Welcome to THE SPACE SHOW

宇宙ショーへようこそ

7.29(9K votes)

Ranked #3166Popularity #4718

episodes

Type

Movie

Status

Finished Airing

Aired

Feb 18, 2010

Studios:A-1 Pictures

AdventureFantasySci-Fi

Synopsis

Five elementary school children are spending their summer break camping at a remote mountain village. While on a hunt for their missing rabbit, Pyon-kichi, they find an injured dog in a field with crop circles. After nursing the dog back to health, they are shocked when he suddenly speaks and introduces himself as Pochi Rickman—an alien researcher who has been on Earth researching its plant life. As thanks for saving his life, Pochi offers to take the children to the moon on a sightseeing trip. When they arrive, the group quickly discovers that the moon hides a vast alien metropolis which they begin to gleefully explore. Unfortunately, after hearing that Pochi was severely injured on his mission, the government of the moon issues a travel sanction on Earth, preventing the children from returning home. Left with no other choice, the group journeys around the galaxy in search of a way to safely return to Earth. Amidst their adventure, they are pursued by aliens affiliated with "The Space Show," the universe's most-watched production shrouded in mystery. [Written by MAL Rewrite]

28,820 Members

Worth Watching? — Global Verdict

7.6/10

Average Review Score

83%

Recommend It

Reviews Worldwide

International Reviews

Archaeon

Recommended

Leave any child unattended for a length of time and they will undoubtedly find themselves in some sort of mischief, even if they weren't looking to get into trouble, and all world weary parents, teachers and carers will attest to this as truth. The main reason for it is because kids are naturally curious individuals (when you're young the universe tends to be a fascinating place), and are more willing to accept as fact things that many adults would find preposterous, ridiculous, or just plain crazy. The irony is that while the "mature" population of the world will often scoff or smile condescendingly at children's talesof visits to strange worlds, encounters with weird creatures, travels on spaceships, fights with monsters, and other such flights of fancy, that doesn't stop adults from creating stories about children in exactly those situations. Uchuu Show e Youkoso (Welcome To The Space Show), is simply the latest in the long tradition of adults stealing ideas off kids. The movie follows the adventures of a group of children from a rural Japanese village who are attending an unsupervised week long summer camp in the local school building. During the first day they decide to search for a missing pet rabbit, but what they find are crop circles and an injured dog ... Cue the madness. The storyline is a rather interesting take on the whole idea of alien encounters, but there is a degree of predictability to proceedings due to the rather simplistic nature of the plot. That said, given that the movie is billed as family entertainment, it's nice to see that efforts have been made to make the whole thing more appealing to adults and children alike. Part of this is reflected in the visuals and audio, but the lion's share of focus undoubtedly falls on the story itself, so it's unfortunate that this is also the area where matters become somewhat ... confusing. Too much effort can sometimes be a bad thing, and that seems to be the main problem with Welcome To The Space Show as it simply tries too hard to be everything to everyone. Unfortunately this is very much at odds with the simplicity of the plot, and the result is a tale that lacks the finesse of rival features. In addition to this there are a number of themes "borrowed" from other stories, and while plagiarism may be the first form of flattery, moderation is the word that director Masunari Koji and screenplay writer Kurata Hideyuki seem to have forgotten. Now many people will automatically draw comparisons between Welcome To The Space Show and certain other anime movies, in particular Spirited Away, Galaxy Express 999 , My Neighbour Totoro (they find a strange friendly creature in the forest), and Oblivion Island, Production I.G.s 3D feature from 2009, and that's just from the East. There are also themes taken from the novel Five Children & It by Edith Nesbit (which was adapted into a live action movie in 2004), The Chronicles of Narnia, and the 1985 movie The Explorers. This rather dizzying array of influences initially looks like a disaster waiting to happen, so it's surprising that this narrative cacophony is not only understandable, but also entertaining. When it comes to the looks though, this movie seems to shift into a higher gear. Welcome To The Space Show is a creatively visual feast that, like Oblivion Island, easily surpasses Spirited Away when it comes to imaginative design. The opening sequence is simply a taste of things to come, and A-1 Pictures have put a great deal of thought into bringing home the idea that the children really have gone to another world. This is partly achieved through the use of bright, vivid, and sometimes clashing colour schemes that impart a slightly unearthly quality to a good portion of the movie. When this is coupled with some very creative character and feature designs the sense of not being in Kansas anymore really does come to the fore. The scenery is especially noteworthy for its detail and quality, and viewers may