Hi no Tori: Eden no Sora

Talking about bad adaptation, I guess most of us already know about the live-action “Dragon Ball Evolution” or the second season of “The Promised Neverland”. Welp, unfortunately, it just happened to be the same case for this Anime. I didn’t have much expectation when seeing the trailer but this is just too much to deal with. Calling this abomination a trainwreck is even an understatement.

The disaster inherently stems from the concept in the first place. Let’s imagine, if allowing Anime to be aired on Netflix through batch release is considered a crime, then allowing the masterpiece “Hi no Tori” to be directed by an incompetent ... person and exclusively aired on Disney+ is unquestionably an atrocious sin that must never be tolerated. Whoever came up with this idea has made the worst decision in their life.

You may already know or maybe not but the prototype of this one - “Nostalgia” is deemed one of the greatest arcs in the Manga, along with “Karma” and “Resurrection”. Harsh, raw, dramatic, high-stakes, psychologically heavy, these characteristics are what made the original highly regarded. It doesn’t shun bringing controversial subjects like incest, homicide, cannibalism for its thematic exploration. Yet sadly, none of those traits are presented in this adaptation. Instead of getting something deep and mature, we’ve got a light-hearted, shallow, frivolous, child-friendly story that is safe to watch in your living room with your niece or nephew.

The over-modification to befit the medium is repugnant to the point no trace of the source can be found. I really really do wonder if that director actually read the work himself. Almost every setting and world-building was altered. Characters should appear never appear, characters shouldn’t appear appear. The details should exist never exist, the details shouldn’t exist exist. The character should be dead somehow alive. What a heinous joke, I can’t remember how many times I shook my head while watching this.

Man, if only it had at least one saving grace. The characterization is even more cringeworthy and the theme of homesickness is portrayed in the most superficial way possible. In the work, Romy is depicted as a strong, determined, independent, decisive woman. Her struggle for survival and to carry the weight of being the only woman on the planet Eden, seeing her husband and her offspring gradually pass away causes great damage to her mind. It’s the trauma that begets an immeasurable pain of fear, loneliness, despair, and thus, leads to her strong feeling of nostalgia. The sincerity and earnestness make us sympathize with her and her story. So what do we have in the Anime? A weak, naive, happy-go-lucky mother who sleeps most of the time until her descendants wake her up because the show has to avoid incest which is not suitable for kids. Then she stays as the queen for 40 years, the motivation for her homesickness only boils down to her boredom. I’m crying hard for its cheap sentiment not gonna lie. In addition, her journey returning to Earth later is also a mess. The Manga provides us with an arduous voyage that’s full of terror and danger, a dark and vast universe as though depicted in Lovecraftian horror. Upon reading this part, I could feel every fiber of my body getting goosebumps. Alas, just like other elements, what is presented in this Anime hardly can’t be taken seriously.

It's all I want to talk about. Sorry if it feels like a rant but I’m not only madly disappointed but also irritated by this disgraceful piece of crap. If you feel tired of mainstream Anime and currently are seeking a new experience then it might not be a bad watch. However, if you’re a Manga fan or merely someone who loves to see something profound, intellectual, impactful, thought-provoking then I genuinely advise you to stay away from it at all costs.

Another one of Osamu Tezuka's classics got a modern anime adaptation.
The story in the chapters adapted for this anime was quite engaging and interesting, but the pacing felt somewhat off. Apparently, they also plan to release a movie version of this with an alternative ending, so I'm looking forward to seeing how that turns out.

Although I liked the visuals, the background art was beautiful, and the character designs successfully captured the essence of the old animations.

I would still recommend watching this, not only for its beauty but also because the story revolves around themes of loneliness, pain, suffering, and the journey towards hope.

I dont know the series looked promising when i saw the trailer and just even with reading the sinopsis i feel its gonna catch the interest of more than one person but after finishing this adaptation of the work "phoenix" from osamu tekuza i really think that wasnt really good.

4 episodes its just very little to narrate an compelling story, characters like romy who its the main character on the series and her realization or even her traveling to find the earth along the episodes is too superficial sure it has a couple of touching moments but even those lose a lot of ... impact and importance because the pacing is too fast, the same applies to others like george.
I mean the overall idea and persona on the characters its there but are not employed at their fullest, this at least would need another 4 episodes more (if not more) to get an decent and well fleshed series on general.

The settings are interestings and the only song we hear on the ending of each episode its beautiful although it worth to mention that really wasnt used properly on the last episode to being honest, they could add some montage at the end or some post-credits scene but instead went just rolling out credits after 5 seconds like all the previous episodes in a pretty shabby way (this due certaintly to the series being rushed in general).

Its an drama with some sci-fi and the themes presents along the series are nice but cant avoid to say that i couldnt enjoy it a lot because the development on characters and story wise felt really hollow for the most, if you are interested on watch it give it a try you might appreciate some of the hopeful messages that are presents on the series, but its nothing to say outanding or good even.

I havent read the original work in which this adaptation its based off but i feel that even then this does not make justice to the renow and popularity that has gained the original material.

I saw this film at the Animation Is Film (AIF) Festival in Los Angeles. There should be no spoilers in this review.

I genuinely don't know how I feel about this film. I don't know much about the source material, but I can say that I left the theater somewhat confused on the overall meaning that was meant to be conveyed. I have no clear indication of what the general message of the film was, other than a critique of the human condition and that greed is a vice that will consume all. I say this very loosely, only because that is the only non-weird conclusion ... that I can come to about this film.

The film also suffers from pacing issues, as well as several themes feeling like they were shoehorned in for "emotional impact" but their presence in the film feels tacked on rather than incorporated into the story. There were several potentially interesting themes and events introduced that could have easily been expanded on to create a deeper sense of connection with the characters, but these all fall flat in how a lot of them fail to resolve, and a glaringly important event abruptly begins and resolves completely without the interference of the main cast. A questionable decision to take this facet of the story and neglect to elaborate on it, to be honest.

I especially had mixed emotions when coming to terms with the general events that happened and the sequence they were happening in. A lot of the events in the story really felt like they were placed in there simply to solidify a fact as it happened, rather than feeling like the characters were experiencing their own lives. It felt like they were only placed in some of the scenarios they were in not because we're expecting them to learn about their situation, or about themselves, but rather they needed to be there or else the story wouldn't progress. It felt like a very linear and almost 3rd-person approach to storytelling that makes emotional impact fall flat because there are no emotional ties tying them to their quest to keep living and deal with their struggles.

At the very least, I can admit that I am very interested in reading the source material, as this is my introduction to the series. It does a great job at making you want to see what the emotional depth was meant to feel like. I genuinely want to know more about the world, and as a person that adores the sci-fi genre I can easily say that I will make a conscious effort to find a means to experience the source material!