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Nov 6, 2017
Script - A boy learns magic to defeat an evil witch. It's a simplistic black and white tale that only children would appreciate in terms of writing. Historic anachronism isn't something I'm a fan of and the film surely had value for its time, where japanese people were still trying to restore their cultural pride. But it's simply unavoidable to not ignore the silliness in which the plot is based. The protagonist goes after the witch and means to defeat her because she harmed one of his animal friends, but instead of facing a specific struggle, everything is quite easy if you think about it.
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Apparently, he has the talent, the bravery and intelligence to do as he wants and, at the end, everything is solved without a drop of poignancy whatsoever. It has a way more natural dialogue than its predecessor Hakujaden and the pacing is also faster and will probably not bore one to death, but that also doesn't help beyond it not staying more than necessary. Some stories simply age better, some don't. Time is cruel and simplism is not by far my cup of tea, regardless of period.
Cinematography - Considering its predecessor for some reason is more famous and regarded, I must say it's actually better visually than Hakujaden. The faces are thin and sometimes very weird, but overall the care is notable and impressive most of the time. It's a movie and it was surely ambitious technically speaking. The movements are more natural than Hakujaden as well and less idealized. Good stuff.
Sound - The voices are ok for its time. They're less annoying and more tuned to the mood of the show. Forced, but not bad for sure. The soundtrack is fine, the sound effects are actually very good, and I was surprised. It's common to hear a lot of buzzes and outplaced tracks here and there, so it's a plus.
1234 - I prefer not to nitpick about this, I feel like it's a waste of my time. Whatever I've noticed as flawed or weak is not gonna pass unnoticed by anyone else. However, something that always bugs me and for some reason persists until this very day is the lack of interest in subverting the trope 'ugly bastard'. Seriously, it's impossible to imagine a show from the time doing something out of the rule 'good is pretty, bad is ugly' and honestly, something like that is what could have made this show a lot better. Wanna make a faithful adaptation, cool, but you can change some minor details in order to surprise your viewers as long they make sense. Try it.
This is a show you can watch and will probably not be a bad experience, but time has ruined its intent. Its moral values and messages are as poignant as the more mediocre Disney movie ever and besides the aesthetics, there's nothing to it at all. Still, I respect the ambition and understand the intent pretty well. The End.
Reviewer’s Rating: 5
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Oct 31, 2017
Script - Some chick is going to the field to spend some time away from the noisy city and there she reminds of her youth, and well, that's it. It's adapted from an episodic manga and the idea was to gather certain moments of the protagonist's past as a cohesive feeling of nostalgia. Taking a look at the interactions you'll notice they are rather realistic, with uncomfortable silences and stares at every corner. Now, maybe is just me but I grew up in a family where I was the youngest brother and man, that sucks. My two brothers were very close and I felt very
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isolated, just like the protagonist. It's a sort of loneliness that's so subtle and quite unnoticed, but as sad as any other, even more if you don't actually have any friends. Now, with that kind of background, I felt intrigued by how subtle is the construction of the sisters' ties and how they work just like I imagine they should. The cold treatment coming from her father and having to accept unfairness because of culture and tradition, yeah, that sucks and happens. More than often you'll remember the opportunities you missed, things left undone and alike. This show is basically about bad memories being somehow inspiring or invigorating. The conclusion is the protagonist making a strong decision that can be right, can be wrong, but it's done. You know what people say, it's better to regret doing something than not doing it. Kind of disagree on that, but part of a character's charm is that they can decide for themselves, going against the idea of fatalism. It's not that poignant, complex, thought-provoking or fun to watch, but as far as it goes it's relatable enough and kind of charming in its naturalism and simplicity. It feels more genuine than most of Ghibli's works.
Cinematography - Takahata is better than Miyazaki, period. The character design is fine, and I do love those dimples on her cheek. I wish more characters could have such a trait to define them more than just 'anime character #001'. The animation is fluid enough and slow, just like I want it to be. The white edges around memories are a quite common visual strategy, but it works just fine. Nothing is really impressive, but it never fails and feels as good as it looks on the cover.
