Shika no Ou: Yuna to Yakusoku no Tabi

Before discussing about each aspect of the movie, I'm gonna reiterate this - "This movie doesn't really belong & feels like a movie of 2021-22. Its a through & through late 80s or 90s movie in every way".

Now coming to the discussion about this movie, its gonna be broken into 5 broad aspects: Art & Animation, Sound, Character Development, Direction & Story;& Enjoyment.

Let's talk about art & animation. It doesn't really belong to a movie in 2021 or 2022. For a movie, its a through & through late 80s & 90s style. It has similar art style found in Ghibli movies of those times & ... even this studio's anime TV series of 2000s.

Moribito from same author has exactly same vibes in this department & others as well. Animation is smoother here than from those days. Guess something is improved afterall its 2020s.

In sound department, the studio has done a great job. Guess something really great comes with going the late 80s & 90s route. Unlike most movies & animes of 2020s, it doesn't ignore the background effects. One can even hear the sound of wind blowing, leaves & branches in scenes. In English Dub, VAs have done a very good job as well.

Character Development is good for a movie. The movie developes the relationship of characters quite well. It does a decently good job in creating a connection between viewers & main characters as well, though it could be a bit better.

The direction of the movie is just fine. Had it been a bit better, then impact of the movie would've been great. The pacing of the movie could've been a bit better. Infact the shortfall mentioned in the above para is a direct result of the direction issue. Story, otherwise, is quite good.

Apart from the few shortfalls that I noticed, the movie has been quite enjoyable for me. I would recommend giving it a shot.

For those, who loved animes like Moribito, Princess Mononoke, etc must watch this movie.

The Deer King is not like Princess Mononoke. It is not trying to be. It is not about the same things as Princess Mononoke. This movie has a character that rides a deer and there are wolves, but that does not make it the same. Don't let all the media-illiterate reviews drawing parallels between this movie and Princess Mononoke/Studio Ghibli movies bias your attempt to understand The Deer King. Trying to view it through that lens will just decrease your ability to understand it.

Pro:
Visually, this movie looks very good.

There is some interesting world building and a decent story.

Con:
The most glaring issue is that this is ... a series of novels packed into a single less-than-2-hour movie. The pacing makes a valiant effort and they tried to write the screenplay to get as much in there as they could, but it leaves a lot of the character development feeling skeletal. It also makes following the political backstory difficult. As a result the movie is a bit hollow and muddled.

A lot of characters suffer from the Studio IG "always on tranqs" problem. If you aren't familiar, IG often struggles to show emotion in the face and body language of its characters when it uses this “serious” art style. Your mileage may vary on how much it bothers you personally, but it probably contributes to why people struggle to connect with this movie.

I'm upset because this movie could have been great. However, it somehow managed to make me feel like I was watching a cheap imitation of itself.

Story: Awful pacing. They wanted to show a lot and didn't have the time. Also, this feels like someone not trying to copy other Ghibli films as much as someone who tried to learn from them and missed the mark. It was clear what every scene was trying to convey and how we were supposed to feel about the characters and that was the problem. This movie somehow managed to commit the tell not show error by showing too ... much. It was almost impressive. Additionally every scene switch felt weirdly jarring even when it was the same character just walking in one room to another to me. Reveals were misplaced and scenes used too many times, which also lent to the color by the number feel of this movie.

Art: Exquisite. We all knew that though. Without it, the cracks in this movie would be 10x clearer.

Sound: Beautiful music, however, like the story it felt awkwardly placed and sometimes too loud. It became music that said, you need to feel this now, instead of music that leant itself to the moment.

Character: I dislike Yuna almost solely based on the fact they tried so hard to get me to like her. Van was dull, they didn't quite figure out how to make him the tortured quiet heroic lead. The doctor gave me Howl vibes but ultimately seemed....unnecessary even though he most definitely was necessary. The female tracker was cool at first but also missed the mark with telling us exactly why she felt what she felt but also being vague? Her actions were at times inconsistent and not in a character growth kind of way. All in all, the characters had no room to breathe and come to life.

Enjoyment: I was angry watching this movie. I sat in the theatre lamenting on what this could have been. I was excited to see this had an R rating and even though I think they could have made it PG13 with what was shown, I appreciate the darker moments. In retrospect though, I look back and wonder if they may have not been confident in their ability to convey that darkness without showing it...

Overall, I think it was a decent movie that I won't watch again. It had the bones to be better. I think it could easily be redone by a different story teller or maybe the same person going back to the drawing board.