Tenshi no Tamago

“When it comes down to it, I think the director doesn’t know everything about the movie. Everyone always thinks if you want to know something, talk to the director. I don’t think that’s true. I think the answer lies inside every single viewer.” - Mamoru Oshii As cliche as it is, I’ll say it regardless: this movie is not for everyone. By the end you’ll most likely be calling your mother, asking her to hold you. Begging her to tell you everything’s going to be all right. Angel’s Egg is a 70 minute joyride through the enigmatic mind of Mamoru Oshii that has more Christian symbolism and allegories than one might care to see in their lifetime. On top of that, the movie is incredibly slow paced (not really a joyride is it...) and has the bare minimum amount of dialogue to keep the story progressing. Which might I add, calling it a story is either the greatest insult or greatest compliment to the film and is something each individual must answer themselves. As mentioned above, each viewer will decide for themselves however deep or shallow the story and its message is. As such, I’m not going to analyze the story and its many symbols because while it may mean X to me, it most likely means A-Z for the next 25 people and this is where Oshii’s words speak volumes. It’s an interpretive story. However much (or however little) you want to search for the films meaning, you aren’t necessarily wrong. There is no conclusive answer. I consider it to be a surreal and highly thought provoking piece of interpretive art. But one man’s interpretive art is another man's garbage. It’s understandable why people don’t like the movie and why it failed when it was initially released. It is highly Christianic themed and is often considered as an interpretation of Oshii’s early life when he was studying to become a priest. With this in mind, the film may come off as pretentious and overbearing, but perhaps it is just a roundabout autobiography of Oshii’s early life. The true intentions of this piece will most likely never be known. The story is meticulous, slow and every scene deliberate and full of detail. While on the surface it may not mean much, it may mean a great deal underneath in its ever so mystifying allegories. As such, the film requires a great deal of attention and open mindedness. The elongated scenes, to me are some of the most vivid cinematic experiences I've witnessed in any film. This technique will most likely make you remember these scenes, even long after the movie is over. Regardless of if you liked the scenes or not they contain a lot of meaning and detail. At the same time I can understand how they may deter viewers, adding to the list of why this movie isn't for everyone. Aside from these deliberate and almost painfully slow scenes, the film progresses slowly and the world and its characters are spectacularly developed as the movie progresses. The characters are fantastic. Both the boy and the girl have a mysterious air to them and many questions are left unanswered about both them and their pasts. They don’t really understand who they are or why they’re here. The lack of answers doesn't detract from the film, in fact quite the opposite, their recondite nature draws the viewer in. The greatest strength of the characters is that their interactions are genuine and realistic. The girl is innocent and timid. She emanates warmth and even acts childish around the boy at some points adding a rather heartwarming feel to an overly bleak atmosphere.Their subtle gestures and actions are used masterfully in the stead of dialogue, creating a very unique experience. The orchestral score serves to further encapsulate the dark atmosphere of the film and is often foreboding at times, creating a sense of suspense for the viewer. It is serene, emphasizing the beauty and fragility of this poor innocent girl whilst it is equally melancholic highlighting the dark undertones of the dystopian world. The score wholeheartedly compliments and dramatizes the film. The art is nothing short of amazing. The attention to every minute detail in each individual frame and background is truly something to behold. Not only is the art visually rewarding to look at because of this, but the combination of its dark color palette and entrancing cityscapes, skeletons, machinery and everything in between goes above and beyond in staging such an eerie and mystifying atmosphere that consumes this dystopian world. The characters are equally well designed and given as much detail and attention as the scenery. Amano Yoshitaka’s art truly makes Angel’s Egg what it is. Angel’s Egg presents its viewers with an obscure message, enveloped in equally obscure symbolism and allegories. It indubitably blurs the line between the understandable and the incomprehensible. And as such, what each individual takes from this movie is subjective and is no more right or wrong than the next person’s interpretation. As Oshii said, the answer lies inside every viewer. On that reason alone, this movie will certainly fall short for some, and it’s absolutely understandable. But perhaps solace should be taken in the coalescence of the film’s breathtaking art and its mesmerizing music score. Perhaps, above all else, Angel’s Egg is a paragon of visual art. Thanks for taking the time to read.

I heard that this anime was underrated, and then decided to check it out. After watching the film, I was doing two things. One, I was scratching my head, and two, I was trying to pry my jaw from the floor. Wow, what a surreal, vivid, creepy, terrifying, amazing, astounding, memorable work of art. STORY The story here is quite simple, and is presented very slowly. The main character does not hesitate to observe and admire her surroundings. The pacing has been complained about before, and I halfway agree with these complaints. On one hand, the extra-slow paced lingering shots may bore you, and on the other hand, they will create a lasting impression on you once you finish the film. It's kind of a catch-22, which is rather unfortunate. The slow pacing is both good and bad. ART The artwork and animation are almost indescribable. I was completely astonished at how lifelike and detailed the characters were animated. For its time, the animation must have been groundbreaking, and it looks great even today. I feel that it transcends the "anime" style. The style and the background artwork I also enjoyed. I haven't seen many animes with a feel quite like this one. It's an extremely moody, creepy and somewhat realistic style. The backgrounds are very imaginative, memorable and often ambiguously symbolic. It's creepy and absolutely mesmerizing. SOUND The music was orchestrated and consisted mainly of vocals and choirs. Nothing really to complain about here. The music fit the scenes, enhanced the scenes and didn't detract from or overpower them. It was sometimes downright dreary, yet it was oftentimes whimsical and fantastic. I loved it. CHARACTERS There were only two characters, and they were portrayed in a very simple way. Their actions developed them the most, and although they lacked much dialog, it wasn't really needed. Their actions and looks spoke volumes. I wished that they could have been developed a little more, so that we could come to know them. That, unfortunately didn't happen, but seemed to meld perfectly with one of the themes of the movie. I felt that the director, Mamoru Oshii, preferred developing the world over the characters, because there is more time dedicated to showing the nice scenery. ENJOYMENT Are you going to enjoy this movie? Well, that, my friend, depends on whether you are able to sit tight and enjoy a very slow movie. Are you watching anime for the art and message, or for the entertainment? Angel's Egg requires the viewer to be on the same mental wave-length, so to speak. And if you are, you will enjoy this film immensely. It reminded me in some was of the film 2001: A Space Odyssey, and if you enjoyed that movie, you will most likely be intrigued and engaged. OVERALL Angel's Egg is a memorable, slow-paced, mesmerizing and beautiful film, and although somewhat ambiguous and confusing in its message, it will still stick with you and affect you. Whatever the message is. I felt that this film was expressed very sincerely, from the bottom of Mr. Oshii's heart. He himself said he didn't know what it meant. I got some allegorical and Biblical what-if's out of it, as well as symbols of hope, future and loss of innocence. You may find something else. It is incredibly deep, and it's not laid out for you.

