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Wow. Pleasantly surprised.

PROS
-fresh take on "going back to the past" scenario. ReLIFE isn't about going back to fix your mistakes as much as it is about striving to impact those around you in a positive way and rediscovering inner confidence that may have been muddied by the harsh life of adulthood
-VERY likeable yet relatable protagonist. Don't be fooled by his NEET label he's put on in the beginning. He's not creepy or treats the world as eroge. He's just a normal dude
-makes strong efforts to drive the plot in interesting ways. Doesn't always succeed but the work is clearly shown. I thought all the aspects ... of this premise that they could explore within 13 episodes, they DID. kudos
-pace does not drag and it's clear the creators are aware of annoying tropes about romance anime and manages to circumvent most of them

CONS
-music was less than mediocre and often times feels misused
-..
..

honestly, haven't felt this excited to write a review about anime in a while. really impressed.

score: 7.5

* main problem: played too safe. At this point, pixar and disney movies have gotten farther in covering mature topics and "going there" in terms of plot and story to appeal to more mature audience. This movie is almost exclusively kids in terms of tone and where the story went.
* beautiful animation: almost up to "garden of words" level of visual appeal.
* underwhelming music, esp. when compared to wolf children
* underdeveloped characters, make confusing choices
* poorly realized conflict/antagonist
* so many potential themes to explore yet barely scratched the surface for many of them (e.g. beast vs man relationship)

overall, I have 2 feelings: ... played too safe and lost opportunities. His debut film was so well done and wolf children slowly became one of my favorites with multiple viewings. Coming into this film with high expectations, I feel that he dropped the ball on this one in terms of story and emotional impact. He could've done way better.

quick review:
-please check what a "7" means in general in the profile
*stylistically as expected from anohana
* more anohana influence than toradora
* not as impactful in terms of emotion
* some themes and its incorporation awkward or not developed
* ending of the characters seemed forced, unearned
* could've benefited from focusing on one aspect instead of trying to cover everything about teen's life (love, family, communication, friends,...)
* music wasn't up to par for it being a movie about musicals, liked Japanese incorporation into classic songs

I guess my opinion about this film was based on pretty high expectations as Anohana is one of my favorite series of all ... time. With lowered expectation, you could enjoy it more. After seeing it however, I think watching Anohana twice would've been a better experience than watching this film. As it says in my profile, "no regret in watching it, but FOMO was the only driver that convinced me to watch the series and I would've been fine never having watched this. "



high expectations...
* feels like i wouldnt have missed out on anything by not watching it

why is it that you see words like "dark" "gritty" "horrific" describing this manga when it is a superbly articulate description of a teenager's life and emotions? The first word that describes this aptly should be "real." And the fact that our intuition spits out words like "dark" I think reflects on how much romanticized versions of fantasy we're shown every day.

One thing I can't call this manga is completely original. It reminded me very much of welcome to the NHK and Arigatou in its early stories of dysfunctional family, cult, commentary on Japanese culture/society. The character introductions in punpun was almost cliche disappointingly with ... the divorced family and moody protagonist. However, the author shine light into more fresh ventures of the human psyche through other characters and also does a great job overtime showing the thoughts of the MC: by far the strongest aspect of oyasumi punpun is the detailed way he develops and explains punpun's psyche. It is a challenging task to be articulate enough to portray a person's thought to the readers without making it seem pointless and boring but he succeeds. For example, there is a chapter dedicated to punpun describing a mundane day that really hits home. It is truly a depressing manga in that it begins to unravel in your head and show you that, there are indeed lots of reasons to want to be isolated and depressed in this world. And that's the beauty of this manga: it doesn't just put "depression" on a pedestal and throw out sad pictures and demand readers to feel stuff. It focuses first on being relatable, which then makes a powerful connection with the reader. Not to be egotistical, but I think a more perceptive mind can relate on a visceral level of how punpun thinks, and there are so many quotables in punpun's inner dialogue you can't help but be impressed.

I do have some issues. First, I didn't care for the subplot that gets introduced. Its introduction was intriguing but it stays relatively stagnant in its development and ultimately comes to a conclusion which I felt was un-earned. Also, the latter of the story gets a little bit hyper-realistic in a NHK-ish way or the first half of arigatou-way that I was somewhat thrown off by, especially because the author does such a great job mostly in keeping the story grounded. To me, I wouldn't call it a cheap shot, but it felt like more convenient ways to raise drama and resolve the plot which I wasn't a fan of. With that said, I'll admit I probably will never be able to fully appreciate everything the mangaka tried to do here.

