like something from previous world wars, but then some of the fighters have a more modern look to them while retaining the propeller-based design.

Graphically it's a mix of 2D animation and 3D CGI. The contrast is both spectacular and quite jarring at times. The 3D work carried out by Polygon Pictures, which also handled GitS 2: Innocence, is some of , if not the best I have seen in anime. The landscapes, clouds, and aircraft are so realistic you find yourself asking if they are real-life footage at certain points. This is especially true of the landscapes.

The character design I was less impressed with. No emotion in the faces of the main characters most of the time, coupled with the very pale skin didn't sit quite right. This was probably due to the very bright and vibrant colours of the landscapes and surrounding environment.

Me experience of watching The Sky Crawlers was mixed. On a first watch I sat there frustrated for most of the first hour and a half of this two-hour experience. The story moves along very slowly, and the main characters are devoid of most emotion due to the fact they are empty teenage shells that only know war. That helps make the pace even slower. Add to that the growing number of questions you have, and you get some idea of why frustration can build as the minutes tick by.

I can see some viewers turning off after the first hour unimpressed beyond the visuals and slightly bored with the lack of story elements, but that would be to horribly underestimate the impact this film has when watched to completion. The last quarter starts to bring together all the different elements, begins to answer your questions, and finishes on a high.

I usually walk away from a film knowing whether I have enjoyed it or not, but with The Sky Crawlers it was a very different experience. The last 30 minutes made the experience of the build-up to that point more enjoyable, but not great. But it's now, a day after watching it that I'm really starting to realize how good it was as I think about the story more. I want to go and watch it again, but this time will really enjoy all the build up.

So this is a great anime movie, but you have to watch it twice for real enjoyment. I recommend it to anyone who enjoyed more than just the action sections of Ghost in the Shell, and especially to those of you who enjoyed Innocence. For Oshii fans, it is another must-have DVD. If you can, I'd opt for the Blu-ray edition for even better visuals.