From: 7100P%NAVPGS.BITNET@VTVM1.CC.VT.EDU (Jeff Siegel)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.anime
Subject: Re: The Spirit of Wonder  <SPOLIERS>
Date: 20 Jul 92 22:15:51 GMT
To: "Japanese animedia and other animation news." <ANIME-L@VTVM1.CC.VT.EDU>
 <att!cbnews!cbnewsl!conty@vtserf.cc.vt.edu>

>>>>>>>>>>>   SPOLIERS   <<<<<<<<<<<<<<

A not-so-quick synopsis based on a few brief screenings of the OVA:

Basically, SOW is a love story with an SF twist.  The story seems to
take place in Europe (England?) of the 1800's (?) and involves three
primary characters:

China -  An 18 year-old Chinese girl that runs a Chinese restaurant.
         She likes a watchmaker's assistant named Jim.

Jim - A precision craftsman, he is a watchmaker's assistant and is
      also helping the eccentric scientist/inventor Brekinridge with
      his latest project.  Jim likes China more than he lets himself
      admit to her and his actions suggest that of a close friend
      rather than someone in love.

Brekinridge - An eccentric scientist/inventor whose apartment/lab
              is located above China's restaurant.  I believe
              Brekinridge owns the entire building.  His relation-
              ship with China is pleasant (though sometimes his antics
              and research piss off China resulting in rather colorful
              and sometimes physical reactions on China's behalf) but the
              old man is a bit sukebe...

Synopsis:  While doing her daily shopping, China sees Jim
           talking to Lily, who runs a flower stand, and
gets jealous.  Her anger is clearly evident in the ice-cold greeting
she gives Jime when he arrives to go to Brekinridge's lab after finishing
work (to get upstairs, one has to go through the restaurant, where China
had been waiting for Jim to show up).  China wants to know what Jim is
hiding behind his back (a plain bag he had received from Lily that day)
and eventually grabs it.  Jim 'stuns' China by mentioning the bag had
something to do with China's upcoming birthday (I guess she was surprised
that Jim was thinking of her), grabs the bag back and runs upstairs.

Breckinridge is working on a novel way to get people on the Moon and Jim
is helping by especially by building miniturized components for the
device.  Later, Brekinridge is seen working with a tabletop model of his
device, which appears to use optics to create an identical 3-D image of a test
object (in this case the optical element is a mirror, and if you look
into a mirror, the reflected object appears the same distance behind the
mirror as the object is in front of the mirror).  An additional twist is
that the 3-D 'reflection' behaves as the test object, but not exactly (the
test object emits long sparks of electricity).

On a later day, Jim is again at Lily's flower stand and Lily hands Jim a
wrapped gift saying he should give it to China as a birthday gift (or
Jim had asked her to get a gift for him to give to China).  Lily seems
to understand how Jim truly feels towards China and seems to encourage
hime to express his true feelings to China.  That evening Jim is helping
China clean up the restaurant and he is acting mysterious (a'la "I've
got a secret") which has China confused.  China is still shows signs
of jealousy, but when they both finish their work, China pulls out
a bottle of whisky and a pair of cups and the two begin drinking.  Later
we see several empty bottles, and China's condition indicates where most
of the whisky has gone.  When John hands China the gift, she the alcohol
probably coupled with her lingering jealousy cause her to refuse it by
forcefully batting it out of Jim's hand.  Immidiately she falls into a deep
alcholol-aided sleep (or gently passed out).

Jim then goes upstairs and after talking with Brekinridge the two get
an idea.....  China wakes up in her room (courtesy of Jim or Brekinridge),
and when she opens her window and looks outside, she notices the moon has
"Happy Birthday to China" written on it.  She then realizes that Jim's gift
was sincere and that he did like her, and she runs downstairs to find the
gift.  Opening the damaged box confirmed her fears, the present, a ring, was
broken.  Later, in tears, she shows Jim what had happened to the present.
As Jim holds up the largest remaining portion of the ring, he gets an idea.
He isn't angry -- in fact he becomes elated and tells China to meet him
that night in a field near the restaurant.

Jim meets China and takes her to a remote area where Brekinridge
has set up a large set of panels in a circle, and next to the
circle of panels stood a telescope and some other equipment.  After
a little struggle with China who didn't want to be part of Brekinridge's
experiment, she yields and once the panels are powered up and the telescope
pointed at her a gigantic 3-D image of her floats at the focus of the
panels.  Brekinridge, in a cherry picker, raises himself to where he
can touch the image.  Being a bit sukebe, he pushes on one of her
breasts.  You see the same area on China herself depress as she
screams the traditional "Kyaa!"  Brekinridge's patting the image
on it's rump elicits the same response -- What happens to the
projected image happens to the original object and vice versa (when
China moves or yells "kyaa!" the 'big' China did the same.

Brekinridge then aims the telescope at the moon and China sits
on the 3-D image now floating at the center of the panels (the moon
still has "Happy Birthday to China" etched on it).  Jim
joins her and explains his true feelings to her.  While Jim talks
she nervously is drawing something in the lunar dust of the image
she's sitting on.  When the camera pulls back, you see China's
writing in addition to the birthday message.

I guess that Jim told China not to worry about the ring, since he
was going to give her a better ring.  China and Jim then get off the
moon image and Jim starts a machine that appears to be sending lots
of power to the moon image through leads running from the machine.  The
image begins to glow, but the machine starts sputtering, unable to
maintain the proper power level.  China is asked to complete the
process by taking a good martial arts kick at the image.  She agrees,
and the well placed kick causes the image, and thus the REAL moon
too, to collapse into itself and explode.  The resulting pyrotechnics
turn the night briefly into day.

The next morning, China goes outside (to a moonless sky...) and sees
the sunlight beautifully highlighting the dust ring that had formed
around the earth as a result of the moon going kerplooie.  Jim had
indeed given her a more beautiful ring.... (I think the ring was an
engagement ring)

The story ends with Jim working in the restaurant, China having to
kick in Brekinridge's door (again), and then a view of the dust ring
from China's room window that has a picture of China and Jim on the
ledge.

This synopsis could probably use refinement, but it should be close
enough for government work.  After I watch SoW a few more times I
should be able to come up with a better synopsis.

This OVA is well worth seeing, and you'll find the art to be unique and
very good - a very pleasant change of pace!


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