find themselves simply admiring the picturesque vistas from time to time. There's also a nice combination of static and layered backgrounds that add a degree of depth and character to certain scenes. Unfortunately it's not all sweetness and light. Although Ishihama Masashi's designs are highly imaginative, consistency seems to be the problem as the quality of the visuals tends to drop from time to time, and there are occasions where the characters look more like animated cave paintings rather than defined figures. There are also a few scenes that the film could have done without as they serve no real purpose, as well as a few issues with the animation itself. While the majority of the movie features crisp, fluid movements and sequences, the drops in the quality of the visuals tend to be accompanied by actions that are almost stop motion. Which, strangely enough, leads me on to Susan Boyle. It's a very strange world that we live in, and one of the things that many people would probably rank as highly unlikely (if not nigh on impossible), is for a song by the "star" of Britain's Got Talent to be used as a theme tune to an anime. Truth is always stranger than fiction though, and thus her song Who I Was Born To Be is the featured track for Welcome To The Space Show. That said, she's actually no stranger to Japanese movies as the song that shot her to fame, I Dreamed A Dream from the hit musical Les Miserables, has also been used as the theme tune for the third Eagle Talon film (an animated flash movie that's the brainchild of Asahi TV's late night host, Frogman). As for the rest of the noise, there are a variety of tracks on offer that range from dramatic classical pieces to ditties played on a banjo, as well as some very good audio effects that are often very crisp and clean. Unfortunately, Welcome To The Space Show suffers from a problem that plagues many other anime out there, and that is its choreography, or more specifically, its timing. The majority of the movie is actually very good in this department, but there are several occasions where something happens on screen a split second before the viewer hears it. The most surprising thing about this film is Aniplex's decision to cast a group of relatively unknown 11 to 14 year olds in each of the child roles, and while the idea isn't new in anime (Ghibli have done it before), it's a gamble that pays off as only children can really act like children. The rest of the cast is made up of experienced seiyuu who play their parts quite well, but this movie is about kids having an adventure, and they really do steal the show thanks to some clever scripting and a sense that their characters really are inquisitive, curious, and pretty much everything one would expect a child to be. Now given that this is a family movie there is bound to be some drama that forces the characters to learn and grow. The only problem is that rather than having one or two occurrences of these events, Welcome To The Space Show tries to throw too much into the mix. The movie can basically be broken up into four parts, and in each section the children are put in situations where they must learn certain lessons in order to carry on (the importance of work, looking out for one another, etc). The development verges on the formulaic for the most part, and any possible natural progression is hampered by the fact that the main theme for that section of the story never really reaches a conclusion. Instead it simply gets smothered by the next plot thread, or simply peters out, and this can leave the viewer trying to work out how the children got from A to B. That said, the visuals do detract from the stolid, check box approach to character development, and while the storyline may contain far too many different influences and events, the obvious enthusiasm with which the child seiyuu approach the script offers some genuinely fun moments. Welcome To The Space Show is a flawed creation that attempts to take on the might of Ghibli, and while there are areas where it clearly falls flat on its face, there are also parts that really are brilliant. The movie is slightly more tongue in cheek than one might expect, but at the same time possesses an edge to it that sets it apart from the somewhat saccharine nature of family entertainment. All of the flaws in the film can be forgiven on the basis of one fact - it's one of the more imaginative and creative anime movies to appear in the last few years. Yes, it "borrows" heavily from numerous influences, and yes, there are issues in almost every department, but it also takes the viewer on an adventure to strange and fascinating new worlds, and this aspect is probably the most understated thing in the movie. After all, one should never underestimate the power of a good adventure story, and it's actually pretty easy to disregard the problems with Welcome To The Space Show. While an examination of the individual characteristics will highlight quite a few issues, this is one of those rare occasions where the whole really is greater than the sum of its parts. The movie may not be as slick a production as Summer Wars, Oblivion Island, or any of the Ghibli affairs, but even with that handicap it manages to convey a sense of discovery and wonderment, and when all the plusses are added together it's pretty easy to see why I enjoyed this film. And before you ask, no, the movie isn't a glorified advert for wasabi.