Sound - Are you ready to some catchy Romanian flute theme that'll stick to your head forever? At least it's good, you can't deny. Normal voices? Is this an anime? Apparently not, because they really speak as normal people do. Not just in term of voice acting, but also the lines of dialogue sound so natural and the timing feels so real. You feel like interrupting them at any point due to the level of immersion.
1234 - The ending should've been open, but no, she had to stay with the guy. Don't know if this is how the manga ended, but they had the chance of doing differently and let us wondering what path she decided for herself. It's so rounded that's not spicy.
This show is relaxing af, and while I have no problems with simplicity, I don't think it's that good just because I could relate to the protagonist. I praise the realistic depiction of memories, nostalgia and interactions, but that's pretty much everything to see here. Not gonna lie, felt bored while watching it sometimes. Only by the end my interest raised and the conclusion was really, really just... there. So, to be fair, the depiction of realism always hit me in one way or another, that's it I guess. The End.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Oct 31, 2017
Script - Some weird aliens came to earth and helped humanity to evolve because they needed a host to stay alive. Just like the plot of Chrono Trigger, but in the game people who wanted to make use of the alien power had much more complex and intriguing reasons to do so, not some megalomaniac bad guys who want to dominate the world. Yes, this plot is about bad guys using alien power to dominate the world. The protagonist is a squeaky shounen protagonist with only one purpose in mind: revenge. The antagonist that'll become an ally is the serious leader who doesn't accept weakness.
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The main villain is a pompous lady who wants to rule the world because YES! So prepare yourself for battles after battles and nothing else in terms of substance. The struggles are defined solely by if you lose the battle or not, if you have a uniform or not, if you dominate the world or not. Extremes, thus, leading to edginess beyond belief in a not realistic adventure where who screams the most wins the fight. Of course, as a "parody" it works very well. After all, you can be stupid af, but once you admit your stupidity you're automatically forgiven of any bullshit invented. The whole concept of Kill la Kill revolves around not having a fucking clue of what's happening since the plot-twists come out of nowhere! OF COURSE, you shouldn't care about because FUNNY, ahahaha, hilarious! So, unless you have no problem in endure hours of nonsensical over the top stuff happening out of nowhere 24/7, this show is by far not something pleasing at all. That's my case and if it wasn't for my damn cousin to force me through this until the very end I wouldn't have endured this. And in case it's not obvious enough, it's a story where good guys will defeat bad guys and there's a lot of sudden plot-twists taken from the ass that appear to disguise this monstrosity as whacky and unconcerned, when in reality, it is just another lazy well-animated piece of schlock. Trigger once again producing top-notch visuals and conveying NOTHING along with it.
Cinematography - Ok, the animation is very fluid but sometimes terrible, and the character design is unique regarding each character. The camera angles are very well utilized in order to expose the various side of the same thing and also depicting different scenes in a single shot. The colors are disturbing and there're times when I had no clue of what the fuck was going on due to TOO MUCH HAPPENING in a single scene. Now, if you like everything above and is ready for some really crazy visuals that do not respect its characters physiognomy or reality whatsoever, go ahead. I prefer a naturalistic approach and changing too much the scenario for the sake of making things more fun just show their commitment to everything EXCEPT what really matters to me, the poignancy. When everything is over the top insanity, I really don't give a shit about anything and Trigger studio always do that. They don't give a shit as well, they just animate and that's it.
Sound - Okay, it's not amazing. It has two tracks I remember and the rest is just reuse of the same thing over and over again, and it's not even that effective. Unless you are in the mood for some action (which I wasn't), it'll just be 'oh look, DON'T LOSE YOUR WAY again' and that song for every time the main villain appears. I really hate, hate, hate dubbers who scream and force their voices for no reason. This show is trying to win the prize of most annoying voices ever. Again, it reflects the show's mindset of being crazy for the sake of it and it wouldn't miss the opportunity of making characters scream for their lives when they don't even need to do so. Sound effects are fine.