Preface: Angel's Egg is my favorite movie, animated or not, and I don’t expect everyone to like it as much as I do... this is just my opinion. Also: Spoiler Warning....... Mandatory ratings of "story" and "character" seem constricting, implying that anime must be a narrative art.. Animation especially seems to have the potential to release visuals from these constructs and to become a poetic association of images or a musical rhapsody of color and movement, which engage us on a subconscious aesthetic level.. Not to imply that Angel's Egg is a non-narrative work of art— it isn't— or that it has no characters— it does, and effectively uses them as emotional vehicles. However, the existence of these implies that in art we are looking for an engaging story and psychologically relatable, entertaining, or in some way likable characters. For most, Angel's Egg is not going to present those things, but I do not consider that to its detriment. Angel's Egg presents a few images suggestive of something beyond themselves that in their significance beg to be taken as symbols— inevitably leading viewers to puzzle over them, to ask, "What does it mean?" To ask that question may in some say imply an answer, which there is not. There's no reason to think that an idea of clear authorial intent is behind every ambiguous work of art, that every image and symbol can be reduced to some concept, idea or word, and that the viewer should let this concept stand in for the image in his experience of the work. In other words, there's no reason to interpret Angel's Egg allegorically. To sum up my view on images, I'll quote the poet Basho: "There is nothing you can see that is not a flower; there is nothing you can think that is not the moon." I think he is suggesting that all of our perceptions, thoughts, and words are images. We perceive images all around us and it is only through these images that we communicate. Abstract ideas have no existence outside of our ability to IMAGine them; we conceive of our feelings in terms of images; we conceive of ourselves in terms of images. Eventually these images become abstracted from present material experience and enter deep into the realms of our desires and subconscious, and as they are ingrained in our culture's collective web of meaning, they become archetypes. I include this tangent because I think that Angel's Egg works directly with archetypes, casts them like a spell, and we as viewers want to make sense of what we experienced by assigning a meaning to them. I don't want to suggest that no meaning is present. However, I do want to inverse the usual understanding that some meaning in the artist's mind is the starting point, and the symbol is subservient to that. In fact, a pure image is the primary thing-in-itself, and this image may be suggestive of a whole shade of meanings, and like a word these suggestions can have ranges of connotations for different people. It's like in music, when notes and melodies and atmospheres can for a listener evoke specific memories or messages— but no one would say that such a message is the primary purpose of the music— which is nothing but notes. Rarely does one talk about what music “means.” Such would I say are the images in Angel's Egg. So for me, what is the sum total of these images? I could shorten this whole review into a single sentence by saying that when I watch Angel's Egg, I feel like I'm viewing the dreams I saw when I was sleeping inside my mother's womb. The atmosphere is so dark, so delicate, that to compress it into some ideas and themes would be to collapse its subconscious delirious atmosphere. I feel like this story is something being played out in my mind, below and between my conscious understanding. The egg, the cross, the mechanical God, reflections, water... all of these and more are symbols in Angel's Egg. Yet rather than asking, “What does it mean?” I'd rather ask, “How does it make me feel?” And these images arrest me: feelings of lost innocence, holding on to a bit of faith, deeply buried memories, the unreality of experience, existential confusion, the fear of abandoning and being abandoned by God... all of these are contained in my viewing of Angel's Egg. Both characters start to embody aspects of myself which, for being on a screen, start to feel more real. "You have to break something to find out what's inside." The same could be said about this movie itself. When I'm watching, the images become indicative to me of something larger, but I can't necessarily pinpoint this significance down into an allegorical understanding. I feel like I too am clutching this egg with so much passion. What it is could be a number of completely personal things to me or it could be something else personal to another. But that desire of clinging onto that fragility associated with maidenhood, and the converse questioning cynicism that seeks to break it, feel real, regardless of whether or not I can articulate whatever Oshii was "trying to say." The Christian symbols don't become instruments to make some "point" about Christianity; they're just presented, and they can either start to mean something to you personally, or not. This movie isn't going to try to make you enjoy it. Its content in being itself and it's up to you whether it moves you or not. Amano's artwork, with its exquisite delicacy and detail is perfect for the atmosphere of the film, and along with the score and pacing, /is/ the atmosphere of this film. There's not really anything else to add on the matter other than that I find the artwork gorgeous and evocative. The colors create a distinct world-- one of shadows and reflections, mirrors, and windows through which darkness is distorted and parallel worlds open up. In fact, more than almost any I've seen, Angel's Egg's "world" becomes almost self-consciously so-- one enclosed existence among many-- truly dream-like and expressionistic, as if these egg's dreams are projected onto a screen and a moment's sensation becomes a visual palette, and in this palette other realities converge-- and this world belongs only to the girl, and this strange nameless soldier is passing through from one world he can't remember, collapses this world, and under the malignant transcendent reality of the mechanical god who devours individuals, passes on to another.. The final shot reinforces this impression. The interactions between the two characters take on a strange poignancy; in this desolate, unreal, left-over place, a persistent desire for contact and a deeply human curiosity become the forces that destroy the egg. Despite the work's expressionistic, unusual, or inaccessible nature, there's something deeply immediate about the sad look on the soldier's face at the end of the movie, as he stands alone... In the end, this movie leaves me with the impression of a world abandoned by God, where, left with empty meanings, only suggestions of happiness and reality are contained elsewhere, a world haunted by promises and vague suggestions of fulfilment, yet left in the dark and alone. The score embodies this impression, alternating between beautiful melodies, waltz-like rhythms, and dissonant dissolutions; it feels like a transient dream always on the edge of being real and graspable, yet ultimately transient and unattainable in its distant beauty. Rather than talk about how I choose to interpret every image in the film, I think it's best to leave it at that, as every viewer will have a different reaction and interpretation. Obviously this film moved me deeply. Maybe it won't move you at all. That doesn't make one of us right and the other wrong. This movie's images tapped into the subconscious reservoir of my fears and desires, maybe the images will mean nothing to another. It's an expressionistic work, that however exquisitely crafted, will fall flat for some people. What it means for others, however, has nothing to do with what it means for me.

