Blue Thermal

Blue Thermal, at least this movie adaptation, tried its very best to deliver an engaging and wide-ranging plot centered around a first-year undergrad. The result, however, leaves much to be desired. If you have come expecting a very emotional experience, it would be wise to hold back some of those expectations yourself. This is not a sports-themed anime. It seems to fit into the slice-of-life category, but even I would still

In short, the movie starts with a very enticing narrative of a Tsuru Tamaki who broke a glider and was initially encouraged to join the aviation club as an act of penance. The premise itself ... should have been more than enough to bribe you into watching this movie.

Despite the interesting premise, the characters of this movie, including the MC herself, do not shine well, if at all. The first 35-40 minutes sets up the subplots of the three supporting characters of Sorachi, Yano, and Kuramochi. Sorachi's subplot didn't go anywhere for the remainder of the movie. Yano's conflict with Tsuru seemed to have no emotional weight at all. Kuramochi himself didn't get the proper screen time to explore his own personal and family issues.

All in all, the characters seem so bland and uninteresting. The lack of interpersonal dynamics also dulls the mood and atmosphere of the movie.

The story itself, especially the last 40 or so minutes, seems like another generic slice-of-life episode. The ending feels somewhat boring and tiring at the same time. While the movie prides itself with being unique in making a story out of gliding, the sports itself is not deeply explored and only seems to serve as a dressing instead of the vegetables in a salad bowl.

The animation is decent, not marvelous in anyway but not horrendous either.

If you're looking for something you can marvel at for weeks, then you may safely skip this piece of art. Blue Thermal would have been much better had it been adapted into a one-cour anime series instead of a 4-episode equivalent of a movie.

I'll be straightforward. This anime has potential if it was presented as a 12 or more episode series.

It had interesting plots that was rushed and "resolved" or left immediately. It felt like it can be more if only it wasn't fitted into a movie. Now I haven't seen the source material but I'm hoping it has more than what the movie had offered. It has a potential to stick with you IF only all the arcs has been fleshed out but it instead became light and weightless, there's a chance people could be invested in it if this wasn't presented as a single movie. ... Also, the characters can be explored more had this been a series.

Good points, I guess is, as some had pointed out are the music, animation and the key visuals.

Would I recommend this? At the moment, No. But if you just want to out something up to fill the silence while you work, go ahead and try it.