But ultimately, in terms of the entertainment, it's there. And the art? mesmerizing. In my head, the style is like a mix between Ito Junji and Sui Ishida. It's one of those manga that shows you that drawing really is a strategic technique. Where you place the dialogue bubbles, what scenes you choose to draw, what aspects of the character you choose to mess with--it's all important to create manga as an art and to be able to show that to novices is quite admirable. Personally, I also liked the style because it resembles (especially background art) normal Japanese people and setting which helps in grounding the story.There is a glaring gimmick in this manga but the mangaka does justify it for they still emote powerfully and uses it to demonstrate meaningful states of mind especially towards the latter.

I am glad I read this. It's a manga that doesn't PRETEND to be deep and serious with BUZZ WORDS and situations like alienation, depressions, loneliness, love, hate. It actually IS and goes into the surface in most of the time. There are definietly some food-for-though quotables here and one of the very very few manga that I visit again to really think about what the author meant. Like I said, if anything, I think the psychological journey of the protagonist is great.

When reading negative reviews, I can't help but think that some of these reviewers forget: anime is ultimately supposed to be entertaining. Movies, tv shows, and anime all fall under "entertainment" bracket for a reason. If your biggest priority in what you look for in anime is moral epiphanies or life-changing lessons, you're often going to be disappointed. You're much better off reading books, listening to lectures, or experiencing more real life events. Not to say that anime or movies can't give you education or culture, but if a visual medium is not entertaining, it's not a good anime/movie/w/e regardless of its conscious message. Steins;gate ... is entertaining.

At this point, to make this review worth reading, I want to address what people don't like about it, the most significant one being its slow start and trope characters. I think most people acknowledge it handles the plot that actually deals with time travel well which I agree considering how heavily scrutinized every film about time travel is. As for its flaws--what can I say--it didn't bother me as much as the people who hated it, and at that point, good or bad score depends on how bothered each viewer was by this. I mention it b/c I don't think it would be as bothersome if they came to terms with what anime is about.

I'm not someone who has watched anime all my life. As a relative "outsider" therefore, it's easy to see the unique "charm" (perhaps comparative advantage) of anime that makes me go back to this niche every now and then. I hardly approach modern sci-fi anime with a stern "Minority Report" tone or "Blade Runner" tone because it's the inherent silliness of some characters in anime that I precisely appreciate and what I think stands out versus other visual medium. And that to me was what the first half of steins;gate was about. More importantly, I didn't think Okabe Rintarou was a cookie-cutter protagonist. I thought he was developed well and, towards the end, it really showed that the whole show focused more on Okabe's mental toll of dealing with time travel and his perspective on what is worth changing vs not about ourselves rather than any social commentary or a cautionary tale about time travel itself. As for the other characters, even though they succumb to "tropes," I thought the show made them much more iconic than in other shows. In other words, they entertained and did their purpose as supporting characters. Memorably. One thing that fell under radar is how they cleverly "showed" character development by not showing it--when you realize that time travel can change a character by superseding or deleting their past and future, it's quite powerful especially through Okabe's perspective. So for me, I enjoyed the second half like most people, but I also had a fun time with the first half as well, mostly b/c it matched my expectations of what anime entails.

Needless to say, the second half of Steins;gate is compelling. Anime as a whole (especially shonen) usually pulls more deux ex machina than I can handle, but I thought Steins;gate had one of the least forced climax and resolution in a while, precisely due to its impeccable groundwork. It certainly explores the uncomfortable truths of time travel but it never forgets to be quite personal even while maintaining a grander purpose. You'd be surprised how easy it is to be lost in bland butterfly effect fiascos and "save the world" cliches in time travel stories.

As for soundtrack and animation, it has 2 or 3 gems that fits the show well overall and, as stated in my profile, I don't really look into animation much when assessing anime unless it's terrible, which wasn't the case for steins;gate imo.

Ultimately, I personally think Steins;gate, like other popular anime, suffers from unfair criticism. It's expected--every action meets an opposite reaction. Wouldn't necessarily call it nitpicking, but some people enforce much heavier impact on the "negative" things about steins;gate when grading while ignoring the many things it got right. Point by point, I think Steins;gate is one of a kind.

Summer Wars felt like an attempt to make a Western friendly anime film gone wrong.

