Kin no Kuni Mizu no Kuni

I have been wanting to watch this since I saw the trailer but kept postponing it until yesterday. My initial excitement was there is a main character that is inspired from my culture but now I have a special memory with a friend because the main two characters kept reminding of each other. From the appearance to the personality. I also enjoyed there is no actual villain in the story. It's mostly conflict of interest, pride and misunderstandings. Even the depictions of both cultures felt not accurate or mix and match of other cultures. Some part of the stories felt grounded and realistic than many ... animes I have seen.

A great film.

It's simply outstanding—a charming romance with a hint of drama. The premise is straightforward, as is the world and its characters, yet this simplicity doesn't detract from its ability to deliver something truly remarkable and, in many ways, well-crafted. With a beginning, middle, and end, we're taken on a journey alongside a lovely couple who support each other in a relationship characterized by openness and mutual respect. Their bond is a joy to witness. This movie is sure to lift your spirits. And the final scene, in particular, is the icing on the cake, making it all the more worthwhile to experience the ... entire story for such a beautiful and fulfilling conclusion.

An entertaining watch, even though I thought it tried to pull in two directions at once and ultimately did not do enough in either.

The film obviously has had a lot of warmth poured into it, which is reflected in both design and personality of its characters. The FL is bright and warm, albeit plagued by anxiety. The ML is straightforward and a quick thinker. Together they form a cute couple, it's just a shame their relationship and characters were not explored further, as I don't think that what's been shown is quite enough to mark this as a romance. Rtaher, it feels like an ... abridged summary simply showing us the headers of each chapter, but skimming through the contents.

On the other side is the political - and I hesitate to eve use the word - "intrigue", which is straightforward in the best case, and naively oversimplified in the worst. I mean there's a literal *wall* you can get a ladder to cross over and on one side it's a dry desert and on the other it's *immediately* lush forests, lakes, rivers, and rain. That's not quite how climate biomes work, so I almost felt it would have been better to claim it's some sort of magical wall that causes those stark differences. The left Minister (the actor ikemen) used to be a nomad.. 5 years ago and now he is the boytoy of the princesses (plural) and the - yeah a figurehead, but still - minister? And then the moment he gets in contact with the ML he suddenly finds his ministerial chops and pulls off - together with the ML who is a civil engeneer and has no political acumen, seemingly - this grand scheme to unite the countries that have been fighting for the past millennium? None of these make sense to have been so easy. The only positive point about any of this was the Crown Princess turned out to be something more than a cliche mean older sister. Ultimately, just like with the romance, the political aspect falls short of being a fulfilling plot point.

Overall, I think this film suffers form not spending enough time on developing either of its main points: romance or political intrigue. If either one was properly developed, the other, brief as it is, might have served as a good enough backdrop for the main element that is fullyt realised, however since that is not the case here, one feels quite unsatisfied after finishing the whole thing.

Still, the characters are likeable and what there is, is fun to watch. I never felt the need to just turn it off and never found myself rolling my eyes at the characters/plot. If you have some time and want a quiet watch, this will do the job. Just temper your expectation and don't expect a grand romance or deep plot.