1234 - Ripping off Chrono Trigger. For a fan of subtlety, seeing those plot-twists pulled out of producers' anuses is painful, excruciating and not even 'too bad it's good'. The most annoying cast ever because everyone without exception speaks like a freak and fits on a stupid stereotype because YES. The best friend of the protagonist is by far the most annoying character I've seen in anime. Every time she's on the screen I feel like doing something else instead of looking at her. If you find her funny, it's ok. However, once you don't it's going to be straight torture for HOURS! 'Oh look, that thing will enter in that guy's anus, HOW FUNNY HAHAHAHAHAH!'. Nudity and fanservice because the aliens are clothes and you know, THEY HAVE TO BE QUASI-NAKED! Of course, it's not something disrespectful towards the characters and uncomfortable to some viewer, it's just FUNNY! Sailor moon transformations because parody OR rather because it's appealing to a bunch of perverted people who like hot women almost naked for their pleasure. A lazy script about good guys vs bad guys and seek for revenge leading to childish discoveries and plot-twists, even though the story ends like any of its kind, villain dies and they live happily ever after. There's an OVA showing the next events that take place afterwards, but the end reflects the same of the series. When the fun is about seeing a bunch of explosions, shallow nudity that conveys nothing and fights upon fights, the only way you can enjoy it is turning off your brain. Not my thing though, I prefer things that contain substance and are not over the top boring and predictable.
Wanna see well-designed stupidity that's also aware of its stupidity and while screaming at you 'I'M A PARODY! I'M STUPID! I'M FUN!'? Enjoy Kill la Kill, because having a story that's not shameless rip off and characters who are not braindead scarecrows is too hard for Trigger to handle. I mean, Little Witch Academia at least wasn't that offensive. The End.
Reviewer’s Rating: 3
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Oct 30, 2017
Yotsuba is a manga about parenting that is actually the only thing from Japan that makes me laugh. It's not easy to see simplicity and quality so close to each other. But what does an episodic series about an energetic girl and her friends' adventures have of special? In terms of story, the jokes are so ingenious and simple it makes you wonder how it is possible. Seriously, the number of visual jokes that are not overused and actually work several times is astonishing. No surprise I feel so good while reading it, it explodes of so much genuineness contained in it. That's because the
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pandering is so little and the depiction is, albeit fun, very mature. As a father, I feel extremely happy in see characters acting how I would act in such a situation, at least in most of them. Even though the events in Yotsuba are quite surreal, the way the father acts towards his child is so real, always being indirect and kidding in a way to soften the learning process. He's not afraid of being honest and acting more like a friend than just a guardian. That's something that makes all the difference in any parenting story. Not all parents are ideal or paranoid and for a manga focusing on comedy, I'm impressed on how realistic certain interactions are, certain reactions and decision-making. The characters are slowly introduced and their interactions are so genuine and straightforward it amazes me beyond belief. Yotsuba is a manga for everyone to read, it's inspirational, it raises your spirit, it can make you laugh a lot and even tear a bit depending on your level of relatability, even more if you're a parent.
Yotsuba = genuine af.
The paneling is so clean and limpid it makes it the easiest manga to read ever. So simple in structure, each panel mathematically separated on the pages and flowing so naturally, juicy. The character design is a bit generic, but Yotsuba is THE symbol of simplicity and cuteness. No one gets even close to her, not even Barakamon's trademark Naru. She's just that little kid you want to hug until the end of times and her faces are the best, diverse and not overly dramatic. It's just, genuine. That's the word.
Wanna get inspired? Wanna smile and feel joy because of some cartoonish little girl and her daily adventures? I can't think of anything to recommend besides this. It's the most genuine and actually good lighthearted manga I've read so far. The End.