The girl who leapt through time, as shown by my review, is a favorite of mine. Its most well executed aspect is how grounded it was with real AND likable characters while knowing the limits of its universe. Here, my favorite part of Summer Wars is its real nostalgic portrayal of a big family gathering. Other than that, this film recognizes the limits, yet tries to forcefully go above it and ultimately fails.

From the get-go, there are questionable settings that raise enough eyebrow to take you out the experience. The re-imagination ... of the Internet in OZ is not realistic in the fundamental sense. I understand liberties taken for fantasy, but the point of it being a WEB, and maintaining net neutrality is the very aspect of Internet that could've been more interesting to explore. Also, the MC's story begins as he is invited into a large family for an upcoming birthday. Anyone who has been in this situation knows just how awkward this is, especially around the middle of movie. It made the drama and the emotional punch so much harder to grasp. These are just few things that take you out of this universe. Like I said, I understand the cinematic liberties taken, but truthfully, what gives any fantasy a compelling edge is actually the strong parallels it holds to the real world. Usually, anime has great premise/story but disappoints in plot and characters. Imo, Summer Wars already went in with story problems.

Unfortunately, the characters and the plot suffer as well. Most obviously, the large cast dilutes development which forces scenes that try too hard to give characters tasks something to do to in-your-face show that they have purpose. This wouldn't bother as much if this wasn't applied to the MC's as well. Neither the male or the female MC is developed well; in fact, the whole story is so overwhelmed by developing the existential conflict that they seem almost 1-dimensional. There are no compelling choices or dialogues and some scenes just feel out of place. Overall, what plagued the plot and the characters is that the film focused too much on this new conflict which I think was the wrong priority. It made the ending un-earned, not to mention its digimon rip-off plot that many are aware of and the uninspired "x brings the world together" approach.

Hosoda never WOW'ed me with OSTs and, out of wolf children, TGWLTT, and this, Summer Wars had the least inspired OST.

Last thing is to address people who love the film. I disagree with most of them because many warrants this film good rating by it being "layered" with venturing of many themes like family, identity, technology etc. I've seen one that went as far as to say that it's a "cautionary tale of AI ." This is not a spoiler because it's not. It's as much of a movie that delves into artificial intelligence as it is a movie about trees simply because the setting is in the country. Having or mentioning something does not make it a film that truly DISCUSSES that topic. And that's another big problem. The movie just scratches the surface of so many topics that had potential to be compelling.

In conclusion, I don't recommend this film because, not only does it not have much emotional power, but you also don't come out having a deeper understanding of any theme that this film was trying to promote. And that's misleading. There are many better films that discusses the topic that this movie thinks it's doing. The Godfather series & Bong Joon Ho's Mother--THAT's films about family. Princess Mononoke--THAT's a film about our relationship with nature. Blade Runner & psycho pass--THAT's a film/series about technology. To his defense however, I guess that's the way it has to be. His whole brand is built on Disney-esque atmosphere that prevents him from exploring certain topics after a limit. The thing is, I think you have to delve into almost uncomfortable aspects of anything to find compelling art these days. But that's not the option for everyone.

An authentic, quirky, and nostalgic slice of life anime.

Now, I wouldn't necessarily "recommend" Azumanga Daioh. For viewers who are fatigued of high school settings and slice of life anime, this won't change anyone's mind about the genre. If you had a chance to watch, great; if not, that's ok too.

But as a 90's kid, this was the Napoleon Dynamite of anime for me. It was the first time I was exposed to such enigmatic dispositions in an anime. The beginning is slow and the part of the "problem" throughout the series is its lack of a compelling plot. But the story picks up when Chiyo ... shows up, and to me, a true slice of life anime was never really about epiphanies and emotional maturing--it's simply about putting a group of characters in a setting and see if it generates entertainment. In that regards, it does what it's supposed to do. I personally thought it handles the mannerisms of an awkward character really well that doesn't seem forced or ...well awkward-- especially compared to more current slice of life.

Azumanga does stand out in parts. It has an adorable OP and soundtrack (if I had to compare, it resembles Oreimo's OST) and, like FMP fumoffu, Azumanga imo is good at presenting some of the more memorable, iconic, and funny scenes and dialogues for a SOL.

