Throwback Thursday|Interstella 5555 (Daft Punk — Discovery)

February 21, 2019

Hello, hello BAYOG Fam~
I struggled to think about what to write for a TBT post. Then one day, I randomly had a Daft Punk song pop up in my head. It then reminded me of their Discovery album. “Wait…WTF Minty…?? What does that have anything to do with anime or gaming???” If you didn’t know, the music videos for the whole album make up an animated film~

The whole film itself is called インターステラ5555, or Interstella 5555: The 5tory of the 5ecret 5tar 5ystem. Also note that the “Interstella 5555” is read as, “Interstella Four Five”. “The 2003 Japanese-French animated film was basically the visual realization of Daft Punk’s Discovery album from 2001. Daft Punk worked with Toei Animation (Sailor Moon, Slam Dunk, Yu-Gi Oh!, Digimon Adventure, One Piece, etc.) and Leiji Matsumoto. Matsumoto created several manga and anime series as well; Notably Captain Harlock and Galaxy Express 999.

Interstella 5555: The 5tory of the 5ecret 5tar 5ystem

The plot basically centers around the abduction of a popular interstellar band. They’re brought to earth where they’ve had their appearances changed to look like humans. They’ve also had their memories changed as well. A space pilot hears the distress signal, and ends up on earth as he attempts to rescue them. The whole thing has no dialogue. There were some sound effects, but it was pretty minimal. The story is told purely through the animation and Daft Punk’s music. The animation style is basically the same as Matsumoto’s previous works. It has a very 70’s kind of style to it; Both in the animation and fashion style.

I remember absolutely loving Daft Punk’s Discovery album. I actually discovered Daft Punk and the songs from the music videos for Discovery. I specifically remember being at my grandparents’ home in Bangkok during summer break. I was watching TV and the music video for “Digital Love” came on. I loved anime since I was a kid, so I was instantly intrigued. I also really liked the music.

I remember seeing the videos for “Digital Love”, “Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger” and “One More Time” playing alot on Channel V and MTV that summer~ When I got back to the States, I remember going on the Toonami site to watch all the music videos too. I remember constantly rewatching it because I just really loved the music and videos. I also used to just play this in my CD player all the time. My favorite tracks had to be: “One More Time”, “Aerodynamic”, “One More Time”, “Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger”, and “Something About Us”.

Anways, here’s Interstella 5555~

Part One: Daft Punk — “One More Time”

Part Two: Daft Punk — “Aerodynamic”

Part Three: Daft Punk — “Digital Love”

Part Four: Daft Punk — “Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger”

Part Five: Daft Punk — “Crescendolls”

Part Six: Daft Punk — “Nightvision”

Part Seven: Daft Punk — “Superheroes”

Part Eight: Daft Punk — “High Life”

Part Nine: Daft Punk — “Something About Us”

Part Ten: Daft Punk — “Voyager”

Part Eleven: Daft Punk — “Veridis Quo”

Part Twelve: Daft Punk — “Short Circuit”

Part Thirteen: Daft Punk — “Face to Face”

Part Fourteen (End): Daft Punk — “Too Long”

I just found it fascinating that Daft Punk, being fans of anime, basically did an anime film for their whole album. It was definitely different and interesting. I admit, the story is a bit funny and silly to me at times. Still, I find it enjoyable and fascinating. It’s also pretty cute and funny to see that Daft Punk made a cameo in it as well. Have you seen Interstella 5555? What’s your favorite track and/or video?~