Reviewer’s Rating: 10
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Oct 30, 2017
Script - Joe is that type of show that proves quality as timeless. How could it be for a story from the late 60s about a boxer become so important, poignant and meaningful to me in the long term? I have no idea, but I'm pretty sure Ikki Kajiwara knows that well enough to come up with one of the best sports tales ever known and that in my humble opinion wasn't surpassed ever since, at least not by any anime or manga. But what's Joe all about? It's about Joe, your not average underdog who's searching for meaning and is trained by an old
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man that's also not your average sage coach but rather a flawed drunk one. He's searching for someone that can fulfill his now late dreams of becoming the world champion and well, that's pretty much the premise. Now let's begin training and increasing stakes each episode until the very end? Ehhh, absolutely not. This is not, by far, your average sports shounen full of unrealistic bullshit. Joe's characters will face a lot of heavy struggles through a lot of time and will learn from them, not forcedly, but slowly accepting certain facts, changing others and always, always and always developing. No action is taken on a whim, no silent moment is random, nothing is out of place, not overall at least. Some changes can seem too of a sudden, but the result is so meaningful that forgives completely the minor flaws. Joe is all about subtlety in each frame of it since simple phrases and glances can convey so much immediately and in the future. Sometimes Joe is the villain, the hero, the victim, the bastard, and at the end, none of them. No matter what you think of Joe, Yoko or Rikiishi, it's not their full picture or character. They're three-dimensional and practically real people with real struggles and fears, so harmoniously interlacing with each other, sometimes without a word spoken. A lot of episodes are spent solely in character building and only after we are presented to the actual fighting. There's also a very special rivalry subtly hiding both Joe and Rikiishi's desire to face someone they respect. Yoko, a character who represents a sort of intermediator, but that appeared as an antagonist that wasn't actually an antagonist and whose influence gets more and more present through time. She's indecisive, kind and polite but also afraid and full of will, it's awesome to see her gaining such in-depth development since I thought she was going to be forgotten easily. Indeed, most of Joe's characters have a face of who is going to be forgotten, but they are not. They are people and you will most likely treat them as such. It has one of the most impactful moments I've seen in anime and you'll surely know which one. Also, my favorite episode of anime ever is contained here and the best rivalry, the best protagonist and best couple. See for yourself such a beautiful spectacle of development.
Cinematography - This show is fucking old school. It may not be so pleasing of looking at, but considering how little it had in terms of production I can't see it as bad produced. On the contrary, I believe it is beautiful in a way no other anime at the time was. First, the ingenious director Dezaki developed a technique to save costs, the Pastel-Chalked Freeze Frame as TvTropes dictates, and it had some power upon the audience. The best moments ever from Joe are depicted in a high definition stopped image full of impact and surely helped a lot the production team. Limitations sometimes lead to wonderful results in terms of creativity, so I'm happy in seeing Joe being such an amazing show in that matter as well. The character design is original and while the animation is not fluid at all and the repetition is rather common, I can't deny the impact some monochromatic panels had upon me given the mood in which it was applied.
Sound - You will remember the whistle, wanting you or not. The opening is beautiful and the soundtrack is decent enough. The major problem, in my opinion, are the voices. While the voice acting isn't exactly the problem considering when it was recorded, the misplacement is recurrent and more than often irritating. The sound effects are fine.
1234 - The cops of Joe are more useless than the most average of stormtrooper in existence. You can punch them, kick them, whatever you want, they'll not react. Kids are annoying af. I know, they become cute and beloved over time, but damn, sometimes it's just not cool. Since when do kids enter in a fucking prison on a fucking island? Repetitions all over the place, sometimes unnecessary. I would prefer extended moments of silence then filling some episodes with weird misplaced or just repeated actions of side characters. The voices are so misplaced it makes me cringe sometimes, even though I'm surprised they aren't forced. I mean, Joe's one is sort of forced but sounds ok and the rest is just fine. If they just had edited well enough it would've been way more pleasing to listen to.