There's a moment in this film when a little girl stands at the side of a street, watching an army of phallic-shaped tanks roar by. The animators made extra sure the shaft part of each tank dick, which protrudes to its left, passes directly over the girl's head. If there's one compliment I can give the anime, it's that moment. The scene encapsulates perfectly how I feel having sat through this hour's runtime. Minute after drawn-out minute, Angel's Egg is a bunch of anime writers swinging their dicks at you, moaning how smart they are. Worst of all, they're right. This IS a smart film, and it's probably going over your head, pillar and stone and all. But "smart" doesn't mean good. You'd rather have a dumb friend who knows what he is and lives his life to the fullest, than be around a boff who does nothing but brag of the latest thoughts to pop in his head. Same with anime. I know because I used to be one of the latter type of people, except I really wasn't that clever. You see, this film is unique. It's so different, it's so artsy. Surely that alone makes it better than the generic ecchi harem to come out every season right? Well, the thing with cliches is, the tropes themselves become tired because they have an inherent appeal. To someone seeing it for the first time, tsunderes are cute, no matter how shallow the character. To a 12-year-old boy, accidental groping is funny and awkwardly exciting. Not to insult people who like that stuff, of course; I'm just explaining the nature of tropes and how creators come to overuse them. Angel's Egg is devoid of tropes not because it takes a fresh approach on portraying life, but because it's completely devoid of emotional appeal. Its "plot", if you could call it that, can literally be summed in two sentences. That's not what you normally call unique. It's just... nothing. Let me expand on my point. This film is about Christianity and the death (abandonment) of God. That much I and most people gleam from the film alone; I watched a 30-minute passion analysis reasoning everything in the story, and I'm all like... That's it? As it turns out, Mamoru Oshii was inspired for this film after his loss of faith in Christianity. Everything in the story, few as they are, is some symbol relating to ideas of faith vs atheism. Everything is symbolic, it's all dark and grimy and supposedly desperate. None of it is engaging. Because even as you can see the pain and anguish in every picture and song of this film (art and sound are fine), he doesn't give you a single reason to care. The characters are so NOTHING that you can't even call them one-dimensional, because that would imply they have some sort of breadth. You can literally describe them in one word; that's not just paper-thin characterisation, that's no characterisation. I don't mind shallow characters if it fits the point of a story but this movie has their suffering as its only thrust. And it offers SO little to latch onto. Okay, Mr Oshii. I can see it's affected you very much. I can see how these characters would feel lonely, whatever in this post-apocalyptic world. But you don't explore this emotion at all. Why should I give a damn about these people, or this world, or about you? If you don't care about the characters, you don't care what happens. A few things do happen - FEW emphasised, each scene is so quietly, so agonisingly stretched out, I swear I could hear the soft masturbatory strokes of this movie's creators somewhere. Of the things that happen, none of it makes sense. It's all chalked up to being symbolic, nothing else. I'm not the pedantic type. I very easily forgive a show for plot points that others call "contrived". But there's a line, and Angel's Egg is miles across it. At that point it doesn't just break suspension of disbelief. It's entirely unengaging. "Oh, that happened. I WONDER what that means..." "Oh, it symbolizes despair this, innocence that. Don't care." Geez, there's so little going for this movie to do anything. I have to wonder why it hasn't been forgotten. It has no philosophical or social commentary that millions of Woke atheists haven't already said. It contains no predictions on the progress of mankind, like Serial Experiments Lain had on the boom of the Internet. I consider myself a fairy average person with fairly average tastes. I respect people who like this kind of stuff, and if you're one of them, give it a go. If you loved stuff like NGE, Texhnolyze, and SEL, you'll probably like this too. But if you're anything like me, don't. It's boring as shit, and you probably won't get it on the first watch. If it were that one needs to enjoy this kind of stuff for bragging rights, then I don't want those rights at all.

Angel's Egg, or Tenshi no Tamago, sits at the forefront of a list of bizarre and eccentric anime that includes Cat Soup and Iblard Jikan, while its niche but most enthused audience promises that its complex allegory is as beautiful and philosophical as the most serious of art-house films. Directed by Mamoru Oshii (Ghost in the Shell, Jin-Roh, Patlabor, Sky Crawlers), Angel's Egg is perhaps Oshii's most personal and best work. However, as interesting and surreal as it is, beneath its murky surface Angel's Egg suffers from classical problems in Oshii's stories. Past the compelling mystical, spiritual, and psychological nature of the work, there is missing a profundity and artistry that keeps Angel's Egg from being anything more than a small sample at a Michelin star restaurant; it is rich and possesses depth of flavor, but leaves an empty feeling in the stomach and a hunger for something more. From the start, Angel's Egg is not the most approachable work. In line with other minimalist anime like Serial Experiments Lain and to a lesser extent Texhnolyze, the film sacrifices dialogue and characterization in favor of atmosphere and visual storytelling. The very beginning of the story features a set of hands that move in near absolute silence. It is only when the childlike fingers transform into a pair of brown and calloused hands and we see and hear the knuckles clench and crack that we realize that the work was indeed intended to start without a sound. Lovers of action packed sequences and fleshed out characters will probably find themselves moaning at long drawn out walks and a pair of individuals who seem to be nothing more than the reflection of certain theological beliefs. Even those who can stand slow paced material might be confounded at scenes that, if not for the flickering of the flames, seem like stills that stretch on forever. Despite its sluggish pace, Oshii comforts us with a wide array of intriguing and fascinating visuals to pass the time. One of Angel's Egg's strengths is its good looking art and Shinji Kimura(Akira, My Neighbor Totoro), who was responsible for the backgrounds, has drawn some really wonderful images that build a haunting atmosphere almost by themselves. The first descent of a large eye from a blood red sky has a rather sublime quality to it, especially when one realizes that its black surface is lined with a seemingly limitless number of ancient Greco-Roman figurines, stretching around a glimmering aquamarine center that gives the iris its luminescent and imposing appearance. One could complain that the color palette of the anime seems a bit one dimensional even despite its beguiling visuals, as given by the dominating prevalence of different gradients of blue in the drawings. However, it's the use of colors in this fashion that highlights some of Oshii's control of visual storytelling. The use of blue, for instance, reflects the never ending motif of water, the melancholy, cold, and even lifelessness associated with the color, and the inevitable contrasts that appear in different points in the work demonstrates how one can change the impression and tone of a story with simple alterations. The girl in the story, clothed in pink and white, stands foreign in a dilapidated world, and it is by no means a coincidence that the one she travels with is draped with a blue cloak. From the strange duck-like creatures that inhabit mysterious translucent shells to the foreboding appearance of a gloomy forest to the stoic and morose appearance of the city's fisherman, Angel's Egg possesses a number of great visual moments that unnerves us with their creepy yet alluring presence. From that perspective, these surreal moments may be reason enough to watch this anime. In addition, Yoshihiro Kanno, whose only anime compositions have been with Angel's Egg, provides just the right balance of spiritual and ambient music that complements the uncanny images that we are confronted with. The lamenting chorus featured during the opening title echoes the scene's mourning and longing while the powerful and sharp notes of bass instruments complemented by booming timpani strike with the same intensity of fisherman hurling their long harpoons at the shadows of fish. The rarity of the music is another strength, as silence leaves us pondering the calm before the storm, piecing together fragments of the puzzle while the entrance of music causes us to briefly forget our speculation and draws us in and surrounds us with the intensity of the moments in which it appears. With both art and sound elements, I was surprised to find that I was rarely bored when trying to uncover what Oshii meant when he gave birth to the anime. Oshii seems to have made this anime as a meditation on faith, one that eventually leads his audience to understand a supposed rejection of the deity he had worshiped for years. Oshii was trained in the priesthood from a young age and would presumably have pursued the life of a Christian priest had events in his life lined up in a different way. It would be foolish, therefore, to ignore the popular and purposeful religious symbols and allegories that exist throughout the film. Oshii's main influences draw from Noah's ark, but The New Testament is also featured prominently in different areas. Oshii builds a world that is, ultimately, divorced from known biblical history, which is thematically consistent with his intention of slowly renouncing some of his theological foundations to embrace a new calling. The decisions made by the man are perplexing and leaves the audience wondering whether or not Oshii intended him to be a mirror of his own self-doubt about the existence of the deity and if this man fell on the side of moral good or not. There are numerous other questions as to the nature of the tree that the man describes, the man's perplexing motivations, the girl's final transformation. Most importantly, what great beast from within that egg is just waiting, waiting ever so patiently, to be born? These questions are interesting and many answers can be found by evidence in the story, some answers stronger than others. Surprisingly, while some may be absolutely flabbergasted by some of Oshii's more esoteric and bewildering works (Mezame no Hakobune), Oshii definitely has certain thematic messages and a story that he means to drive home here. The plethora of interpretations that one can draw from various significant imagery, such as the tree, the fossilized angel, and the egg itself are plenty, but there is still a certain consistency and wholeness to the work that leaves us with a story that is, at the final moments, a complete experience. There is indeed a point to Oshii's work, one where a society rejects God, and God, perhaps acting according to Oshii's hopes and idealism, departs without a single word. In despite of this praise, what is wrong with Angel's Egg? The anime has good visuals, complementary music, and even if its characters are mere belief systems personified, Oshii has provided us interesting themes that presents itself through a complex and subtle story. Angel's Egg spends a significant amount of time building up to a critical climax, but before Oshii can deliver the final blow, he adds in the longest monologue in the film, where the man narrates the story of Noah's ark, with a twist to the ending, to the audience. This is a point of clarity that is not only unneeded, but ruins the subtlety that the work was building on. Whether it was from the times the ark was shown on screen or the overwhelming importance of water, one could have come to the reasonable conclusion that the story of Noah's ark was an important element. While it is certainly true that the man's story departs from the biblical event, telling the entire story diminishes the effort that Oshii made throughout the film to reveal bits and pieces of the world around him. At best, this was just a needless monologue that explained what the audience knew, a…