Community Discussion

Psychotik

Recommended

Space: the final frontier. Not many get to experience being in space or even know much about it, but many people dream. For these 5 kids, it's a real adventure. Uchuu Show e Youkoso, or Welcome to the Space Show in English, is one big adventure in space, trying to get back home. We see how much the kids are willing to do and learn to get back home in time. The story starts in rural Japan, during summer vacation where 5 kids go to camp for a week... with no adult supervision of any kind? Okay. Everything is normal until they find an injured "dog"whom they healed, but it turns out he's an alien and takes them on an adventure which involves a space show (duh), drugs (kinda) and an evil plot. I'll keep it at that to try an be as spoiler free as possible. The story's okay and quite simple. Right for kids. I like science-fiction and out-of-this-world things, but some stuff don't make sense, like why is everyone on Earth an idiot by not realizing that there's a huge city on the moon? They did mention that Earth isn't part of the Space Federation, so they probably kept it a secret. But why didn't Earth join the federation then? I know it's just a kid's movie so they keep it simple, but it would have been nice to know. About the simplicity, they keep every name simple. Space Federation, Space show, space this, space that, etc. It's like the entirety of the universe is all connected and earth, for some reason, is out of this, which makes me more curious about this. One last major complaint I have about this is that the ending is very anti-climactic. I'm not going to spoil anything, but it was very boring compared to the rest of the action in the movie. The story is simple, great for kids, but adults feel wanting more, you know, story. It relied to much on visuals and pretty colors. Art: I loved the art, which is probably the movie's strongest point. The animation, like in most movies, is very nice through out. The art in this movie reminds me a lot of The Girl Who Leapt Through Time (for the Village scenes) and Summer Wars (for the Space scenes). The village has a very calm feel to it, like it should, but it's the space scenes that are extremely nice. Many different colors and designs to keep any kid's attention. Space itself looked great as well. My one qualm with this is that some of the designs feel generic. I wanted to be more wowed by weird designs of the ships, buildings, etc. but it disappointed. Still, the art is very good nonetheless. Sound: The sound and music is great as well. The music fits nicely and they know when to use silence as well. There wasn't a song that stuck out to me as amazing, but that doesn't matter. The voice acting does it's job well. Thta's about all I have to say. Characters: This is probably the movies biggest downfall. The characters are boring paper cutouts. We have the strong heroine, the little sister, the perfect helpful guy, the nerdy guy, and the helpless girl. It's a real shame because I liked a lot of the supporting characters. I liked Boga, Kool-aid Tony, Ink, and even Neppo. I would have really liked to see more of the bad guys and learn about their backgrounds, which is never really clearly explained. The robot at the end gets barely anytime at all and comes out of no where. Oh well. All in all, this movie isn't really that bad. It's a very nice adventure through space, learning about what really goes on out there. This is more of a visual/auditory experience because of the simplistic characters and story. "Welcome to the Space Show" is a very accurate title.