This show is old but gold. Joe is the most lovable asshole out there and you can't deny it. Talk about nuanced interactions son. If you endure some poor visuals and voice editing, the reward is big enough. Don't waste your time watching trash, go for it today. It's a masterpiece for sure. The End.
Reviewer’s Rating: 10
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Oct 30, 2017
Script - Fucking around. This show is about a lot of people meeting each other and establishing a series of relationships that are both complex and touching. Relatability is an important factor as people who have never been involved with someone in a romantic level can miss the most impressive thing in Nana: its realism. In a show where everything is about who's dating who we gotta see things moving forward naturally and characters acting naturally and acquiring dimension as time passes. When both Nanas decide going to Tokyo for similar reasons but a completely different mindset and view of the world, the result is
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a tangle of ideas, fears, interests and conflicts taking shape in a way so dramatic though so subtle. There's a lot of tone shifts, but they never ruin the atmosphere. If a moment is going to be crucial, regardless of the comic relief, there's no way you'll lose the punchline. Also, each character is developed slowly and through several layers of exposition. They don't just sit and talk about what's happening. You see them coming together step-by-step and their interests are so human. I mean, you see that there's more to each character than you could ever expect at first. Characters who seemed to be only clowns at first actually changed a lot throughout the show and though they remained the same people. That's very, very hard to make. Change your characters but don't replace them by another one. Also, the characters are treated with respect. Women are not objectified and sex scenes do not please a certain audience of perverted otakus, but rather have a meaning that relates to the plot and advances it properly. It's not cheap bullshit, it's serious business. As I said before, to those who have been in a relationship this show can represent a lot of the struggles and confusion that naturally make part of one. No character is perfect, all of them fear for something and hope for something. The plot is simple, but the characters are the most important elements of a show in my opinion and the hardest to handle. The conclusion wasn't as powerful as I expected, but the entirety of the show is simply too harmonic, beautiful, realistic and pleasing for me not to forgive minor flaws.
Cinematography - The character design is a bit generic, but works just fine since I can identify every single character in the show. The animation is basic and doesn't distract. The color palette is not colorful and while it's not bad at all, can make some people think the show is dry. Too bad for them. About the camera angles, they work very well to build relationships from distance and also the back and forth is ingenious sometimes, play attention to bathtub scenes. There's a lot of visual gags, but when not actually funny they don't distract at all. As I said, punchlines will usually work regardless.
Sound - Okay, the characters don't talk normally. They force it to fit their characters. It's something appealing to most people, but I can't stand to it sometimes. In this show though, since the content and substance is solid enough, I didn't care too much about it. There are voice actors who seem to be dead while recording, so I thank this is not the case. The soundtrack is simple, but some tracks are just too remarkable. The main theme for sad moments strikes really hard and usually is so well-placed. The start of the ending whenever a moment gets emotional towards the finale of each episode is also magnificent. Some of them warmed my spirit enough and of course I got excited to see what was going to happen in the next episode. Also, no engrish, thanks god.
1234 - First episodes are a bit rushed when establishing Hachi's relationship with Shouji. Basically, a problem that comes whenever you want to push too much time and events towards the audience in a short amount of time or even off-screen. Also, the credibility of the 'music channel' that covers the polemic of Black Stones and Trapnest is kind of dubious. I live in a country where gossip about celebrities and bullshit on television is a thing, but even though they were never like that before. Very weird. The ending is not conclusive because the manga is unfinished, too bad.
Nana is slow-burning though fast-paced development of relationships that are gonna get denser and denser until you have a complex orchestra of characters, each one with their struggles developed and working in harmony, going for some real romance that reminds every facet of a real-life courtship. I hope you enjoy it and relate to it as much as I did. The End.
