also known as ''The Wind of Amnesia'' in Australia and the United Kingdom, is a Japanese novel authored by

Hideyuki Kikuchi is a Japanese author known for his horror novels. His most famous works include the ''Vampire Hunter D'' series, ''Darkside Blues'' and ''Wicked City (novel), Wicked City''. Biography Kikuchi was born in Chōshi, Chiba, Chōshi, Japan on Septe ...

, originally published in 1983 by Asahi Sonorama. An

anime is a Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, , in Japan and in Ja ...

film adaptation by Madhouse was released theatrically on December 22, 1990, directed by Kazuo Yamazaki. An English adaptation of the film was produced and released by

Manga Entertainment Manga Entertainment was a producer, licensee, and distributor of anime in the United States and the United Kingdom. Originally founded in the UK in 1991, the UK branch became Funimation UK and Ireland in 2021, also currently known as Crunchyr ...

on home video in Australia and the UK and by

Central Park Media Central Park Media Corporation, often abbreviated as CPM, was an American multimedia entertainment company based in New York City, New York and was headquartered in the 250 West 57th Street building in Midtown Manhattan (on the corner of Centra ...

in North America.

Plot

In 1999, the world has been reduced to an apocalyptic wasteland due to an inexplicable gust of wind that wiped even the most basic memories, such as

speech Speech is the use of the human voice as a medium for language. Spoken language combines vowel and consonant sounds to form units of meaning like words, which belong to a language's lexicon. There are many different intentional speech acts, suc ...

and

civility Civility may denote orderly behavior and politeness. Historically, civility also meant training in the humanities. Developmental model Adolf G. Gundersen and Suzanne Goodney Lea developed a civility model grounded in empirical data that "stresse ...

, from the minds of the world's populace. Wataru befriends a young man named Johnny who, prior to the incident, was part of a government experiment designed to expand the memory capacity of the

human mind The mind is that which thinks, feels, perceives, imagines, remembers, and wills. It covers the totality of mental phenomena, including both conscious processes, through which an individual is aware of external and internal circumstances, ...

and, therefore, was able to retain his

memories Memory is the faculty of the mind by which data or information is Encoding (memory), encoded, stored, and retrieved when needed. It is the retention of information over time for the purpose of influencing future Action (philosophy), action. I ...

. Johnny helps Wataru regain his speech and teaches him other basic functions. However, as a result of the physical toll his body endured due to the government experiments, Johnny dies after encouraging Wataru to travel the world. Wataru encounters a strange woman named Sophia after she helps him escape from an encounter with an unmanned Police Mech Unit and agrees to take Sophia to New York City. Together the two travel to Los Angeles where they help save Sue and her father, Little John, from a mob. Sue was to be offered as a bride to appease a "god", which in reality is a Construction Mech controlled by a man, but fled to escape her fate. However, upon realizing that if she were not sacrificed another woman would be in her stead, she flees from the group to rejoin her tribe. Wataru destroys the Construction Mech but Sue is killed in the conflict. Little John remains in Los Angeles to keep order of the tribe and rebuild society. Wataru and Sophia resume their travels only to be attacked once more by the Police Mech. Sophia rescues Wataru and brings him to an advanced city called Eternal Town for medical attention. When Wataru regains consciousness, he discovers that the city is run by a super computer that has brainwashed two of its original citizens into running the day-to-day operations of the city. The super computer attempts to persuade Sophia and Wataru into becoming citizens as well but the two escape with one of the original citizens, Lisa. As they depart from the city, Lisa begins to recall memories from her past including the fact that the other citizen who was brainwashed into running the city was her father. As a result, Lisa decides to remain in Eternal Town. Sophia then explains that she is a member of an alien race that is responsible for the wind that erased Earth's citizens' memories. Sophia makes a wager with Wataru that if he is able to convince another person to join him in his travels, she will return humanity's memory. Wataru and Sophia are chased across the country by the unrelenting Police Mech until they reach New York City. Upon arriving, Wataru drops Sophia off in order to defeat the Police Mech by himself. After destroying the Police Mech, Sophia saves Wataru as he falls from a building. Sophia leaves in order to rejoin her race and convince them that humanity deserves to have their memories.