Ultimately, my score's an 8.5; I can't give a 9 or a 10 especially because this anime doesn't stand the test of time in modern culture as people (at least Western audiences) now find appeal in more compelling plot and stories. Also, like Napoleon Dynamite, I think the humor commits so that only certain people will find it funny. It worked on me and it's a series that has a high personal re-watch value. I consider Azumanga Daioh as one of the OG's when it comes to its pertaining genre.

Arigatou is unapologetically gounded, brave, and progressive.

First of all, I think the sex scenes turned some people off into giving lower ratings than it deserves. This resembles Welcome to the NHK in that it's a story of flawed protagonists. Imo, the first half is entertaining, but the second half is coherent. The first half suffers from forced plot driving with awkward conflicts and dialogues that seem ridiculous at first. But honestly, that was a huge part of the entertainment in reading it that kept me going.

The farther along you get into the 2nd half, the pieces add together that really humanize the characters and ... reflect the current social problems of Japan. The events then became less ludicrous (unfortunately less entertaining, but the balance needed to be there I guess).

Overall, the story handles humor surprisingly well. My favorite part of the story is consistency. People get way too narrow-minded in "character development" into thinking that characters must change to be compelling. This manga is a great example that shows that "character consistency," or the understanding of someone by seeing how consistently he/she sticks to the guiding principles in tough situations, is a powerful way to humanize fiction as well. This can seem foolish, goofy, powerful, etc. But it was hardly ever boring.

I personally liked the art style despite its age but I can understand if others don't.

In conclusion, not a revolutionary character study, but Arigatou is a mediocre premise executed very well.

Highly recommend b/c it's the most sophisticated coming of age anime that I've encountered yet. Western viewers easing into anime should watch anime films first before series because there are more palatable gems in movies than in series imo.

PROS
-realistic and VERY likable main cast/personalities. No extremes like tsundere-moe dichotomy or goodie two shoes. Trio baseball get-togethers are fun to watch, not expositional
-confident female protagonist--pro b/c it's a rarity to have a great one w/out making her seem rude/conceited
-relative lack of pillow shots which plot and pace-driven viewers can appreciate
-transitioned Makoto's adjustment to time leaping in a concise, humorous, and appropriate way to development. ... Props b/c this is hard to do--even in Steins;gate, I felt that some of the time leap sequences were slow and boring
-nail biting climax. Having watched this after wolf children, honestly wasn't sure what Hosoda was going to do.
-STRONG POINT: the film KNOWS its limits and works within its boundaries. It doesn't try to take the butterfly effect to tremendous, unnecessary proportions like world war 4 or politics or pretentious philosophy. Hosoda's message is clear and focused. The element of time leap is humorous and more importantly relevant to the protagonist. Yes it contains anime "tropes:" high school, friendship, and romance, but is it cliche? absolutely not, and almost no elements felt shoehorned. And this is great: sticking to a tradition shouldn't be dismissed as cliche. A great deal of it is what makes anime anime.
-loved the ending: Hosoda executes a tricky element in which he doesn't reveal everything about the story but doesn't make it feel inconclusive or incomplete. This was no gimmick of leaving it ambiguous for the sake of it. I think it was executed perfectly. The conclusion was frustrating >< but mature, honest, and understandable.
-Hosoda reveals a very underrated and particular message about maturity and young people--look for it!
-music wasn't amazing and couldn't find a piece that I think stands strongly on its own. But it works within the parameters of the film.

CONS (virtually nothing major)
-all stories dealing with time leaping does have some illogical inconsistencies when you start to deconstruct it
-some elements came to me suddenly but I got on board
-was not a fan of his animation style in wolf children but slowly becoming one

Ultimately, I liked Girl who leapt through time better than wolf children. In both movies, the themes/lessons aren't anything ground breaking, but takes a fantastical element and uses it to depict real/relevant messages. This movie was, to use the perfect adjective, breathtaking. I'm thoroughly impressed for its hard to find a film that has both great entertainment and a message that I can take away for a long time. I'll leave this at a 9 but the future me (no pun intended) might change it to a 10. I see now why people are paying attention to Hosoda. He might be a catalyst that fuses the eastern and western story telling forms to make globally appreciated films in his prime.

Feel free to read the analysis on what I thought the take away message was about its coming of age theme

END OF REVIEW

WARNING: SPOILERS in the analysis.

