They Were 11
 Mike Toole  rates it:    

Leave it to the medium of anime to take a tried-and-true genre, the good ol' potboiler whodunit? mystery, and inject it with fresh ingredients. In the case of They Were 11, the mystery unfolds in a science fiction setting, and is actually based on an old children's story by Kenji Miyazawa (yep, the Spring and Chaos Kenji Miyazawa). Miyazawa's story was about a group of 10 children playing together, who suddenly notice that there's an 11th child among them-- a child who may be a monster. The premise of They Were 11 is similar, but not quite so sinister-- the suspense comes from other sources, which appear later in the film.

Tadatos Lane is a young student, an orphan raised by his grandfather on a farm. His life is in turmoil at the beginning of the movie, because he's taken the exam to enter the prestigious Cosmo Academy, the most renowned institute of learning in the entire civilized galaxy. Admission isn't as easy as sending in a form and an essay-- there's a written exam which takes hours of work and concentration to complete. It's so difficult that more than 90% of the applicants don't pass it. After the written exam, the hard part begins-- students are separated into groups of 10 and dispatched to perform a real-life task, which is never disclosed beforehand. The exams are only given once every three years.

For Tadatos Lane, the final exam turns out to be going to a derelict ship orbiting a small sun. His team is given the task of getting the broken-down ship serviceable, and crewing it for 53 days. If there's a catastrophe and any of the crew feels like they're in danger, there's a 'panic button' in the ship's bridge. Trouble arises when the crew, none of which know each other, realizes that their number is actually 11. Is the extra crewmember an accident? Or is the mystery applicant on board the ship for more malevolent purposes? No one on the crew is certain, and that makes them very, very paranoid.

This wouldn't necessarily be an interesting concept, if it weren't for the fact that the crew are a very well-detailed, interesting bunch. Along with Tadatos, there's King Mayan Baceska, a planetary ruler who's eager to pass the test in order to prove his skill and intelligence to himself and his subjects. There's Doricas Soldam IV, a wisecracking aristocrat. There's Amazon Carnais, and Chako Kackta, and Dolph Tasta, and Toto Ni, and Ganigas Gagtos, and Glenn Groff, and Vidmenir Knume, and Frolbericheri Frol. One of them is an impostor. But which one? Tadatos has intuitive powers that allow him to sense when people are lying, but he senses no such feelings in any of the members. Naturally, this makes them suspicious of him, and that's not all-- everyone is wary of Knume, a silver-skinned giant of a man who's the first of his race to test at the Academy. The king is a clear thinker, but he's insistent on assuming command, and Soldam the aristocrat is more than happy to support him. Finally, there's the mystery of Frol, a very feminine-looking man who gets combative when anyone questions his gender.

Tension comes not just in the form of the crew's shaky confidence in each other, but in conditions of the derelict ship itself. It proves difficult to repair, and moves closer to the sun with each day. The ship also contains some sort of mysterious substance that causes illness in the crew. The worst of it is, Tadatos feels like he remembers things about the ship. He attributes this to his strong intuition, but the rest of the group feels like he's the most likely candidate to be the impostor. They're intent on outing and isolating the interloper, because they don't want to fail such a difficult exam. Will they find the impostor and settle things before they all fall ill, or the ship falls into the sun? Will someone snap and hit the panic button? The beautiful, shiny button? The jolly, red, candy-like button?

They Were 11 is a feature film with pretty good talent behind it-- it's handled largely by the renowned creative team of director Osamu Dezaki and character designer Akio Sugino, who've also brought us fare like Space Adventure Cobra, Rose of Versailles, and Blackjack. When these guys have good material to work with, their results never fail to impress. They Were 11, by shoujo manga creator Moto Hagio, is certainly good material-- the story is well-constructed, and the characters richly detailed. The animation quality and color design is nice, and the acting is excellent all around.

There's also the question of the relationship between Tadatos and Frol-- Tadatos is very definitely male, but Frol's gender is indeterminate, though purported to be male. Some would label They Were 11 as a shonen ai (boys' love) story because of this, but I don't think that's quite accurate. (You'll have to watch the movie to find out why-- Frol's true nature is an interesting plot point.)

The only real problem with They Were 11 is the fact that the story is told from the point of view of the innocent Tadatos; the suspense would have been heightened even further if the audience wasn't sure that he was the extra man. Instead, we're treated to several scenes of him pleading with and running from the other crew, who are more suspicious of him than anyone else. It still makes for excellent suspense-- the "innocent man in trouble" story is used effectively here. They Were 11 surprised me-- it's a short film, only weighing in at about 90 minutes, but it kept me engrossed for every second. It may be about spacebound students on a derelict cruiser, but They Were 11 is a mystery story to rival the best works of Ellery Queen and Agatha Christie. It's very good.

Added:  Tuesday, October 14, 2003

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