This is going to be short. I'm gonna be unfront and tell y'all that this is probably the worst experience I had with any anime. You can dump on shows like Mars of Destruction all you want but the very least I had fun making fun of it. There's bad, there's boring, there's atrocious, and there's Angel Egg. Yoshitaka Amano is a great artist given how I love the old school Final Fantasy artworks and seeing him work on this horrid mullet of a turd was painful. Apparently, the guy who made Ghost in the Shell movie worked on this as well. But why would they concoct something like this? The show was a whole lot of nothing, vapid, empty, with industrial sounds and ambiance as the only thing that accompanies you in this feature-length yawnfest. All atmosphere and nothing to get a hold of. There was nothing to say. It's all 'artsy' and none of the frills that makes a movie or an anime for that matter, engaging. We follow along a duo that are as entertaining as peeing with UTI. I was never a lover of art cinema and probably this is not for me. I could swear it made me feel narcoleptic with how many times I fell asleep throughout its runtime. This is the anti-thesis of excitement. Everything is symbolic and I could not give a single damn thing about whatever message it tries to say because it feels like noise the whole movie. Story? It was there probably, buried in layers upon layers of silence, nothingness, and meager animated sceneries. This is a movie made for the intelligent fellows I suppose and while I agree on never getting the point of it all, I will stand by the fact that this movie failed as an entertainment. I simply had no enjoyment whatsoever and there's no force on earth that could make me gaze on it ever again. Finishing it not only came out as a chore but I was physically ill, not because I was affected by the movie but how sorry I am for wasting a portion of my life watching this abominable piece of arthouse pretentiousness. For whatever reason, people like this and hats off to you mates. For everyone else, I do not wish for you to suffer the same pain I had feasting my eyes on this abomination. Do not watch it unless you need to cure your insomnia. Bring your friends for slumber party. I respect the artists that made the movie. I just hate this damn movie specifically.

I'll Keep this short. Extremely strange. there's nearly no dialog in this 1:11 wonder. That leaves nearly no the entire movie up to the viewer to explain. It's going to mean different things to different people. I will agree with other reviewers that there seems to be an overall "Christian" theme. although that seemed to be put in a bad light with the "Church" having a stained-glass fish window (Jesus? or Regular Fish?) and all the Fishermen trying to spear the non-existent fish, and destroying the town in the process.I see that as saying religion is bad, others might disagree. I guess that's why I gave this movie such a bad rating. I don't mind having subtle things put it that make you think, however when the whole work is left to interpretation I feel you get nothing out of it. I could have just sat and thought for an hour instead of watch this, and received the same thing. I understand it's Art, but most art has at-least some focal point, a part that is firmly grounded, that the rest is based off. This had nothing. Whatever your views coming in will be the same coming out.

