Hirune Hime: Shiranai Watashi no Monogatari

This film just came out last week in my country.

Kamiyama Kenji has always been a very special director to me. His S.A.C. series is by far the best take on the Ghost in the Shell IP in my opinion, it's one of, if not THE one all time favorite anime of mine. I always hope this guy could get more attention and get more things done.

However "Hirune Hime" is kind of underwhelming. It's not really a bad film but the pacing is weird, the narrative is kind of childish, and the dialogue said too much.

In parts it kind reminds me of some of Kon Satoshi's ... work, with the theme and the way it was approached, sadly it's not done nearly as good.

The animation is decent but not spectacular, the music is serviceable. Again, it's not really bad. But the story and the narrative just don't work... I can't help but see a better film, a great film buried deep within it.

I guess I was expecting way more from the man and the trailer. But how can you blame me?

Ever since my childhood, one of few things which intrigued me the most is these weird visions i had during my sleep, that is, dreams. Its quite funny that we don't know what has been in stored for us be fore we sleep, and what had happened after we woke up, even though everything just took place inside our heads. Hirune Hime (napping Princess) , the movie in question, Also tried to explore this concept of dreams in a interesting way, But unfortunately failed at properly executing the idea.

Well, Before watching it, I really had no idea what the movie is going to be about, ... But after the curtains dropped, I have to say, I still have no idea what it was about.Honestly, I had really high hopes from the movie, given that its made by the director of ghost in the shell, BUt i was really disappointed with the result. The major problem is that, The movie lacked direction. It had a promising start, But it just scatters off in all directions afterwards. The movie tried to showcase a mix of different genres, but it failed at doing so properly and the way everything happens, you couldn't really take anything that happened seriously.

The Movie itself is quite ambitious. It tries to explore quite a variety of genres and had a unique way of story telling. It made quick transitions from reality to dreams , resulting in a change of scenario in between the scenes but the way of progression of the events was still the same. And all of this could have resulted in something good, if it was not for the poorly written story.

The story can get difficult to describe, Its a mix a different things unrelated things mixed in a hog-pog manner. It follows kokone, a high school girl who sees this weird dream every day where she is the princess of a world of cars. Her father is a genius mechanic who was arrested for false charges and now in the process of saving him, she discovers the truth about him and her dead mother and how her dreams are not just her mere imaginations. Also in the background, another story is taking place in a different world, which is in kokone's head.The events that take place are mostly same in both of them, but the other one is more a fantasy based world with magic. Occasionally, Both worlds come together, Tho things still happen inside the girls dreams . They try to bring together both of them by the climax, and to be honest, that part was still good.

Honestly ,The beginning part was not half bad and I kinda Liked it. It gave a vivid description of the unique world of kokone's dreams and also a bit about her normal life. The things were also going fine till the airport part, but from there the movie started to scatter around and I just couldn't bring myself to enjoy the rest . However the little transitions between dreams and reality were still really fine and it was also an interesting way to show scenes which, otherwise would have been very plain .

The characters are yet another weak link here. They are really plain and are mostly one dimensional and there is no development,Tho this part can be overlooked . Most characters do not have well defined personality and do not really fit the roll they are doing. The antagonist, for example, is just very poorly made with no clear motives and a stupid personality And so can be said for Morio. Despite having a major part, he pretty much seems useless and I am still not sure for what reason he was there in the movie anyways.The father is also a bland character, There is nothing special about his personality or there is rather pretty much nothing to say about him . Kokone is simple girl in her last year of high school and is planning to go to a university in Tokyo . However she also has a secret life, The one in her dreams, where she is a princess of a country and has magical powers thorough which she fights wit the bad people along with a pirate.There is not really much to praise or complain about her character,Tho I quite like her, for some reason.

One of my favorite parts was the ending credits, where they showed the past of kokone's mother and father and also how they met. The few scenes shown were enough to convey a lot about their history, and also song was great too.


I don't usually talk a lot about art style, as, the opinions vary for different people. The color palette is made of solid colors. and is quite bright . It fits really well and creates a good atmosphere during the transitions to the fantasy world. The animation is fine for most part, but there are a some visible inconsistencies and its not really fluid either, But to be honest, I can overlook that, as it is not really prominent. The character design is good and I don't really have any complains. The ending theme, "daydream believer" is extremely well done and I really like it. Tho it would have been better if it was played during the scenes too.

In conclusion, The movie is quite different from what you might expect it to be. Its not bad and had a promising start, but it couldn't really hold that for for long.The way things happen is a result of poor writing and execution of ideas. Most of it is pretty forgettable and there is not really a lot to praise it for.It is also that, I had some good expectations from the movie during the start, and it didn't really stand up to my expectations, and it might not be as bad As I make it out to be.So,Just don't really go in with high expectations, You might not like then. Also this movie is not something i would really recommend to people unless you have absolutely noting else to watch.

>Mild spoilers<

Story [9/10]
The story of Hirune Hime was unique and delivered in a respectable manner; not too overly confusing and paced well enough for the viewer to start connecting points after a certain time.
The ending isn't particularly ambiguous in my view (the Collosus could be human-operated technology/resilience while "magic" is the advent of automation).
My only major gripes with the story and its transitions is Morio immediately accepting the situation and barely questioning anything and Kokone's great escape being a bit awkward.

Art [9/10] *The point I enjoyed most about the movie.
The artstyle here isn't your standard anime style of drawing characters, I felt that the characters ... had a bit of detail sacrificed (shadow and lighting) and gained at the same time with more facial features. Scenery is extremely well done and detailed here, I appreciated it all the way throughout the movie. The final ending pan gave a bit of life into the town they live in, which is a really nice touch.

Sound [7/10]
It's good, not much to say here as it's just good and borderline average, or not memorable as I heard it. I don't think it detracts from the movie at all and the OST does its job sufficiently in setting some tone.
I think some of the VAs, mainly Kokone and more noticeable with Morio, a bit raw with their performances, but it was still good. I didn't want to not hear them talk, it was more along the lines of noticing some small thing about their voices.

Character [6/10]
This is a really story/plot heavy movie, so character development and exposition is low. Sure you get to know everyone is by the end, but their motivations to act are kind of generic or not really memorable; slight exceptions can be made for Momotaro. With that being said, you don't really grow to dislike or like much of the cast because of how little you know or relate to them.

Enjoyment [9/10]
The story and art are the most memorable parts, I just personally found them to be very appealing. Really liked the way the two worlds combined in the end, the fantastic art/visuals reinforced the imagery of everything. I wouldn't mind rewatching; this story lends itself well to rewatches given that not everything's explicit to the viewer.

I don't think everyone will enjoy this, not everyone's interpretation of the story will be the same and thus the conclusion they draw may lead them to believe it wasn't that good. However, I think it's worth a watch for most people as it's trying something different.