Nerawareta Gakuen

After watching this, I was torn between regret of even trying it and a slight satisfaction that I was able to complete it.

STORY (4)

This movie starts off in a cliche manner. There's a new transfer student who, from his very first lines, we can confirm is not from Earth. We are introduced to the main set of characters- a typical, "you pervert!", finger-pointing anime girl who is the neighbor of the main character, the girl that the main character likes who's talented, shy, and also typical, and the main character himself who seems to be the typical anime guy who does not measure up to ... the hotness of the transfer student. To sum it up so far: typical. Then, out of nowhere, cellphones are accused to be the spawns of devils and the reason why teens are unable to communicate efficiently. Magical powers and sparkly objects begin their work in damaging your eyesight by attempting to blind you at every turn. You suspect a love triangle, a love square? How about some conversation? Oh wait, no. Apparently this has something to do with telepathy. Or no wait, physics? Which is it? Oh look! There's a back story between the neighbor chick and the main guy! Wait, I thought they were just neighbors? Where's all this water coming from? Why do we need to see this scene? Am I supposed to be reading into this? It's symbolism isn't it? No? It's just pretty? Wait a minute- are they trying to throw in some Shakespeare in here? Is there going to be fighting? This seems to have potential but seriously what's happening? And these questions are what lead to headaches- which is precisely what you'll have after you're done watching this. So please, for your concern, I suggest you watch this movie on your off-time, during a free day, and certainly not when you're ill because then you'll just suffer from migraines.

ART (9)

It's truly the art that keeps you watching and still hoping that there's some thread of story line you haven't picked up on. The color palette is gorgeous and everything is so shiny and clean and bright that you begin to appreciate your eyesight- even when you're being blinded by the bubbles, rays of the sunset, odd glowing magical items, and school floorboards. Movement is fluid, and it leaves you feeling fresh and wholesome with its incorporation of nature in every aspect. You'll even pause or replay some parts in order to appreciate the hues. Overall, it's magnificent. Consider making some screenshots.

SOUND (8)

Just as wonderful as the art. With soft piano (played by the transfer student, of course), the music comes across as subtle and easily blends in with the feeling provided by whatever scene is playing. Voices, tapping, the blowing of the wind- all are displayed to near perfection. Any vocals you hear are softly sung and blissful to say the least.

CHARACTER (5)

As I've stated before, the characters are undeniably second rate- the female ones more so than the males. While at the beginning they seem unexpected and interesting, they quickly fall into the routine of what every other anime school girl/boy does. I particularly detest the female characters' behaviors on some occasions. The neighbor chick (Ryouura Natsuki) is an emotional wreck- and not even the hot kind. She's ridiculously agile, jumping everywhere, and teasing one moment and the next she's slapping the main guy (Seki, Kenji) for one, naive statement before crying and running off despite the fact she's the one who just shoved him to the side of the road. I really despise the fact that violence is displayed acceptable by female anime characters simply because she's doing it since they're 'close' and 'joking'. It's not funny, it will never be funny, and personally, I would never want to be friends with someone who smacks me every chance they get.

The second girl (Harukawa, Kahori) is another lackluster piece of recycling. She's shy, has big boobs, is in the student council, does music and surfs in her part time, is friends with the violent neighbor chick, and interested in the transfer student (Kyougoku, Ryouichi). We see these two talk more, bond over the piano, and this girl goes on her merry little way- gasping dramatically at everything he says and clutching her body parts as if- despite being under the pretenses that they're trying to display her as nervous and cute- she's coming across as someone who's being turned on for the first time. It's sort of awkward to say the least, and I couldn't even spare a pitiful smile for her despite having a soft spot for quiet characters.

But perhaps I'm being too harsh, the magical guy seems to be rather intriguing after all and he's got that mysterious aura going on too. Maybe he'll turn out to be evil or even cross the line into the gray area an-- oh nope, there he goes. He starts preaching about the 'kokoro' as its some sort of heart condition people must be made aware of... And, now he's glowing..

Finally, the main guy. Well, let's see- how would you define a guy who lets himself get beat senseless by his female neighbor/childhood friend, continually forgets to zip his pants, breaks windows in attempts to apologize for something which he hasn't even done, and walks into a council room of people wearing a horror which even speedoes can't outdo, puts his hand in there, pulls out a cell, and throws it across the room while uttering some dramatic line that I'm pretty sure was supposed to add to the plot had we not all been busy screaming no? You don't define that sort of guy. You give him the one eyed twitch before getting the hell out.