From Mamoru Oshii of “Ghost in the Shell” fame, we receive this deceptively simple story: A young girl wanders through a dark, empty city inhabited only by the ghosts of the past, both human and animal. She carries with her a massive egg, which she protects and nurtures. Soon a man appears and begins to follow her. Much of the movie is without dialogue. That doesn't sound terribly inviting, but it is what it is: An ominous and slow-moving film that, while requiring a degree of patience, is nonetheless quite lovable. Approaching thirty years of age, the art in Angel's Egg is dated, but it isn't without a certain dark, nostalgic beauty. This city is an eerie one, radiating a sense of ancient decadence decaying; massive ornate sculptures of multiheaded serpents are covered in thick green moss, and shards of once-lovely stained glass windows now festoon the ground. The glow from streetlamps isn't white or yellow, but a strange, iridescent azure, and it's as if pure light itself is a thing of the past. The architecture is often complimented by organic designs, with the skeletons of colossal fish woven seamlessly into marble walls. It's clear that a lot of thought went into creating an atmosphere that suggests not only the absence of true life, but also a reason why it might have disappeared. The character designs are artistically valid as well. The wandering girl, possessed of brilliant white hair and a bright red shawl, looks like something not of this drab world; she's pale and innocent, tiny and delicate in her build, the complete opposite of the town of dark monoliths that she roams through. Her range of facial expressions is surprisingly superb, switching convincingly from shy to inquisitive to angry, which is all-important given the predominantly silent nature of the film. The man who wanders with her, too, is well-designed. His tall stature, lengthy white hair, and the confidence with which he carries himself give him a certain commanding spiritual presence, authoritative but gentle. On his back he hefts a cross-shaped weapon wrapped in thorns, and his calloused hands are wrapped in bandages. The significance of these details was certainly not lost on me, but neither did the visuals beat the symbolism into my head. Although the film is steeped in silence, there is something to be said for the interactions of the characters. The girl is always on edge, guarding the egg with all of her being, and at first she's naturally wary of the rough-looking man who appears, seemingly from nowhere, and begins to follow her at a distance. That distance eventually closes; a montage of shots show that girl and man are eventually walking side by side, the man sitting near her as she sleeps, always awake, a sentinel who looks at the girl the same way the girl looks at the egg. When she acts up, he dons the strict but loving expression of a father trying to console his rogue daughter. In one excellent scene, amid a chaotic rainstorm, the girl takes shelter under the man's great cloak, looking up at him with wide eyes as she does so, finally realizing that she's come to trust someone, an action which she previously thought impossible. She trembles; he puts a reassuring hand on her shoulder. The fact that much of this transformation occurs in silence makes it no less rewarding. The soundtrack is fully orchestral, and it is wonderful, consistently and skillfully matching the tone of the film. The deliberate pacing of the story is coupled brilliantly with the slower, more ominous tracks, while the few energetic scenes are highlighted by sweeping compositions with operatic vocals that sit well alongside the movie's apocalyptic nature. Any film would count its lucky stars to be backed by music of this quality. The only real problem I have with Angel's Egg is that it rides the fine line between being a difficult riddle and being an impossible riddle. Symbols in art and writing are a tough thing to work with—they're the artist's way of conveying an idea with subtlety and finesse, but too much subtlety will leave the audience scratching their heads, and unfortunately that's how I felt about the themes in Angel's Egg. There's nothing wrong with expecting an audience to commit their intelligence to figuring out just what a film is trying to say, but if the writers haven't given us all of the clues and puzzle pieces required, they've essentially sent us on a wild goose chase. Clearly Angel's Egg is underscored with a plethora of religious symbols (the title, the man, the fishermen, the Ark, etc) but I can't help feeling like some valuable connective tissue that could have helped the pieces fit together is missing. The film is visually and audibly powerful—the chaos of the ghost fishermen throwing harpoons in vain at massive ghost fish is not something to be forgotten, nor is the image of the egg itself, a single spot of life in a dead world. But on paper, I'm not sure if there is enough concrete meaning here to validate the film. There's nothing wrong with being able to interpret a work multiple ways (and there are about a hundred ways you could interpret Angel's Egg) but for me it becomes a problem when we don't have a clear glimpse of what the work's creators were actually trying to convey. There is something here, and maybe even something truly beautiful, but just what that something might be is shrouded in layers of industrial-strength allegory that make it difficult, if not impossible, to find. So clearly the barrier of entry is high, but if you've got the time, the patience, and the interest, give this one a try. It's alienating in its silence and slowness, endearing in its characters, and clouded in its artistic vision, but Angel's Egg is still a unique experience, and one that I cannot help but recommend.

What exactly is a good anime? Is it perhaps something with high entertainment value, something that is truly fun to watch, something that you truly enjoy? Or is it something that conveys some sort of important philosophical message? Or maybe, is it a 71 minute long OVA that brings absolutely no entertainment value, makes no sense whatsoever, and conveys no message but that the director hates you? "This is clearly a deep reflection of the director's mental state and view of the world! It's a deep, psychological experience!" Yeah no, it's not. It's an incoherent waste of time with no characters, no plot, and next to no dialogue. It's just some girl with 0 personality filling up glass containers with water and carrying an oversized egg around. There's nothing deep about it. Nothing happens for 40 minutes, and then nothing else happens for another 20 minutes, and then the director effectively tells you to just fill in the plot yourself. Just interpret it however you want to! Tenshi no Tamago is pointless, boring, and offers nothing of value. I like to give credit where it's due, however. The art is very high in quality for something from '85. The music is really good, but unfortunately, it just doesn't play enough. Most of the time, there's just silence and nothing else. Now, I know this is a cliche line that, at this point, holds no meaning, but Tenshi no Tamago's only purpose is to cure insomnia. Tenshi no Tamago is supposed to be thought-provoking, yet the only thoughts it provoked in me were "Why did I ever decide to watch this?" and "Maybe I should go make myself some coffee so that I can finish this in one sitting."

Story: I am actually editing this! Ok so i have just had a long conversation with someone about this, and my opinion has not changed. however i do feel i need to be a little clearer on my opinion. I found this movie difficult to understand, mostly for the fact that it seems to be saying something deep, which in itself is not a problem. The problem is that what it's saying is so easy to interpret in so many different ways that the actual meaning is lost. As such i dislike the way it presents itself. It's painfully obvious to me that it's mostly a take on Christianity. However to what degree and what opinion is questionable. Also i have heard opinions that take very little stance of religion into account, and who's to say i am any more correct than them. Art: I think would describe this movie as something that Salvador Dalli would make if he was an anime designer who lived in a one window apartment across from a church. Beautiful, creepy, and surreal. Sound: I don't really have much to say about the sound except for that it works with the rest of the film very well. Character: Well you see there are only a few min of dialog in the hole film, and probably 75 percent of that is quotes (or slight variations) from the Bible. what does this mean? it means that you lose the direct access to the minds of the characters, you are left wondering what they are thinking and why are the acting this way. The hardest part is that the people act really oddly so trying to figure them out is really hard. Enjoyment: I like artwork in anime so that let me enjoy this to some degree. If that were not the case i would have been rather put out. I would suggest this anime to anyone who wants to be confused and annoyed, or anyone who likes seeing different styles of anime. Or people who like surrealism

