, and directed and co-written by Katsuhiro Otomo
, his second major anime release, following Akira
. The film was released in Japan on July 17, 2004. Steamboy is the most expensive full length Japanese animated movie made to date. Additionally, the film was in production for ten years and utilized more than 180,000 drawings and 440 CG cuts.
In 1863, where an alternate
nineteenth century Europe has made tremendous strides in steampunk
-themed technologies, scientist Lloyd Steam and his son Edward have succeeded, after a lengthy expedition, in discovering a pure mineral water.
Edward: Your grandfather and I were searching for a stable liquid with exceptional purity that was the key to achieving extreme pressure. Three years ago we found it in Iceland [ . . . ] In 1863 our effort broke through at last. We succeeded in containing the steam in a new way. That in extreme densities and extreme pressures.
Ray: Extreme densities and extreme pressures . . . Look that!
Scarlet: Must you gawk like that? This is nothing compared to Niagara falls.
Ray: That ball!
Edward: That's it, Ray. It's the first steamball we created. There are three of them now. We built them in Ireland and Alaska. Together they provide all the power of every machinery in this castle.
Ray: Steamball . . .
Edward: There have long been steam engines that is capable of high output. But all of them require enormous boilers and numerous cylinders and every one of them absorbs energy. And in every step the system loses its power that severely limited. But here lays above you, Ray, this system loses almost nothing from the source to function. And the function is almost without limiting.
Scarlet: All created with my family's money of course.
Edward: You know what this means, Ray? Can you imagine it? We mortals can take to the skies. The heavens themselves will be ours. Skies, depth of oceans, places mankind have [ . . . ] we can go there [ . . . ]
Scarlet: Take to the sky indeed. I already have two hot air balloons with my name on the sides, and my grandfather has a zepplin. [ . . . .]