Reviewer’s Rating: 10
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Oct 30, 2017
Script - Some dude is infected by a monster, goes on a journey and finds a quite problematic place where humans, animals and magical beings are fighting to see who's going to rule the land. The lore is quite basic, even though the subtle references to feudal Japan are more than present. So you have monsters who want to protect the magical forest, villagers who want to stay alive and work hard to get resources and habitation from nature and some samurai warlord who wants the head of a mythological god or something to become immortal and also some iron from the village. The atmosphere
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built is serious and there's a lot of blood and violence going on. Action scenes are kind of realistic since the physics is not deformed and despite having a lot of magic, you can't say the show is innocent or childish. The movie purpose seems to be showing that every side has its interests and that nothing is easily resolved, there are always negative consequences. While that works on a superficial level though, the resolution is actually pretty easy. Yes, a lot of people die, but none of them matter unless you care about the wolves. Both female leaders live and the protagonist also is cured of his problem, you know, so he can meet the girl someday and have children or whatever. There's not too much of infodump and people are not stupid to progress the plot forward. It's overall well written, but it doesn't have that single moment of actual impact in my opinion. Its message is pretty clear, its conclusion felt as magical as the god on the story and well, that's it. Rounded, objective and very well produced. The three protagonists are idealized, mostly the guy that's the male version of Mary Sue. This guy can do whatever he wants due to his illness and is also good and right all the time. Typical from Miyazaki, he never creates a great protagonist, but he makes some decent foils, like Kushana 2.0, aka, Eboshi, that along with San are the only interesting characters in the show. They feel human and real because of their flawed moral. You can sympathize with the old creepy guy, but that's just because he knows some moves. In sum, convenient but effective in the long run. Good as a whole, but didn't hit hard enough at one specific point.
Cinematography - It's very good. The action scenes are among the best I've ever seen. For some reason, the character design of female characters is rather generic while male ones are quite well done. They do a great job at portraying Japan's style and culture through visuals, it's not that easy. Ghibli being Ghibli, I don't see any reason to go further on that. Be sure it's good enough.
Sound - Voices are kind of normal when not forced. I understand monsters gotta have a hell of a different voice, but some men talk forced for no reason. It's cultural I guess. About the silent moments, I appreciate them a lot. Not really silent since there's background music playing, but no one says a word. When the protagonist meets San at the river and they just look at each other, the scene was perfect. He screamed right after but, apparently, he had to. The sound effects are top-notch and the soundtrack is good, but not impressive or special.
1234 - The guy had his arm bitten by a monster and while marked to die developed super strength. That served of course for him to do a lot of stuff that would be simply impossible to make through another method and honestly, that sucks. I don't like magic when it serves to solve problems and when in the end the payoff is convenient af. The guy dodges every arrow in existence from any angle imaginable whenever he wants to. The protagonists survive to a lot of shit that's impossible of going through. Of course, they have to live, so why putting them in such a dangerous situation to begin with? A lot of people die, the village is destroyed but the two main characters are safe and even healed because the forest's god said so. Quite convenient in my opinion. Important characters are beautiful, non-important are not. Quite common in Miyazaki's works, you already know who's the perfect snowflake by looking at him. You already know he's not going to die and will survive to whatever shit he faces. Kind of annoying to be honest, why does everything have to be so pretty when important and/or good? Perfect Blue has a reason to make some things pretty due to its social criticism, but this here is just for the sake of appeal. If the boy were as 'handsome' as the other men in the show I would be surprised, but it's way better than having such a scarecrow boring face.