Notice that blunders and borderline tragedies occurred when she ironically tried to "help" others and by extension ignored/disregarded her own desires. This seems cruel and counter-intuitive at first: Shoudln't selflessness trump selfishness? Well, I think what Hosoda wanted to show through Makoto's story was that, even if you have good intentions, when you launch into action without wisdom, it can unfortunately harm others and yourself. Even though we may THINK we're doing "good," our young, still-tunnel vision of the world may not know the consequences. Through this film, I think Hosoda values practicing introspection in youth as opposed to blindly helping others, especially at the cost of ignoring your own enlightenment. Of course, he showed the consequences of premature decision making in a VERY dramatic way but he has a point here. At the end, Makoto finally confronts herself and others about her honest feelings towards Chiaki and, even though it doesn't work out perfectly, there is definite emotional closure and finally launches her passion for the future. And because of this underrated message, the conclusion doesn't feel like a duex ex machina--it instead makes perfect sense. Respect and understand what YOU want, for it is a way of helping others find their way as well. This is not a new idea, but certainly hits home and he shows it with finesse. And that's what I love about it. It's not a grand social commentary on the dangers of time leaping or butterfly effect or overarching philosophy. Hosoda was focused and very clear from the beginning about what he wanted to present.

Currently, Grave of the Fireflies has reached "Akira status" in that it's a huge black mark on your credibility as an anime reviewer if you didn't watch it due to the influence it had in the 90's til today. Like Akira, by today's standards of storytelling in cinema/TV/anime, this 1988 film is a classic, but cannot in good conscience be considered perfect. But it left an impression in me, especially in the realism of the tragedy depicted.

In GOTF, Takahata explains WHY wars are problematic and WHY death of children matters in his perspective in a way that extends beyond the obvious.

The story is simple: ... it's about two kids adjusting their lives during WWII. Takahata reveals the conclusion of the film in the first scene; the key then is to pay attention because he throws copious symbolism and metaphors throughout the film.

PROS
-concise: fairly short film; focuses on the 2 mc's well and does not attempt to bite more than it could chew with preachy anti-war chants or vilification of one or the other
-symbolisms are compelling yet easy enough for WWII non-experts to pick up on first viewing. this is the strongest aspect of the film imo
-fleshed out relationship between the two MCs
-brings out "comprehensiveness" of anime with detailed scenes of their lifestyle (you'll appreciate it WAY more if you're familiar with older Asian cinema and culture, especially the last "3 candy")
-real depiction of people: there are no angel/demon characters here--just humans. The MC's are questionable as well in many ways besides the obvious "poor people will do X to survive"
-my FAVORITE part about kid protagonist animes: "kids actually stay kids"--they don't suddenly spew out mind-blowing, Plato dialogues when climax asks for it; they don't suddenly become adults after a hardship; they don't preach us with moral opinions

CONS
-by today's standards, multiple instances where I thought the film could've added more dialogue and development to the character, especially Seita
-relative to studio ghibli standards, music wasn't amazing nor memorable, and thought it was even misused at some parts
-basically had problems due to its relative age but I do hold their shortcomings accountable because other older films like Ghost in the Shell imo still stand on par with today's anime no problem in terms of story and animation quality

Ultimately, this film is not one of the "best" anime that I've seen as someone who often seeks for creative and compelling story. BUT I do feel the absolute necessity to state: Perhaps Isao Takahata wanted this film to cater to a different demographic in 1988. The Wind Rises is considered by some as one of the lesser films due to lack of wild imagination prevalent in Howls Moving Castle or Spirited Away. Yet Miyazaki stated that Wind Rises was his ONLY film that brought tears to his eyes. He clearly did not make that film to cater to our demands; it was more a personal film for himself, his youthful desire to serve the Imperial Army, and his contemporary Japanese citizens. What I'm saying is: Takahata, Miyazaki, and Studio Ghbli does NOT "owe" us anything. Regardless of how much you choose to think about this film, you'll hate it if you watch it with an inflated ego.

I debated between an 8 or a 9, but I decided that, objectively, the film's impact and cultural significance should NOT be considered when reviewing it. Feel free to read my analysis that discuss the particular symbolism and overarching messages behind the tragedy after the viewing.

In the end, I see no reason other than for credibility why one should watch this film if WWII is not a topic he/she's interested in. My reason: highschool lit professor told me that, to learn about a group of people, rather than reading their history books, it's more vividly realized when you engage in their films, music, language, and stories--GOTF is an excellent example of that.