“The egg is a germ of life with a lofty symbolical significance. It is not just a cosmogonic symbol — it is also a “philosophical one”. As the former it is the Orphic Egg, the world’s beginning; as the latter, the philosophical egg of the medieval natural philosophers, the vessel from which, at the end of the opus alchymicum, the homunculus emerges… the spiritual, inner, and complete man.” — C.G. Jung Angel’s Egg, the 1985 film directed by Mamoru Oshi, is an enigmatic tour de force. It offers exiguous amounts of dialogue and challenges the viewer to scrutinize every last visual detail in order to unlock the secrets that lay hidden in the depths of the abyss. Therefore, my hope is to unravel these cryptic elements through psychological means to unearth the key thematic elements and the overall core message. The first image we see is a pair of child’s hands that eventually morph into an adult hand. We can see this as a transformation process that is going to occur throughout the film, and how the trial will involve a certain challenge that will need to be overcome. A challenge that will be quite painful. Now why start a film with the hands of two different people. Unbeknownst to many, hands offer great insight into a person’s inner psychology. We see annoyance one someone taps their fingers, provocativeness when run through hair, inner tension when they are interlocked, and even talk to others via formulating clearer thoughts and emphasizing certain points. In effect, the hands are inseparably linked to one’s psyche, offering a great deal of information to careful observers. In the case of the film, the child’s hand are free-flowing, in a state of play and discovery; whereas the adult hand is rigid, strained and focus on a specific task. Next, we see an unhatched bird inside an egg, the heart is beating and the eyes begin to flicker as a white light envelopes the screen. We can analogize this with the world egg, which Renee Guenon noted is equivalent to the spiritual “germ” that is symbolically one in the same with the heart. It also harkens to the idea of the cosmic egg, a renowned symbol that has been featured in Egyptian, Babylonian, Hindu, and Greek mythologies. The embryonic darkness represents the primeval waters of the collective unconscious. The collective unconscious being the part of the human psyche in which the archetypes reside, which manifest through symbols, mythologies, and patterns. Prior to the ‘awakening’ of the conscious self one exist within the egg, per se. An adolescent state where the ego-consciousness has not fully established differentiated itself from the vast layers of the unconscious realm. This is equivalent to a child-like state where the adolescent hasn’t fully acquired the “I” or “me”. This is akin to the idea of the ouroboros. Eric Neumann, Jungian psychologist, state the cyclical state represents the pre-ego “dawn state,” depicting the undifferentiated infancy experience of both mankind and the individual child. The next scene features a cryptic man holding an object that looks like a cross. A gigantic eye with statues of people praying descends to the surface. The eye itself represents the deity of this strange world. In the psychological sense, the God that lives within all of us is an evolving being who has only the human psyche available for it to ‘see’ the world. Symbols like the “All Seeing Eye” and the “Eye of Providence” come to mind. The omniscience of such a being — through the psychological view — represents the totality of all psychic content within an individuals brain. Unfortunately, with such a disposition, God cannot directly reveal himself through us to accelerate our own psychological/spiritual growth. Hence, God’s word must be passed down through the ‘Word’ so as to permit the union of psychological opposites (i.e. conscious and unconscious). Unsurprisingly, the girl who will become the impetus for the movie, is found fast asleep. Informing the viewer that her psychological state corresponds to the unhatched egg; a vessel that holds great potential, but ultimately resides in the domain of the collective unconscious (throughout the movie, I’ll point out the mythological motifs and primordial images that originate from this area of the psyche). The first one occurs when the girl leaves, what I would describe is a cave to see a bright red sky. Red had a dual meaning: it means blood (the life force of the body) and affectivity (which refers to emotions that we experience and display). Thus, red symbolizes the joining together of spirit to body. The dichotomy of black and red marks the differentiation between conscious and unconscious. The black color represents the alchemic nigredo, which is a dark state that is associated with death. A ghastly night grows their own awareness by becoming more aware of their own shadow aspects. The shadow being unrecognized, unacknowledged, and shunned aspects that ultimately reached down into our animalistic aspects that are often considered shameful and evil. The problem, however, is that the shadow holds great creative potential in the way of creative impulses, and can be used to one’s benefit if properly integrated. To properly integrate such contents, one must endure a spiritual death. The next stage is considered the whitening (Albedo) — represented by the girl’s skin color and hair — which focuses on the communication between the unconscious and conscious aspects of the psyche. This stage establishes a relationship with the archetypal Self via bringing the unconscious energies to the conscious light. To bring cohesion to dark and light energies, metaphorically speaking, to make the psyche whole. After one confronts the shadow through the Nigredo phase, and establishes a connection between the unconscious and conscious aspects of the psyche through the Albedo phase, one then undergoes the the Citrinitas, the yellowing stage. You may notice that yellow is now represented in the picture, and there’s a reason behind this. Around the 16th century the colors were reduced to three, and even analytical psycholgist, Carl Jung, compressed the rubedo (the reddening), into the end of the second phase. As we will see by the end of the movie, the “yellow death” marks the end of the “lunar light” (i.e. unconscious) influence as the consciousness awakens to a newly discovered knowledge of the self. It signifies the breaking of the egg so that the psychological yolk can expand its awareness from the interior to turn its awareness outward, to the physical world. Finally, the process culminates in the return to earth, to fully incarnate the awakened consciousness through the symbiotic fusion of heaven and earth. Conscious and unconscious are now united as one, forging the philosopher’s stone (the individuation process) to full realize the expression of the authentic self. This final step is known as the reddening and is marked as a final mortification and re-birth. With this alchemic/psychological process in mind, we can finally move forward. The next scene of note occurs when the girl fills a container with pure water. “For the alchemists the vessel is something truly marvelous…It must be completely round, in imitation of the spherical cosmos, so that the influence of the stars may contribute to the success of the operation. It is a kind of matrix or uterus from which the filius philosophorum [the philosopher’s child, which is equivalent to the philosopher’s stone or the individuation process]…is to be born. Hence it is required that the vessel be not only round but egg-shaped.” — C.G. Jung The round vessel is synonymous with the soul, the psyche in its totality. Water, being the commonest symbol of the unconscious, demonstrates the girls current psychological state; that being complete submersion at this point in the story. However, water also serves as a place of transformation; Proteus, a greek, prophetic sea god, had the ability to transform into a lion, serpent…

I decided to check out Angel’s Egg after seeing the trailer for the upcoming 4K remaster on YouTube since it looked interesting, and… well, it was mostly a letdown. The movie is boring and frustrating, feeling more like a long, slow-moving poem or art piece than an engaging piece of cinema. It abandons conventional plot, dialogue, and character development, leaving the viewer wandering through a desolate world with surreal, static visuals and industrial ambiance. There’s a lot of symbolism (really the only thing going on) the girl carrying the egg, stone statues, and mysterious tree-like structures but literally, very little actually “happens.” The only thing worth admiring is the stunning hand-painted artwork, but even that isn’t enough to make the film engaging. For anyone expecting story, character, or emotional payoff, it’s a tedious, empty experience. While Angel’s Egg will frustrate most viewers with its lack of story or emotional payoff, it may appeal to a very niche audience: those who enjoy experimental, or allegorical cinema, or fans who enjoy symbol-driven experiences. For anyone outside that small group, the movie's deliberate ambiguity and minimalism make it nearly impossible to engage with or understand, leaving you more confused than moved. For me, beautiful to look at, but ultimately… "Meh.....What else is on right now"

This movie was incredibly abstract. Any questions you develop during this movie will most likely not be answered. But that's part of the beauty of it. There's very little dialogue, and as such it relies heavily atmosphere, artwork, and music all of which are fantastic. The best was to describe it would be if somebody took a random dream they had, and turned it into a movie. As such, I highly recommend watching it in a dark room.

