Guskou Budori no Denki (2012)

This movie wasn't exactly what I expected.

In a nutshell, the movie is a slow paced slice of life film of a boy who after a tough childhood is forced to venture out into the world and find his place.

A story that has been done many times before, sometimes done very well and some times not so much. This movie is for me a bit of both.

The main character Budori, I found to be a bit lacking and bland. He shows little emotion and fails to stand out much at all. He is a hard worker and willingly accepts any work he is given without complaint. ... Although given his situation, it is understandable. But for a main character, even in this sort of story, is rather dull. Half of his dialogue pretty much boils down to him just saying 'yes, sir.'.

The story itself is nice and is the sort of thing that has been seen many times before and will be seen again. However I felt it could have been executed a little better. I found the transitions betweens stages in his life a little lacking, as if he just accepted each part of his life, while forgetting his past. Especially when it comes to his family.

My main problem with the story, is at least for me it is a bit confusing. But this may also be what people will enjoy the most. The film is very open and leaves a lot to your imagination to be interpreted how you will. If you enjoy movies that leave open questions of what something is or what happened, whether something is literal or a metaphor, you will probably enjoy this. However if you are more like me, who likes solid answers and everything to be summed up perfectly in a nice bow (although I usually miss the point anyway ;O) , you may not find this type of story telling quite to your liking. But that isn't to say you won't enjoy it.

However I think by fat the strongest part of the story is the animation and the soundtrack. It is beautiful throughout and I would almost say to watch it just for the animation.

So overall a nice, beautifully animated, enjoyable, some what slow, but not boring movie, which generally makes you really think about what is happening in rather than just telling a detailed story.

Not outstanding, but certainly worth a watch.

Guskou Budori was not the kind of movie I expected. I thought I was going to watch "Arashi No Yoru Ni meets epic fantasy battles with cats", spiced with a decent adventure anime plot. What I got was a slow-paced, deep, poetic and philosophical slice of life that really got me thinking about life.

The visuals and the soundtrack are awesome, and I enjoyed the symbolic nature of the movie (though I feel like the movie derails a bit in the surrealistic sequences, even though I liked them).

The characters and the dialogue felt a bit soulless now and then. Especially the tight-lipped Budori felt like ... his sole purpose was to act as the eyes of the audience, so that the actual plot could unveil around him.

Still, as I watched the credits roll, I got more and more curious about the original novel, and I feel like this movie left out quite a bit of it. It's definitely worth watching, just don't expect to see a traditional fast-paced adventure story.