END OF REVIEW

WARNING: ANALYSIS SPOILS THIS FILM & THE END OF THE WIND RISES
Points to address in detail about GOTF in conjunction with another relevant film, the Wind Rises

-The danger of interconnecting nationalism/pride with human lives:
As hard as it is to admit, Seita and Setsuko signed their death warrant when they ignored the farmer's advice to "swallow their pride and ask for their aunt's forgiveness." To me, the parallel was clear: the Japanese army and their "brave" kamikazes represent resolve and pride. Yet that same tenacity resulted in atomic bombings that crushed lives and hopes of many with unhealed scars still engraved in history. At the end, Takahata asks: is this worth it?
Another danger of nationalism is that it rationalizes merciless killings. Air raids and bombings were a motif that engages in indiscriminate killings of innocent lives (children or women or men) but with discrimination of an entire group of population and human beings as "evil" enemies just because of their skin color. Notice this is NOT solely a critique on Americans. Seita curses US for bringing war and death to his father, yet he's not mature enough to ask: But what about Pearl Harbor? What about THEIR friends? What bout THEIR family? (shout out to Pain) Wars breed anger so blinding that it conceals what may be truly important.
Notice the biggest irony in the end: Seita and Setsuku's prideful independence from his aunt ends with her starving alone to death and him starving as a beggar disgusted by his OWN PEOPLE. Once again, he asks: Pride. Is it worth it?

-Seita and Setsuko aren't angels--they're kids:
I loved how Takahata was careful to not let their sudden poverty make them automatically humble and with complete humility. Seita smirks at having outsmarted familes screaming/running from bombings and stealing their belongings even though he might've robbed their chance of acquiring sustenance. Setsuko does not yet understand her situation and causes unreasonable demands and troubles for his brother. They didn't ration foods very well. I think if Takahata wanted to, Seita would've had a truthful, momentary rant on his sister being a burden. One of the saddest parts for me was how well he presented the unawarenss of children. This brings me back to when people criticized Jiro in TWR (the wind rises) for being aloof and seemingly not affected by the things that were occurring around him--I disagree. I think it's more that he HAD to live on so that he didn't have time to mourn or be introspective. Similar case here imo: To the eyes of these children, life moved on at a pace so fast that they didn't have the luxury to be aware to even mourn about their situation or their family most of the time.

-In defense of the aunt (symbol of selling kimono):
Many younger viewers see the aunt as a cold-hearted person who abandoned the kids. I on the other hand totally understand. Emotionally and even biologically, the difference in the affection that your mother has towards you vs any other relative is usually night/day big. If you didn't give birth to them, why should you feel responsible? Especially at a time like this? This is not cruel, but just the way it works. When Seito sold his mother's kimono: it was a foreshadowing that the affection that they used to have has faded, and that they are in fact, alone in this world.

-Fireflies:
Seito went out of his way to avoid showing Setsuku dead people, but it only took her looking at a dead pile of fireflies to question the very premise of war: DEATH. "Why are their lives so short?" she asks. At the same time, Seito parallels their grave with the grave of the dead people piled on like fireflies. "Why did their lives have to be shortened?" I think he asks. This is compelling because this scene was followed after Seito's chant of the nationalist navy song the night before thinking about his father and the imperial army. Despite such pride in his father and country, after seeing dead fireflies, and by extension, people's deaths, while wars seemingly are inevitable, Seito begins to think that there is something off and inhuman about the nature of wars. What part of war exactly justifies that pile of death? Takahata never answers the question.


-All death≠tragedy. so WHY is this a tragedy?:
Personally, two aspects of GOTF make this a compelling tragedy.

First, the last scene: The ghosts of Seito and Setsuku seem like they are FINALLY at peace. Takahata thinks that these kids are better off in their after life than here. This contrasts specially with the ending of TWR as the climactic message said by Jiro's wife is for him to LIVE. No matter what happens, no matter the "wind that rises" that may distort the course of your passion into military/war/death, one must LIVE. Takahata is saying the opposite--that some times, under certain circumstances, it's better to let go. I think we can all think of moments in our lives worth living for despite the negativity and the work that we must dedicate in this world. However, these two kids were so pressured and bullied by survival and war that they died never having felt that imo.

Second, Takahata shows that childrens' death is a tragedy--not because they are simply "children." Seito truly tried his best to live in this world. Yet children need support before they become independent. In this film, that hope that one could cling on to, his parents, his sister, the community...everything was destroyed, literally and emotionally by war. Killing children is wrong because they, in a very real way, represent the future--the hope of a better tomorrow. But they can't do it by themselves.