Expelled from Paradise

Zach Goodier

Expelled from Paradise is a feature-length anime film that follows the story of Angela Balzac, who serves as a security agent for DEVA: a virtual reality where most of the world’s population lives following a cataclysm that nearly killed off all of humanity. Angela is forced to leave her VR “paradise” to go down the ruins of earth, where one of the survivors on the surface has learned how to bypass DEVA’s security and gain access to the virtual world, and is believed to be an imminent threat to the Eden that they enjoy. On her mission, she is helped by one of DEVA’s contacts on the surface: Dingo. Dingo scratches out a life alongside many others on the surface in the ruins of the old world. He helps the pampered Angela cope with a life outside her paradise, where reality can be harsh and unyielding.

The story is very thematic, with most of the film’s central conflict centering around the hacker: Frontier Setter, who is hacking DEVA to ask the residents to join them on a journey to explore the cosmos. While there is that mystery, there is also a few scenes with mecha-style action to keep the excitement going, especially during the climax. However, this is mainly a character-driven story, and Angela and Dingo are squarely in the center. Their relationship never turns into a major love subplot, but they do challenge each other, especially when they discuss DEVA, and whether it is really the promised land that its inhabitants think it is.

I supposed you could say this has some dystopian themes, but it doesn’t play them off like most stories. DEVA is very rarely cast as a sinister empire, but merely as a personal story of Angela as she must adapt to the real world, and what changes that brings about for her, and how it changes her perception of what it means to be human at all. The world isn’t ending (again), there isn’t some evil scheme afoot to exterminate all humanity, it’s just a focused narrative that involves a journey of self-discovery and adventure, that touches on a lot of deeper themes without trying to force a particular perspective. As I said, some discussions challenge Angela’s belief that DEVA is a paradise for humanity, mostly by citing that even in the virtual world, reality has a way of following them, and influencing their lives.

The only major weak point to this movie are the clunky animation, that is computer generated, and the voice acting didn’t seem overly moving, despite all the important discussions that take place throughout. Action scenes are fast and exciting, but they don’t always look as smooth as you might expect after watching the big mecha series, like Gundam Wing or Code Geass.

Overall, this was an enjoyable movie that refreshes by not trying to make itself into some massive epic, but just taking an hour and 45 minutes to take the viewer on an enjoyable journey to try to discover what being human is all about, and just what it means to “evolve” to the next stage of humanity in a world that has already forsaken us.

Good:

-Interesting premise and conflict.

-Some interesting themes throughout.

-Doesn’t try to make itself too epic.

Bad:

-Animation is rather unimpressive, with some unimpressive models and movements.

Scully Rating: 8 out of 10