This film I feel is another under the radar gem, it was really popular for it's time but as time went on it's became forgotten. This film is also a childhood relic of mine, it was one of the first films that actually got me into the Japanese anime genre, if you can believe that. When I saw this film it just blew me away from the animation style, music used, context, it wasn't anything I've ever seen before. Watching it now I still think the film holds up, especially in animation.

It's also one of the only anime anthologies out there which are unfortunately really scarce, the only other one I can think of is "Memories" but that's a different story. This film to me is sort of "Fantasia" for the 90's which is cool, because like "Fantasia" it was basically anthology of animation shorts correlating with music pieces, and that's exactly what this film does. You could say this plays also similar to Issac Assmov's sci-fi anthologies since his stories always had to do with humans coexisting with robots or robots acting and becoming human.

The animation I think is great, each of them have different styles that fit the context, I still think it looks really good despite how many years it's been. The music is great, I feel most of the scores used are memorable.

There are many stories but I'll just talk about three that are my favorites.

Starlight Angel: This is basically a fairy tale but in sci-fi form which is great because it's a combo of two genres I love. It's a typical story of the right guy saving a beautiful girl but it's really in the execution that makes it stand out. I really like the amusement park, it's practically Disneyland of the future. I like the character designs which are beautiful, even in there expressions of emotion which are just fantastic, despite not hearing what their saying we understand exactly what their dialog perfectly from their expressions; in a way it just goes to show you don't always need verbal dialog to deliver perfect dialog. The score is just beautiful, it's my favorite in the film because it has an adventurous and romantic quality to it.

Deprive: This is another great one, it's also in a way another fairy tale if you want to think of it that way, once again right guy saving the woman he loves from evil. Though this one it's more of an shonan actioneer approach but it is fraking awesome. I really love the action sequences and the choreography is spot on, it's just awesome just seeing the protagonist knock the crap out of a lot of evil robots that are cool looking their all unique in design, let alone practically bigger than him like seeing him jump on a bunch of robots practically stomping on them like Gomba's from the video game "Super Mario Bros". In a way this story is sort of an anime version of pulp comic book hero "Magnus Robot Fighter" since the protagonist sort of is like Magnus, armed with super strength and martial arts to trash the robots, seeing this story makes me wonder why the hell an anime/animated series of that comic book franchise hasn't been made yet.

A Tale of Two Robots: This one is my absolute favorite, it is just fraking hilarious. It's basically mecha anime but in the 18th century which is awesome . I really like the designs of each of the mecha are unique, my favorite one is the one from the Japaneze side which looks awesome, it's practically a giant walking Bogotá. I even like how they operate from the physics and technology they had access to in that century it feels right and makes this sort of a steam punk tale since that genre was always about old technology advanced further. I really like the fights which are fun, however it's really more both character factions that really drive the tale because both the characters that command the mecha are total nitwits. It's just hilarious how both are so determined to take out the other, showing how indifferent both are.

Well that's all I have to say, Robot Carnival like any Carnival is a variety of fun.

Rating: 4 stars

A collection of tales concerning robots of all kinds, impressively animated with depth and feeling, ranging from action to dramatic stories.

A village awakens to the fact that a robot carnival might be coming into their area. In hurried horror the primitive villagers, eking out a difficult existence in some barren desert wasteland, attempt to hide themselves in their homes as the gargantuan traveling robot carnival machine comes rampaging through, cutting a swath, destroying everything in its celebratory path as fireworks go off, music erupts in harmony, and little robots dance and play.

In an obvious homage to FRANKENSTEIN, a mad scientist scrambles about in a desperate attempt to bring life to a robot in his laboratory. Just when all hope feels lost, the giant robot rises, but at a destructive cost. This one impressively shows a castle crumbling around the scientist as he joyfully cheers his creation "coming to life", until a devastating conclusion which follows a similar pattern as FRANKENSTEIN in that what one creates can be his own undoing.