17 found helpfulFeb 22, 2011

pluvia33

Recommended

Let me get this out of the way: I absolutely adore this movie and think it is one of the most underrated and underexposed anime films out there. Welcome to the Space Show (Uchuu Show e Youkoso) is a delightful science fiction story about a group of children taking a journey into space with an alien. It is whimsical, beautiful, and a feast for the eyes and soul for anyone who loves light-hearted sci-fi stories and imagery. However, this is just my own feelings on the film and with the relatively lukewarm reception it received, I seem to be in the minority here. So with thatin mind, let’s get right into my category breakouts as I try to express my love for this movie while also explaining some of the pitfalls that might prevent others from enjoying it: -----Story - 8 out of 10----- Starting things off, the story of Welcome to the Space Show seems to be the biggest sticking point when it comes to how much someone might enjoy this film. The only professional review for the movie on Anime News Network stated the story as the biggest negative and summarized the negative points as, “Plot is a mess - it tries to be several different stories in succession and ends up with none of them making an impact on the audience.” While I can understand where this point is coming from in hindsight, I never felt that the plot was a mess at all as I watched it. I think the reason for this is that I felt there was only one main plotline: Five kids go into space with an alien and need to get back to Earth before their parents come to pick them up from summer camp. That is it. The movie is about the journey that the children go on. There are a number of B-plots going on at the same time and most of them are undeniably underdeveloped, but I never really cared. They were just things that were going on and I always felt invested in what was going on with the children first and foremost. In a way, I saw a lot of the main story as having more of a slice-of-life structure to it, even though MAL doesn’t have the Slice of Life tag attached to the movie. You watch the kids experience life in space; going shopping at a huge space port, getting jobs there when they need money, and visiting the home of their alien friend. In the meantime, things just happen around the kids, many of which aren’t fully explained, just to propel the journey forward and cause some conflict. If that structure of storytelling doesn’t sound appealing to you, then this could be a vastly less enjoyable film from your perspective. -----Art - 10 out of 10----- And this is what most people consider to be Welcome to the Space Show’s biggest strength. The art is just absolutely amazing and it’s a bit hard for me to believe that this originally came out in Japan 9 years ago! While the visual production values all around are absolutely great both on Earth and in space, the sci-fi imagery in particular is wonderful to behold. The initial space port has a vast array of alien creature designs and space ships, structures, and technology. And while it’s a comparatively minor aspect of the visuals, the character designs for the main human cast (the five children) are also very pleasant, distinctive, and expressive. Funny enough, the character designs will look familiar to people who have seen the similarly named anime Welcome to the NHK, as the same guy did the designs for both. Really, I have absolutely nothing negative to say about the visuals in Welcome to the Space Show and if you don’t like them, it would really just be a matter of taste. -----Sound - 9 out of 10----- A while back, I remember hearing a movie composer say something along the lines of, “If you notice my score, then I failed at my job.” In that respect, the music score for Welcome to the Space Show was just about perfect. I remember specifically keeping an ear out for the music at times, but otherwise the score perfectly blended with what was going on in the visuals, seamlessly becoming part of the larger production. And while I can see some people not liking them, I also found the English-lyric songs to be haunting and beautiful, fitting the strange space setting perfectly. The general sound design also left me with no complaints. When it comes to the voice acting (Japanese version), I felt that all of the characters were well acted. As the main cast is a bunch of kids, your tolerance for “child” voices could also affect your enjoyment of the movie, but I personally thought all of the performances worked very well. -----Characters - 9 out of 10----- Overall, I loved the characters in Welcome to the Space Show. The five kids all felt like they had their own distinct personalities and their own hopes and dreams which motivated them during the journey. They essentially all get a miniature coming-of-age arc during the movie’s runtime which felt very satisfying by the end. Our main alien friend was also a lot of fun and felt very human in his own way. The trip to his home planet felt especially down-to-earth (yes, I recognize the irony of these statements). Many of the side-characters are also great. Ink is probably the most adorable alien I’ve ever seen in a story and her dad was also amusing when he was working with Kouji. I’d say that the only low point in the character department would be the antagonists. While the “villains” initiated a great climax and some awesome action sequences throughout the story, their motives were really confusing and not fleshed out all that well. This goes back to some issues that others may have with the story, so that issue can be compounded if you’re a fan of villains in stories. But again, if you primarily see this as a journey for the kids and see everything as stuff that’s “just happening” without thinking about it too much, then it all works out. -----Enjoyment - 10 out of 10----- Yes, I absolutely loved this movie! While I’m watching many anime movies at the moment, trying to catch up with a lot of stuff that I’ve missed over the years, Welcome to the Space Show is currently my second favorite standalone anime movie. It was simply a delight to follow the overall-simple story of these five kids traveling through space. I got deeply invested in their adventure and the emotions, positive and negative, which they experienced. I had tears in my eyes a number of times and had a smile on my face for nearly every other bit of the 2 hour and 16 minute runtime. And it DID NOT feel that long. I almost didn’t want it to end. I ordered a Blu-ray copy of the movie that night and will happily watch it again when that comes in the mail despite having many, many other things in the queue to watch. -----Overall - 9 out of 10 (Conclusion)----- So in the end, I can say that this is not an “objectively perfect” anime film. If you are looking for a fully engaging story which fully fleshes out all of its plotlines and has everything “make sense”, then you may not enjoy this. And it might be a bit far on the “family movie” side of things for some people, although it does have some bite to it. The visuals could also get a little goofy for some peoples’ tastes. But if a fun and grand almost-slice-of-life style adventure story following kids in a wonderful and diverse sci-fi space setting sounds interesting to you, then definitely give this film a watch. It truly has not gotten the love and exposure that I feel it really deserves.

4 found helpfulApr 18, 2019