One name: Mamoru Oshii. Between directing and creating, the man who brought about such great animes as Blood+, Ghost in the Shell, and Urusei Yatsura, this was one title I could not pass up. I went into Angel's Egg expecting something very thought-provoking and, to say the least, was blown away by the depth this anime delved. To state bluntly, those who do not enjoy philosophical thought or anime with little dialogue may want to stop reading now and move on to something else. For those still interested, please read on. Story: Within the first five minutes, in between the interesting things happening, you are introduced to the two main characters. You see a male soldier holding what appears to be a cross-shaped item and a white-haired young girl with an egg. The nameless characters eventually meet, but with two different agendas. The girl seemingly asks the man for help protecting the egg, while he tries many times to destroy the egg, but we are left with the thought that he may or may not have had a change of heart. The rest of the story follows these two travelling and the girl trying to find a safe place for the egg. I will leave the ending for you to watch and see what happens, as it is quite interesting and I do not want to spoil it. On the surface, it seems a very weird story that makes absolutely no sense, but if you take a deeper look at the story, you will see a very existentialist story with a slew of meanings everyone will interpret differently. Although there was not an obvious plot, I gave this a ten because the undertone of the story was incredible and I was drawn in to what Oshii was possibly saying. The thoughts ran deep for me, giving me much to think on. Animation: Angel's Egg was released in 1985 and the animation for the time was excellent. Most of the story is based on the actions and reactions of the main characters to each other and their surroundings. The animation had to be well done, especially with facial features, so the ideas of the film could be conveyed. The backgrounds and foregrounds were beautiful. While they were not vibrant in colors, the animation gave off all the right emotions to become involved in the story. I gave this a 10 because of exactly the reasons I stated. I was completely drawn into the emotions swirling all around. Sound: The sounds used were just incredible. While the main characters spoke no more than a couple times, there were very little sounds, and little use of music, the sounds and music were used at the appropriate times to provoke the greatest emotions at the most critical times. What people will notice is the extreme amount of silence and may find it a downfall of the film, but I firmly believe it is one of this film's greatest assets. It is used to show the audience how the silence seems to be there, crushing down on them, threatening to swallow their very existence. Sometimes silence is the best sound. I gave the sound a 10 because of how hauntingly, chillingly beautiful they were, when used. The music was also very beautiful and worth listening to. Characters: I had a hard time trying to give this a definitive number, as the basis of the story is not around whom the characters are and what their back-story is, but how they respond to the environment around them and what the final outcome of their actions is. It is true that these characters have very little plot to them and there are people who find that a problem, but this is one of those rare stories that character development is not necessary for the enjoyment of this story. I finally settled on a 6. As stated previously, there is no name or plot to the main characters, but at the same time, I do not feel it is needed, though many will disagree. Overall: This review has become a bit long and I apologize, but this is one film that cannot be easily summarized no matter how well you try, so I will try my best. The philosophical, ideological, and emotional thoughts and feelings provided by this film are intense. While many may dismiss this film because it does not make sense, I implore everyone to take the time to watch this film and judge for yourself. I do recommend that you watch this when you have time to sit through it and think about what you are seeing. You will be amazed at what ideas flow from this old, but ingenious film from one of the masters of anime.

The story has an easy plot and there isn´t much action in this movie. It is more about feelings than about dialogues of characters. For me, this was too surreal. I can´t say I didn´t like it. But I couldn´t understand.

Imagine this: you are at the gallery, staring at the abstract painting of something that looks like a dragon. Then, someone walks next to you and starts to look at the painting too, but he loudly says to himself: "Wow, what a nice scenery of a sunset!". You reply: "Well, I think that this more looks like a dragon", but there is no clear answer, because the painting doesn't clearly define what's on it, just a stack of colors that has a shape similar to a dragon, or a sunset scenery, or maybe something else. This example may be bannal, but it perfectly describes the expirience after watching this movie. And it basically explains art. Angel's Egg is an experimental ambiental horror film directed by Mamoru Oshii, who is responsible for some masterpieces among animated films, such as Ghost in the Shell, Jin Roh: The Wolf Brigade and Patlabor 2. This is his debut film, and it's really influental for his later works, mostly because it touches Christianity as a theme, which is connected to his rejection of it shortly before making this film. The film starts with a little girl carrying an egg and walking around a dystopian ghost city doing weird stuff, like gathering water in weird-shaped glasses. Then, a white haired man appears, carrying a cross-shaped object. They go together and encounter even more weird stuff, such as shadow people throwing shadow harpoons at shadow fishes (kek), giant crow skeletons and the Tree of Life, then the guy mentions some byblical shit about Noah's Arc, then the girl lays to sleep, the guy breaks her egg with the cross-shaped object, we realise there's nothing inside, she wakes up, sees the egg, cries loudly and throws herself off a cliff. There is also some giant eye ascending out of...something, and at the very end we see the bigger picture: everything was happening on an arc. At first glance, it looks and pretentious, weird and creepy...untill you think about it. Then it becomes beautiful. So, everyone can agree that the film has no context and that everything mentioned above symbolises something, that the movie is completely in allegory, but the question is: what does it symbolise? And the answer...there is no answer, there are multiple ones. In fact, every person that watches it and thinks about it has it's own answer, that is based on it's expirience, knowledge, mood etc etc, which is what I was trying to say at the beggining of this review. And we get to the main idea of this film: to represent art in its purest form, because that's what art does. It shapes itself based on how the viewer and the artist feel and how much do they know. In conclusion, the point of this film is to represent art in it's purest form, as an expression of human's emotions and knowledge. What it also successfully does is theme exploration, and in a very original way. How? We said that there are endless amounts of meanings behind this film, which concludes that it explores an endless amount of themes. It could be about Noah's thoughts and flashbacks while he's waiting for the dove to come back, where the girl is his optimistic side, the egg is his faith, and the dude is his pesimistic side; it could be about the death and the reviving of Christ, where the girl and the egg are his human form, while the boy is his form as a deity; it couldn't be about Christianity at all! It could be a symbolic coming of age story, where the girl is just a girl carrying her child spirit, and how she sees the world around her... The meanings are endless, and so are the themes it explores, as I said earlier. Truly an amazing and original concept. All of this needs to be shown to a viewer in a specific, misterious and eery way to suceed, which Angel's Egg also does almost flawlessly. The dark and creepy setting, the beautiful architecture, amazingly done, drawings and color manipulation is just...perfect, in a creepy, weird and dark way, which is the best way to present the story of it. The soundtrack is also beautiful. From quiet piano themes, to scary chorus tracks that send shivers down your spine, the soundtrack really adds up to the ambiental horror atmosphere of the film, and it can spook you real good :^). I have to mention how the voice acting, even though minimalistic, is really on point. So, in conclusion, this film is an original, well constructed, breath-taking piece of art that really deserves more love. My warm recommendation to everyone, even to people who are new to anime, but are really into art, it will surely amaze them.

