'Angel's Egg' still astounds over four decades after its original release.

Tokuma Shoten, Pony Canyon

While I was a little late to the party on this one, I’ve finally managed to see the new 4K remaster of Angel’s Egg in the theater, and it was genuinely wondrous.

Angel’s Egg is an oddity even within OVA circles. A somewhat post-apocalyptic tale, Angel’s Egg is very much an anime for anime’s sake. While there is a semblance of a narrative, it’s more of an expressionistic work rather than a plot-driven one.

Directed by Mamoru Oshii, Angel’s Egg has always been one of his stand-out anime, and coupled with gorgeous art direction by the renowned Yoshitaka Amano, you end up with a decidedly bleak yet hauntingly beautiful anime that’s really unlike anything else.

It broadly tells the tale of a young girl who is nurturing a large egg in a grey and ruined land. Only to meet a mysterious man who is fascinated by her egg and what it may contain. It also references elements from the story of Noah’s Ark, except in this version the bird never found land, and the final shot of the anime shows the landmass it’s set upon to be the upturned hull of an enormous ship.

If you were expecting a succinct and clearly defined narrative, then Angel’s Egg will leave you confused and frustrated. However, if you are more open-minded and take in the overall tone of the piece, it somehow finds its own symmetry.

While I’ve watched Angel’s Egg numerous times over the years, from VHS versions to DVD releases, this was the first time I saw it theatrically and remastered in 4K.

To say that the image quality on this 4K remaster was pristine doesn’t really do it justice; suffice to say, you get to watch art in motion, and it’s a wonderful thing to behold.

The new remaster also covers the audio, and the occasionally atonal musical score by Yoshihiro Kanno still grips me the same way it always has. While much is rightly praised about Angel’s Egg’s visual beauty, much of its haunting charm also comes from its gorgeous musical score.

I even think that Angel’s Egg was one of the first anime music CD’s I bought back when I was a teenager, so for me, the music is as big a part of the anime as its visuals are.

The good news here is that this 4K remaster is available on Blu-ray and can be imported from Amazon Japan, as this release also includes English subtitles.

In any case, I’m glad I finally got to see Angel’s Egg theatrically, and thanks go to the team at Shin Bugeiza and Pony Canyon for letting me attend the screening.

Follow me on X, Facebook and YouTube. I also manage Mecha Damashii and am currently writing regular columns in Japanese about mecha games and mecha anime for both Game*Spark and Automaton.