Overall, the characters aren't horrifyingly annoying to the point where you want them all slaughtered, but they are rather mediocre, slightly disturbing, and highly disappointing because they had some essence of potential.

CONCLUSION:

So, should you watch it? On boring, event-less days during which you are healthy, sane, feeling as if you could care less about story lines, and prepared to let the confusion mold itself into a ball that rolls off your back with a shrugging ease. It's not a bad movie, but it's definitely not something you'd want to share with your friends when hanging out for fun. It's an anime you'd watch twice in order to appreciate the animation once again and perhaps attempt tackling whatever mumbo jumbo is thrown at you- crafting it into a plot you can actually comprehend without having to be part of that niche group that read the novel (who knew there was a novel?), but it's not a film you'd consider worth mentioning as an award-winning production since it clearly did not make it a goal to cater to the general audience. All in all, give it a shot, but keep your expectations low- even those of the art and music, just so you'll have something to be pleasantly surprised about.

If I were to make a review based on the art, I'd say IT IS VISUALLY BEAUTIFUL, 10/10! However, art isn't the only category that makes a movie great or a flop. What pulled this movie down was the story/plot.

Story (3):
One world to describe the story: Confusing! The story was just all around the place. A new plot was brought up even though the previous one has been left unsolved. The first half was fine since it was still introducing the characters & the plot was still developing (exposition), and the tension and issues were building up(rising action). However, when the second ... half started, it's just hard to follow or keep up. The climax, falling action and resolution was like "WTF is happening" or "huh, what just happened"?

Art (10):
As aforementioned, this movie displays beautiful imagery that is relaxing and pleasing to the eyes. The colors were vivid, the scenes or background creative and breathtaking. The art in this movie is what allures us, viewers, to watch this film.

Sound (9):
Like the art, the soundtrack was relaxing and soothing to the ears.

Characters (5):
Characters were a tad dull and lacks development. Only a couple of the main characters showed progression. I felt that the remaining characters remained "almost" the same as the beginning of the film. The minor characters on the other hand, are not even worth mentioning. The plot didn't resolve any of the issues of the minor characters, basically, leaving them idle and unsettled.

Enjoyment (6):
I really enjoyed the art and soundtrack. In terms of storyline, I only enjoyed the romance and the comedy that was depicted. Aside from that, I wasn't please by the confusion the plot brought - the fact that there were a numerous loopholes and unsolved issues.

With this, my overall would be a 6. The art/sound really compensated for everything else it lacked to be a great film. I was immensely disappointed in this film. Keep your expectations rather low and you'll probably enjoy the film.

## - Find this hashtag if you don’t wanna read this long review.

Well… There’s really pretty fascinating stuffs in this… But it no doubt frustrates you, even if you like the movie, and I can’t really figure it out, why this anime is getting good scores, because it’s really uneven, it’s really good…. And really bad at times…. Tons of 8/10, tons of 7/10, what anime did u guys watched today?? I mean, maybe my experience was ruined because, I did watched till the end…and I realised, something went wrong… I was about to make this an 8…. BUT no, I didn’t!!

When I ... watched the trailer I was like, omg, the animation, it really tops the level of the anime. And then after that, I went crazy and mad after watching this
I was hoping a good expectation, but did u guys even know what just happened after watching this? There’s no way they’re ending like that with all those holes!
To me…. This anime was a BEAUTIFUL LOOKING DISSAPOINTMENT. Starting off the beginning. the Story was FINE.. Literally fine from the beginning and then it destroyed the plot at the end. There are parts of HEART TOUCHING ROMANCES which is fine… TBH, I’m more into romance animes, I’ve SEEN TONS OF GOOD ROMANCE ANIMES and bad ones. It devolves into Braingames and clues which you need to frickin know what the heck it’s going on!!!! I went like what… cuz its similar to that masterpiece movie, Kimi no na wa! That ending was one of the confusing and open ended scene. So we’re gonna have to WAIT until the next sequel!! It made me feel, like everything I went through it was for nothing but a waste of time!(4/10)

Despite some ANIMATIONS!! FANTASTIC! I LOOKED THE STAFF AND FOUND OUT HE WAS THE SAME GUY WHO MADE “GRIMGAR, FANTASY AND ASH” AND I CAN’T STOP LOVING THIS ANIMATION AND ART. IT’S WAY BEAUTIFUL THAN GRIMGAR! THAT’S THE WHOLE PART I LIKE ABOUT THIS WHOLE MOVIE! That’s probably why the rating is, higher than it should be. (10/10)

The music! Again! Fantastic! They did a perfect timing when comes to some scenes and we have to listen the beautiful orchestra while watching the anime! It has a beautiful and heart-warming feel to it. Pretty much everything (10/10)

SPOILER AHEAD!!!