In DEPRIVE a robotic protector will assume the form of a male superhero as he gallantly fights numerous mechanical foes in an attempt to rescue the little girl kidnapped by a tyrant who sent a mechanized army to invade a planet. This tale seems like energetic action clips from a series, assembled together, backed up with a pulsating accentuating the action.

In PRESENCE a lonely feminist/inventor, pining for a "real relationship", stymied by a family(career woman wife; daughter absorbed in her own little world) which doesn't seem to acknowledge his "presence", finds companionship with a female robot he has created, kept hidden in a home in the woods, who seems to be evolving past her programming, in essence "becoming human." When she(interesting enough)decides to "make the first move", the inventor, not used to any sort of "emotional human contact", from a sentient being or otherwise, he resists in an accidental outburst surfacing out of fear. We see as he ages the regret of this decision.

In STARLIGHT ANGEL, the setting an amusement park where robots are an essential part of the entertainment, a broken hearted teenager, who discovers that her boyfriend had betrayed her for a best friend, flees into a "robot ride" where she is rescued by an avenger as an ominous force attempts to capture her. The image of a star necklace is an indelible visual element used to superb effect as are the many different kinds of robots which show up in various forms(of course this is a constant, plenty of awe-inspiring mechanized beings, visually stimulating if you are a fan of robots and sci-fi stories containing them). Part of the story is a "robot entertainer" trying to return the teenage girl her necklace(which fell from her person while running through the park with her gal pal).

Layered with music STARLIGHT ANGEL is an example of most of the tales in this anthology, dialogue is of little importance, the animation, subtle nuances in the facial expressions, and action communicate the stories.

The musical arrangements, as applied in a "for instance" with CLOUD, are selectively appropriate for the emotional subject matter of each story. CLOUD simply follows a "robot boy" almost from his birth as he walks forward, the clouds above changing in shape and color during the travel. What makes this one interesting is that robot boy keeps his face forward while so much activity(the clouds actually take the form of people looking down upon him; a mushroom cloud develops and eventually disrupts the sky; we see space ships and hobbling rabbits moving about in the sky even)carries on as if he's drifting through life without noticing a thing--heck, even at one point lightning and rain pelt his body and he merely shakes off the effects. Eventually, though, robot boy turns around, quits drifting through life, and actually becomes a part of what he's been missing.

A crazed genius, operating a giant mechanical monster laying waste to a city, meets his match in a group of kids who have also created their own robotic titan in a battle which will decimate whatever lies in their wake. This one is cool in how it shows the opposing forces working throughout their robots, controlling the inner-workings and responsible for their actions and reactions.

Perhaps a metaphor in regards to technology overtaking us, a modern city is "infected by a mechanical disease", first started by a godlike robot towering overhead and later carried by a second, more mobile creature operating a flying contraption, blasting various areas with cybernetic beings rising to the surface carrying the close resemblance of insects. We follow one human man as he attempts to evade the mobile robot within a nightmarish mechanized assembly line creating more and more cybernetic creatures..through this maze of nuts and bolts, metal and wires, maybe only the human being can bring about the catastrophe needed before all hope is lost for mankind.

And as the Robot Carnival machine comes to a halt, we realize that the animated movie must to find its conclusion. What makes ROBOT CARNIVAL a dynamo are the grand variety of different styles of animation, the animators' own unique visual flourishes on display here for its audience to enjoy, no one story is alike which is welcome. Some are geared towards an adrenaline rush, other stories more melancholy, worth pondering and thinking about for a while.

For me the best parts of the anthology were "Presence" and "Cloud": Both were quite beautifully made and honestly I would love to see a full-lenght feature film inspired by those particular shorts.

The other segments were very nicely animated, and fun to watch.

"Chicken Man and Red Neck" was a neat homage to the Night on Bald Mountain segment from Fantasia.

The opening and ending segment directed by Katsuhiro Otomo were good too, and had a similar feeling to his short comics.

Personally, I think this anthology deliver what it promises: Don't expect a narrative-heavy film, much less expect it to be anything like "Akira". Instead enjoy it as some sort of atypical, fun ride, with some of the nicest animation the 80s could offer.