It's very well-made and offers more than just 'good nature, bad humans'. There's good action, good moments and good characters doing exciting stuff and running for their lives. It's not so impactful or thought-provoking, but it surely deserves to be watched. The End.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Oct 30, 2017
Script - Two children starving because of war. Both die and that's not a spoiler since within the first minutes the show reveals that the shit is already done. So you have one hour and a half of slow-burning construction of a situation that'll eventually kill our main characters and also a super detailed and realistic depiction of a relationship between siblings. Whether when you see they running on the beach, catching fireflies outside the house or playing during the bath, you'll notice the naturalism in their interactions. It's so real, so solid and believable. There were moments when my daughter simply started crying after
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midnight and I had to carry her out to the backyard, walking and humming, and to see that happening only made me think on the level of realism it was being put there. Not on a whim though, I read the novel after finishing the show some days ago and you can see the guy was there. He felt the fear, he felt the pain and if the movie is minimally fitting on the reality, he really loved his sister. So you have this stupid kid who in a way killed his beloved imouto and committed suicide afterwards, all because he was too dumb and simply threw away his opportunity of having food and water. Some people may even get bothered due to his decision-making, but I do believe some patriotic brat from 40s who really thought Japan was going to triumph over its enemies wouldn't take a wise path to follow. A lot of people say it's not an anti-war movie because the director said the focus was upon both kids and not the war itself, and use this as a demerit because it's not depicting what the evil imperial Japan did to other countries. Now, if the novel's purpose was to confess the utter pain and regret the author felt regarding his sister's death and this film is just a faithful adaptation of it, I can't see how that stands as valid at all. As long people don't use the show to victimize or sanctify Japan I have no problem with it at all.
Cinematography - Slowly establishing and depicting the two protagonist's relationship of confidence through actions and situations believable enough to hit hard anyone that can relate to them. Simple things like when the little girl smashes the firefly and raises her hand to the face claiming it's smelly, or when she pushes a cloth full of air on the water or even when simply staring places and things with a realistic childish glance of joy and innocence. The setting is visceral and sometimes beautiful and reflective. They even used a brown outline in order to make things less, well, outlined and more natural. The faces are usually generic, but since the only two characters that matter are distinct enough, that's not a problem.
Sound - Voices are normal and sound realistic. The girl's voice can annoy people, but for me, it only shows their commitment in depicting things as they are. Yes, children cries and their crying is fucking annoying. Do you think you cried like an angel? You were nasty, be sure of that. Now, about the soundtrack. Mostly silent, which is naturally good for me, only putting soundtracks when necessary to establish a certain mood. Kind of really sudden sometimes, but in the long term didn't bother me. Sad themes because sad story, that's quite obvious. I really like when dubbers don't talk like retards, forcing voices ridiculously for the sake of FUNNY, so it was a natural plus.
1234 - I know the novel starts with the boy dying, but I still believe it would be better for us not to know they die. I don't know if it was a strategy to fill space with the kids wandering around and seeing their past, but anyway, felt unnecessary to me. Weird for a plane simply shoot in the middle of a random road on a mountain, but ok. The boy looks at the camera by the end because he wanted to call our attention or something like that, but it was really unnecessary and weird.
This movie is what I want to see. Realistic interactions and setting, straightforward story without too much bullshit in between, clear messages which in this case can be summed up in 'don't be stupid' and 'war sucks'. I agree it's simplistic in terms of structure and the moral message is just fine, but I can't lie, this movie hit me hard due to that girl acting like a real child. She was based on the author's real sister and he did a great job at describing her in the book, that by the way, I recommend you all to read. I'm pretty much lenient with my favorite stuff and I feel no bad about it, so yeah, this is it. The End.
Reviewer’s Rating: 10
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Oct 30, 2017
Script - A guy takes care of a girl. Implications? She gets happier than before. Guy becomes more responsible. New connections are established on a superficial level and by the end what you have is a guide on how to raise children that actually doesn't work. Why? Because the child in question isn't a child, but an adult. A smaller version of it at least. She's so mature it is not even fun to see the protagonist parenting, we know it is not necessary. The only reason why the initial relationship between the two takes place is that she's traumatized due her father's death. That
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leads to a very interesting moment when she's afraid of death and all, but it ends there. So in every episode you have a minor struggle and the bigger one is present in all episodes, that would be both trying to act like a natural family. However, that's already solved in previous episodes and I can't see signs of such struggle, making the plot tiring and boring. I don't care about parenting for the sake of parenting. Put something interesting in between such simplistic events otherwise no way it'll end up being poignant at all. The dialogues are rather normal and full of sameness and tropes like the one where the father says he's not going to do something, the child drops the head in disappointment and right after the father says he's going to do something else for the kid's amusement. How cute, I've seen this just a couple of million times. The only credit I can give this show in terms of maturity is the fact it does not create stupid situations that would never happen in real life.