Novel

; Japanese Version *Title: *Writer:

*Artist:

Yoshitaka Amano is a Japanese visual artist, character designer, illustrator, a scenic designer for theatre and film, and a costume designer. He began his career in 1967 at Tatsunoko Production working on anime such as '' Speed Racer'' and later became the c ...

*Cover Artist:

*Publication Date: October 31, 1983 * ; English Version *Title: A Wind Named Amnesia/Invader Summer *Cover Artist:

*Publication Date: December 23, 2009 *

Film

Voice cast

Staff

*Original Novel/Story:

*Licensors:

Ltd. (Australia and UK) *Producer: Tadao Masumizu, Tomirou Kuriyama, Shin Seya *Executive producer: Kosuke Kuri *Director:

Kazuo Yamazaki is a Japanese retired professional wrestler, wrestling instructor and commentator who is known for his work in New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), and shoot-style promotions Universal Wrestling Federation (Japan), Universal Wrestling Federation (UWF ...

* Setting: Masao Maruyama *Script:

Yoshiaki Kawajiri is a Japanese writer, director, storyboard artist and animator. A co-founder of the anime studio Madhouse, he is best known as the director of '' Wicked City'', '' Ninja Scroll'', and '' Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust''. Biography Kawajiri was bo ...

& Kenji Kurata *Supervisors:

Rintaro is the pseudonym of , a well-known director of anime. He works frequently with the animation studio Madhouse (company), Madhouse (which he co-founded), though he is a freelance director not employed directly by any one studio. He began working ...

*Character Design: Satoru Makamura *Art Director: Koseki Mutsuo *Mechanical Design: Morifumi Naka *Design of “Guardian”:

*Production: Madhouse *Original Music: Hidenobu Takimoto &

Kazuhiko Toyama is a Japanese composer. Toyama is notable for creating music for '' Bikkuriman'', '' Cyber City Oedo 808'' and '' New Cutie Honey''. He is sometimes credited as Kazz Toyama. Music works *''Aconcagua'' *''Ai to ken Camelot: Mangaka Marina Time Sl ...

Reception

The film has garnered some praise years after its initial release. Raphael See of THEM Anime Reviews called the film a sleeper hit and "one of the best titles I've never heard of." Anime News Network in their review considered the film a classic, although noting the ending was weak. Bamboo Dong in her review wrote "Without a doubt, A Wind Named Amnesia is one of the most unique and creative post-apocalyptic tales ever woven. " Critics have praised the production values of the film, and generally considered it thought-provoking and cerebral. The original novel the film is based on has also recently received some praise.

Fred Patten Frederick Walter Patten (December 11, 1940 – November 12, 2018) was an American writer and historian known for his work in the science fiction, fantasy, anime, manga, and furry fandoms, where he gained great distinction through a substantial ...

regards the novel as being derivative of ''Rebirth'' by Thomas Calvert McClary.

Notes

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Wind Named Amnesia, A 1983 Japanese novels 1990 films 1990 anime films 1990 science fiction films Novels set in the 1990s Fiction set in 1999 Action novels Action anime and manga Adventure anime and manga Central Park Media Dark Horse Comics titles Japanese adventure novels Japanese post-apocalyptic films Drama anime and manga Madhouse (company) Mecha anime and manga Novels by Hideyuki Kikuchi Post-apocalyptic anime and manga Animated post-apocalyptic films Post-apocalyptic novels Fiction about amnesia Animated films set in the future Animated films set in the 1990s Animated films set in Los Angeles Animated films set in New York City Animated films set in San Francisco Animated films set in Washington, D.C.