Voices of a Distant Star DVD

Mikako Nagamine and Noboru Terao are middle school friends on the verge of something more when Mikako receives her draft notice. Humanity is at war with an alien species called the Tarsians, and Mikako has been selected to pilot a Tracer mecha into deep space. As her fleet pursues the enemy further from Earth, the distance between her and Noboru grows in a way that physics makes permanent: at interstellar range, her text messages take months to arrive. Then years. Noboru receives a message from Mikako when she is still fifteen. He is now in high school. The next one reaches him as a young adult. Mikako's words cross the void unchanged while Noboru's life continues without her — and the question at the heart of the film is whether love can survive a distance measured not in miles but in time.

Voices of a Distant Star is a landmark 25-minute OVA created almost entirely by Makoto Shinkai working alone on a consumer-grade Power Mac G4 — writing, directing, animating, editing, and producing the film himself over roughly seven months. It premiered in Japan in February 2002 and became an immediate sensation, winning the Animation Kobe Award and the 2003 Seiun Award for Best Media. The original working version was voiced by Shinkai himself as Noboru and his then-fiancée Mika Shinohara as Mikako; a professional voice actor version was produced for the commercial DVD release. Both versions are included on the ADV Films North American DVD. The film established Shinkai's signature aesthetic — luminous skies, precise light, melancholy distance, Tenmon's piano score — and launched a career that would eventually produce Your Name and Weathering With You.

Released in North America by ADV Films on July 8, 2003. 

Notable Staff & Voice Talent

Director / Writer / Animator / Producer: Makoto Shinkai (Your Name, 5 Centimeters Per Second, Weathering With You)
Studio: CoMix Wave Inc.
Music: Tenmon

Japanese Cast (Professional Voice Actor Version):
- Sumi Mutoh as Mikako Nagamine (Jin-Roh)
- Chihiro Suzuki as Noboru Terao (Pilot Candidate, Steel Angel Kurumi)

Japanese Cast (Director's Cut / Original Version):
- Mika Shinohara as Mikako Nagamine (Shinkai's then-fiancée)
- Makoto Shinkai as Noboru Terao (the director himself)

English Dub Cast (ADV Films):
- Cynthia Martinez as Mikako Nagamine
- Adam Conlon as Noboru Terao
- Donna Burke as additional cast

DVD Features

- Main Film (Professional Voice Actor Version)
- Director's Cut with Original Vocals (Shinkai & Mika Shinohara)
- Three Versions of "She and Her Cat" — Shinkai's Earlier Animated Short
- Interview with Makoto Shinkai
- Original Production Animatics
- Four Original Japanese Trailers
- ADV Films Previews

Spoken Languages: English & Japanese Audio, English Subtitles

Edition Details

Japanese Title: ほしのこえ (Hoshi no Koe / The Voices of a Distant Star)
Runtime: ~25 Minutes (plus bonus short "She and Her Cat")
Director: Makoto Shinkai
DVD Release Year: 2003 (U.S. Release, July 8 — ADV Films)
Original Release Date (Japan): February 2, 2002
Publisher: ADV Films
Rating: 13+
Region: Region 1 (U.S. / Canada)
Genre: Sci-Fi, Romance, Drama
Themes: Interstellar Distance, Light-Year Romance, Text Messages Across Space, One-Man Production, Makoto Shinkai Debut OVA

Media assumed VG+ unless otherwise noted.