Some characters were okay and some aren’t… I’m okay with the characters! HOWEVER! HOWEVER! There are characters which the movie never explains how and why!!! OMG, I got so angry when this CHARACTER, Kyougoku, Ryouichi, like how did he get on earth, what is his purpose ?!?! And what is he trying to do with that thing….whatever that Thing, this magical tool thing….. YES, there are Little details about that tool is…. Same goes TO Seki, Kenji. AGAIN! How did he got those powers? Female characters went slightly out from the plot, especially the side characters…. Romance parts I saw were good! SOME PARTS! AGAIN! Heart-warming scenes for some parts… OH RIGHT! I ! There’s one part that this main guy came in to the atrium with his swimsuit! And he takes his phone out from his underwear!! YEAH!! IM NOT JOKING! Like from the front. That gave me a mind blown because how the phoneis not clearly seen in front? What is this? DORAEMON’S NEW POCKET?! (4/10)

## Overall – The final verdict for this anime is a 5/10. Maybe lower… I know it sounds good! I know it looks good! But the plot is the problem here for me. The STORY IS THE PROBLEM HERE… THE ENDING…. Parts of it were okay! But it overuses the plot holes up till the ending. THAT ENDING you will have felt cheated even after reading the articles, finding the ending explanation! It made me insanse! There are tons of UNANSWERED QUESTIONS and I know that may have been the intention but opening an ending like this have been done better. I wanted a satisfying ending and no plot holes that leaves me wanting more… not this where I BET YOUR THIS 2nd SEASON is going to COME AND FINISH THIS.
It’s okay, enjoyable at times… BUT CONFUSING, ANNOYING, UNDENIABALY, TOO MUCH PLOT HOLES! If you’re looking for a GOOD ANIME like this, I’ll tell you what, START WITH “GRIMGAR, Fantasy and Ash” I WANT YOU TO WATCH THAT SERIES and then after THAT, should you give this one a try? Well…. I guess that’s it… (5/10)

The premise for Psychic School Wars was a bit misleading. I was assuming that this was some sort of sci-fi drama about struggling against psychic control over a school. Instead, I get a film that appeared to be trying to create something like Makoto Shinkai films that involve long-distance relationships complicated by some sort of paranormal gimmick. But whereas Shinkai at least created natural chemistry between characters to make the relationship developments in his works feel genuine, the ones here feel more forced and unnatural thanks to the title's milking of melodrama and rather sloppy and cliched storytelling.

The storytelling and character elements to the film ... mostly milk cliches typical of high school and sci-fi titles with stuff such as the mysterious transfer student, time traveling, childhood friends, a love square and one of the love interests being a violent tsundere. The milking of melodrama such as use of overly dramatic music and exaggerated emotions hinder the film more than help it as it only makes the cliched characters within Psychic School Wars more unbearable to put up with as the slightest tensions make a character get angsty. The writing for this is also rather sloppy as it acts pretentious in trying to make you think it has meaningful things to say about human relationships with cell phones, forgetting to address or resolve lingering plot developments and sudden plot twists that were not properly foreshadowed thus leading up to a rather convoluted and anti-climactic ending.

Visually, Psychic School Wars appeared to be trying to emulate Makoto Shinkai's drawing style and does this well for the most part. Scenic shots are gorgeously drawn and highly detailed, and movement with characters and vehicles were fluid for the most part with only some occasional still shots I took noticed of. On the bad end though, the character designs for the movie are rather average in quality and it has a bad habit of overdoing things with lighting effects as such where they can usually obscure things taking place onscreen.

Overall, Psychic School Wars is rather underwhelming as a movie since it attempts to and fails at trying to incorporate story elements of Makoto Shinkai's films to create a coherent and engaging film. I wouldn't recommend watching this unless you go into this with low expectations for what it has to offer.

-CONTAINS NO SPOILERS-
Not good, not too bad.
The story is very confusing and maybe even makes sense (which I don't think it does haha), but for me it's not even worth trying to understand it completely. The positive points of this movie are basically animation and the romance of the protagonist Kenji and the character Natsuki.

The rest of the cast of characters aren't as endearing, especially Harukawa and Kyougoku (basically it's a less weird copy of Nagisa from Evangelion).

Another positive point is the art direction and the music direction that together is harmonious, in short animation has a quality worthy of a movie. In conclusion, ... I don't recommend it, but the movie is not all bad either.