Swept far from their hometown of Jeeha village, the shy Simon and heroic Kamina find themselves in a parallel universe where things aren’t quite as they seem. From a gun-toting cowboy scene in southern America, the boys soon find themselves fighting the busty Yoko in a fantasy world. Set to a pumping soundtrack, the team travel through time experiencing everything from the surreal to the chibi, meeting some familiar faces along the way.
A little girl witnesses a plane land, and is given a glass of water which she must fight to protect. Against mecha, green lizards and even the spaceship Enterprise, the girl struggles to get the water to a daikon radish… which turns into a giant spaceship! After she is all grown up, the girl continues to battle stormtroopers and a variety of other science fiction characters, with the help of a light saber sword!
Granted, Parallel Works mostly 'works' if one is familiar with the series it's based on, but otherwise these are two brief and excessively cool shorts from Studio Gainax. Daicon IV in particular, with its pop music and ludricously excessive action, is a rather nice fit for fans of the Parallel Works - and vice versa.
Four touching and intriguing stories are set to a backdrop of different songs: a futuristic cop patrols the streets to fight against crime; a girl experiences an out-of-this-world vision of the world after ingesting a variety of pills; a badass battling chick fights her way to happiness and manages to stoke the flame of love; and two lovers meet and exchange a beautiful rose.
Watching Parallel Works reminded me of many Studio 4C's visual experiments. Stunning music, gorgeous artwork and a suprising compelling storyline in a music video a few minutes long make these two creations the perfect partners for each other.
Both are highly recommended, as well as 4C's other flirtations with music.