Written by Marianne Krawczyk Production
company Sola Digital Arts | Music by Tetsuya Takahashi | |
Directed by Shinji Aramaki
Steven Foster (co-director) Produced by Joseph Chou
Eiichi Kamagata Based on Appleseed
by Masamune Shirow | ||
Appleseed Alpha (also styled as Appleseed α) is a computer-animated military science fiction cyberpunk film. The English version's voice cast includes Luci Christian (Deunan Knute), David Matranga (Briareos) and Wendel Calvert (Two Horns).
Contents
Appleseed Alpha had an advance digital release on July 15, 2014.
Plot
Set in a different series of events, this story does not follow the previous Appleseed movie canon (despite being directed by the same director of the previous movies); it is an alternate story to their beginnings. Briareos is already a cyborg and did not become separated from Deunan to be later reunited in Olympus to join ESWAT.
Appleseed Alpha depicts the early days of Deunan Knute and Briareos in the 22nd century, as they embark on a journey throughout dystopic ruins of New York in search of the city of Olympus. They are hired by Two Horns, the warlord of the ruined city, to eliminate bipedal combat machines. During the fight, they encounter Iris (voiced by Brina Palencia) and Olson, both on a mission. Deunan and Briareos befriend them and decide to join their mission.
Iris is tasked with preventing the malevolent cyborg Talos from capturing a secret weapon humans were building. Talos uses Iris to activate the gigantic war machine.
Reception
The film received a PG-13 rating by the Motion Picture Association of America due to "sci-fi action and violence throughout, and a sexual reference". Zac Bertschy from Anime News Network called it "the most visually stunning Appleseed movie yet". Hollywood Outbreak website wrote that "thanks to the extensive motion and facial capture work on the project, the animation is a perfect balance of realism and science fiction-esque fantasy". Appleseed Alpha was selected for screening at Fantasia Festival on July 19, 2014.