Totsukuni no Shoujo (2022)

All vibes, no substance.

This adaptation inserts just enough major plot points from the manga to call itself an adaptation, but forgets to include the reasons these events happen.

Sensei does not stop whining about being cursed, Shiva cries about being abandoned. There's no Aunt, there's no threat, no one is really chasing them. They just go around, checking off major plot points for no good reason, go to Mother in the lake, receive an answer not heard by the audience and set off into the sunset, happily ever after.

Shiva's VA has decided to portray her with a pitch so high that it makes the character lose ... depth. The ED song just sounds infantile.

The animation moves at about 2 frames per second and can show off a few beautiful moments - all of them were in the trailer, which made a better job of adapting the manga than the film itself.

Overall, the characters are there, and there is some semblance of plot, and there is animation. And not much beyond that. A poor excuse of an adaptation, done by people who give the impression to either not know or not care what the source material was about. If you gave your money to this Kickstarter project, you tell yourself whatever you need to justify that choice, but we both know this was one big, 22-million yen, 70-minute nothing.

Fans all over the world gathered to bring this piece of art to life. I was one of them! We have waited for a year for this to be released, and man...it was worth the wait. For me it really was. I started reading this manga a few years ago and I consider it my all time favorite, so I had big hopes for this movie.

As for my review, first off however, people who are familiar with the mangas might feel a little empty after watching it at first; the plot is gradually changed, however the very essence you feel between Shiva and Sensei(what the ... manga is known for) is still there. A lot of the 11 volumes story has been scrapped to be fit within a 1 hour long timeframe. A lot of the details misses or even some of the big parts, but I think that is actually fine.

Instead, we got an hour long movie about the acceptance and understanding of two individuals who were lonely, but find each other's company and warmth to live on for. The acceptance of a strange monster, shunned by the outside world...yet a small little girl that led herself into its heart - a forbidden love and friendship, presented in a very magical and colorful way. Wit Studios really did well to bring Nagabe's world and artstyle to life.

This is the base of the story that was still kept which the manga readers enjoyed about this series. And some of the smaller yet pivotal parts are still there a well.
So despite the many cuts and alters, it still left me satisfied despite wishing for a bit more details in there, but that is entirely fine as I said.
For an hour long movie, understanding the essence of this story which Nagabe created, it did really well.

Although I do not believe that this OVA is a substitute for the story and experience of the Totsukuni no Shoujo manga itself, I think that in a vacuum this is a decent experience and something that regardless if you have read the original story or not.

Regarding the story, I would have to say it was somewhat butchered here. This OVA takes bits and pieces of the real story and meshes them into some sort of weird medley that it also mixes with original material that does not really add to the overall story itself nor to the depth of any of the characters. Side ... characters or events from the manga just sort of appear and then are almost immediately set aside for the sole purpose of saying "Hey, this is a part of the original story, but we are not really gonna say what the fuck it really means for the universe or why it happens." I understand Wit only had an hour to put in the decent amount of plot that existed within the original story, but almost none of what made it here really makes sense unless you already read the manga. Still, though, the world the story exists in is cool enough for some moments that occur here that make 0 sense when isolated from the manga to be mostly passable.

As expected, and as hoped, Wit does the art style of the manga justice here. Sensei and Shiva pretty much look exactly like they did originally, and the animation still keeps that fairy-tale book sorta style that the original had. I will admit that at times the animation is a little strange or stiff at times, specifically for the characters themselves, but about 95% of the time, it is really enjoyable to look at and pick apart the little details that are fit within different backdrops, scenes, or settings. It is very different from your standard anime fare, and it also fits the narrative style, which is why I and many others love it so much.

Regarding sound design, it's nothing special. There are maybe 1 or 2 background songs that I found to be pleasant or peaceful, but the actual sounds of the OVA itself do not go above and beyond what you would expect for any decently-produced anime. The VA's do their jobs well enough to where it isn't noticeably bad, though I will say that I feel like Shiva's VA did a little better of a job selling the character and how they act (which is, well, like a kid).

Much like the story, the characters have their stories and backgrounds butchered as well. You get the general gist of what happened to Sensei, the main black bird-ram-sheep-demon guy, but none of the actual depth and anguish of the Sensei we see in the manga. Again, time constraints, but I feel like it would have been better to just give the general idea of who Sensei is rather than going into the minutia of things like his family and past life, which for someone you don't know that much about to begin with, is not the most important thing about him. I don't know what Wit thought, but the story of Shiva was way too heavily changed to the point where they sorta fucked up the purpose of her story in the first place. Not once do they ever reference why she was left in the Outside, and she really is just given the "innocent kid left in a scary world" treatment, which is really a disservice to her actual story. Also, things happen to her out of order of when they do in the manga, which might not sound like the end of the world, but the themes and overall emotions that existed with her originally existed *because* it happened in the order that it did; it made it more impactful.

I know this sounds like I hate this OVA, but honestly besides griping at the jankiness of the plot and the story of Sensei and Shiva, I enjoyed my time watching this OVA. It's great to see the world come to life, and I think that any amount of new Totsukuni no Shoujo content is worth seeing, just because of how good the original is.

TL;DR butchered plot and character stories/development, unique and eye-catching fairy-tale book-like animation, pleasant and peaceful OST music, and overall a solidly enjoyable 60 minute watch.