Cinematography - Watercolor amuses me at some points, but suddenly everything goes normal again and there's nothing attractive about characters' look. Camera angles are captivating at times, like in the first episode where they're utilized to construct a non-verbal relationship between the protagonist and the little girl. However, I'll not go as far as saying it impressed me overall, just decent enough and that's it.
"The opening represents the growth process through plants just like in the actual story" Obvious, Captain.
Sound - I love tracks that keep playing all the time in most slice of life because there wasn't that much of effort being put in their production. The opening and ending are cool. Voices are not forced what is cool, but besides the girl's one that actually conveys some emotion in emotional moments, there's nothing special at all.
1234 - zzzzzzzzz going to kindergarten zzzzzzzz going back from kindergarten zzzzzzzzz poop jokes from the boy who's there for some reason zzzzzzzzz *WAKING UP* did it end? Cute show. What happened again?
Guy takes care of a girl very realistically during almost 4 hours. It's not bad, but not my thing either. I like parenting, but I don't like hearing from other people how they raise their children nor seeing it because it gets boring pretty fast. Usagi Drop could've been great if only had explored themes or created bigger struggles for its characters. I heard from someone that the manga contains Incest, now that seems exciting.
Reviewer’s Rating: 5
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Oct 30, 2017
Script - A group of sherlockian scientists are searching for a stolen macguffin technopiece that allows them to enter in patients' dreams. There's also a traumatized detective whose purpose besides participating in the artistic opening is to save the protagonist afterwards and have his struggle solved in a simplistic way because the movie was almost at the end. The antagonist is a one-dimensional anti-science old man who doesn't waste any opportunity of exposing his ideology and that also wants to merge reality with dreams because he's crazy. The heroes investigate until getting to the conclusion that was obvious to us from the start of the
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show, and after facing some real weird quasi-apocalyptical shit the protagonist defeats the villain, and they lived happily ever after. It's quite surprising that such a symbolic plot is so predictable. Don't be tense, because no problem is left unsolved and bad guys lose because good guys win. Also, accept your naughty side and assume your love for that stupidly fat man-child in one minute or less because that's the only way you'll be able to defeat the megalomaniac vile scarecrow who wants to destroy everything because yes.
Cinematography - Good animation, very detailed scenarios inside dreams and that's it. If you like psychedelic nonsensical visuals, go for it. The character design is fine, nothing special about anything besides the effort put into it. No relation to the plot and the meaning of such visuals starts and ends in itself.
Sound - The old scientist sounds like any old scientist you'll see in anime, the protagonist seems dead, the villain sounds like the villain since he opens his mouth, the fat dude has annoying man-child voice and the detective has a hoarse voice just like that one from Paranoia Agent. The voices don't convey anything, no fear, no concern, no shit. The soundtrack is very good, composed by that guy from Berserk and Millennium Actress, you know him. It's cool.
1234 - Merging reality and dreams because of some machine and destroying several buildings for the evulz. Paprika exists as a manifestation of the protagonist's other side but it's never explained how she leaked out from the machine, she just exists outside of it and you deal with it. The bad guy enters in a hole in the ground and becomes a monster because yes. He hates technology wanting to enter in dreams, so he uses technology to merge both dreams and reality because yes. The romance out of nowhere because she's in love and love has no reason guys. Because the villain is a man and Paprika is a woman she sucks him, I guess it's not something chauvinistic. What happened to the city afterwards? Fuck that, I want to see both detective and old scientist talking about shit I don't care about, oh yes.
Are you a visual fag? Do you wanna see crazy shit that doesn't owe you explanations whatsoever? Go for Paprika. Wanna see something actually good from this amazing director called Satoshi Kon? Watch all of his movies, except Paprika. Also, RIP Kon, you did your best mate.
Reviewer’s Rating: 4
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