Since the first visual encounter, the first scene, angel's egg immerses you into their world, the first melody seemed to be the beggining of a long and inexplicable dream or nightmare and the sensations produced by, the dark and innocuous sky, the bird lying in the air, we could expect anything, the worst, the most astonishing and strange. And so begins Angel's egg. Driven by a curious image of a little girl among her lodgings, we discover a egg close to her, as if it had been with her all the time, this girl cares and hoards this egg where she goes like a extension of her own body, like if losing the egg is lost any hope, everything. Observing how something than strange and with multiples meaning is carried by the hands of a girl around that post-apocalyptic world, where it seems that there is nothing and nobody, a frozen disaster, memories scattered in every place, buildings, houses, in every corner she walk and hide. In this incredible curiuos journey a boy appears in front of her, descending from what seems like an organically constituted army, with a peculiar aspect and movement, the girl instantaly feels fear and inmediatly protect the egg against any possible threat, silence, an important quiet moment and she talk for the very first time "Who are you?". This guy present himself as someone without past or present, without knowing where it comes from or where it goes, who he is or what's his way to follow, but expressing an endearing memory about all around the place. I think at this moment we start to mold a history about the film, about the ghost of humanity over the place, with the apparent sole purpose of hunting the shadows of the big fishes on the city, once and again. We could see on the movie a reflection of our own reality and inquire what could have happened before, about the biblical quotes the boy makes, what might or might not be the remains of the Deluge or even the suggestion of a second deluge. Angel's Eggs is a totally subjective, ethereal and retrospective film. Trying to explain the feeling while watching the movie could be complicated, a myriad of emotions, engulfing yourself in their world, Looking at the girl walking, observing, the unknow men, the "mechanical sun", the devastated place, what happended?. Viewing development is viewing it through her eyes and she does not say much, observing in silence is feel her silence, her loneliness and sadness, is to browse within our own memories and find out which ones could be hers memories, her purpose, her why, her emotions, I think we inquire from the very beginning, ups and downs, but you do not realize when it happens. What happened, happens or will happen, it creates an endearing nostalgia for them. The more you immerse yourself, the more questions arise and can be a bit heavy, but entertaining, if you do not like the surreal thematic, profound, perhaps this will be not of your total enjoyment. Angel's egg ultimately, is an extraordinary experience, is something unique and peculiar, the soundtrack is all magnificent, exquisit sound, do not leaves us a moment alone, is present from the most quiet moment until more uncertainty. Simply a beautiful composition that everyone should know.

"A work of a genius", this was my first thought after watching five minutes of Angel's Egg. "Brilliant", was what I thought after watching ten minutes of the movies. In the end... "I'm glad it's over". Let's see why, shall we? The first thing one notices when watching this is the beauty of the art. The scenery is simple, an abandoned town picked up from Dali's memoirs, but extremelly detailed.It remembered me the first works of Disney (vide Fantasia). Then the viewer will notice the characters: this time they shape the story and not otherwise. They are simple but, following the example of the scenery, highly detailed and their symbolic meaning is fascinating. In this world crowded with symbols, I spent most of the time trying to figure them out. Untill, finally, I decided to quit and just watch. Then the pieces fell nicely and I understood the story which, after all, is very simple. The fact that is scattered through the movie is what makes it somewhat interesting. Overall, it is a great surreal exercise. A masterpiece, definetely. However, the pace of the movie turns it a painful watching experience for most. It's typical from the old movies of the kind, but still... "I'm glad that it's over"

This is one of those curious pieces that I can safely say I didn't enjoy very much, but am still glad I watched and would recommend others watch as well. It's just so unique and at only an hour long it's not a huge time commitment (although it will likely feel much longer). I expected to like this going in. I'm usually very open to "difficult" pieces of media. Gene Wolfe is my favorite author, after all, which is actually how I came to this movie in the first place, as many people on the internet seem to think it was directly inspired by The Book of the New Sun in some meaningful way and having watched it I guess I can see where they're coming from but the connection is slight if it's there. A cloaked young man bearing a cross-shaped weapon in a dying world of ancient architecture mixed with strange futuristic technology, a focus on flood imagery and rebirth, etc. I think the main disconnect for me here is that this is very obviously a piece of visual art rather than a difficult or abstruse story, which is what I was expecting. In reality, there just isn't a story. The director himself has said he doesn't know what the movie is about, and while I don't think there's anything wrong with making a movie that way, I feel like I could absolutely tell the difference. There are plenty of things I've watched/read that I was completely perplexed by, but somehow could tell that at least the creator knew what it was about and thus there was some internal logic there that I could latch onto and perhaps puzzle out if I spent the time on it or looked into what others had found out. With Angel's Egg, that way lies madness and dissatisfaction. Beyond a very surface level symbolic interpretation that it's probably, to some degree, about his loss of faith in Christianity, hence all the religious symbolism and the longest dialogue scene being a recounting of Noah's flood with a dark and nihilistic twist at the end, there's just nothing here beyond the visuals, which are pretty open to be interpreted however somebody wants to interpret them. I am very much a student of storytelling, not a student of visual art. Don't get me wrong, I like and appreciate cool art, but I've just never been one to get super invested in a painting. I prefer when that art is in service of something else, like a fun video game, or a great story, which this was not. It is, instead, a painting that moves for about 67 minutes and then ends. If you've ever been to an art museum and stared at a single painting for 20+ minutes, this is probably the movie for you.

What could i say about this? Other than my eyes and even my heart eat every seconds of it. I was under hypnosis, without any will to get out of it, at ease, i was absorbed, i have been the victim of Tenshi no Tamago. Once i got in, there were no way i could have find a way to escape. How would describe this movie in a word? Parasite, this movie got into myself and i will never forget this sweet experience. Story - 10 Tenshi no Tamago is a well done absurd fiction artwork. It's powerful. I just had to let myself be nurtured by all that deepness growing more and more deep inside my brain. Not a second it stopped to captive my attention. The story was that metaphorical cherry that just kept sucking my brain until it went out of it's juice, my empty, my void felt fill, and my fill felt void. I knew that there were a more profound message that i was unable to catch, and that thought of not being able to understand the core of the story made me sad. But i believe deeply that the story was a wonderful, splendid way to project the hidden side that nobody has right to talk of human. Outside and inside are two different things, from any angle you try to analyze. Art - 10 The art is magnificent. Bringing the atmosphere to its max richness. Every little detail is a dessert to the eye. It didn't try to surpass each other, it fastly told you that it had that sort of strong sense of identity throwing itself at you, like it or not. It stands with everything else. The darkness was infallible, the mood was destructive. I could have just wanted to reach out a hand and get stuck into it. The art might be 1985s, but it's one of the most beautiful art i have seen in Anime. I wanted to be one with it, to form one with the eyes pending through that dark euphoria slowly giving all of its love, all of its way to love, to my eyes. Sound - 10 Cradling, beautiful, simple, but even simple is ashamed. The tempo of this piece of art, i have never seen a so well done one in Anime. Every little sounds into that Anime had a little expression grabbing you and trying to drown you into its lake of beauty, of integrity, of own nature. I felt like i was the egg waiting to be hatched, but i was never prevented to do so. Character - 10 Characters was not the core of Tenshi no Tamago. But the words implemented there were always put at the right place, and added its own little special feeling into it. Characters weren't really characters while being characters, there were sounds, arts, stories, enigmas. They were needed, they added, and gave us their due. Enjoyment - 10 This is my best experience in Anime. Enough to shake. This is the real thing there. That was something written with a great mindset. I couldn't have asked better. It even went way more up than my expectations, who were already huge. It once entered my brain and it will never come out. Overall - 10 This anime is great, there is nothing else to say. It's an experiece for you to experience. What you take from it is purely your personal. Either way, this anime is underrated, and deserves way better than it's actual rating.