it was a movie with great, boundless potential. a pool of ideas, concepts, and in-depth worldbuilding that was just waiting to be tapped into - but it ultimately was not drawn from properly. we only see glimpses and mere flashes of the past, future, and present... when i envision stretching this movie into a full series, i get chills up my spine. just imagine how immeasurably more rewarding that would have been. being able to explain the technology, the failed research, expanding the tense interactions with the forest and its druids, some stuffing on tula's decision to leave as soon as the first opportunity presented itself, how assimilation into both neutral city and ragna differed, a cohesive history... with that runtime, i do understand that there isn't space to possibly fit it all without the end product being a complete fiasco. the biggest problem of gin iro no kami no agito in my view, ended up being the characters themselves. shallow, deficient development, little inner monologue for a main character whose movie is named after him, shabby dialogue... and shabby to the point where i anticipated to hear "tula" at every turn, which was exactly what i'd end up hearing. congratulations agito, you have the one-track mind of a goldfish. inside that brute force skull is either a child's valiant sense of unwavering heroism, hollow heroism, or a resolute love. the latter (though pushed by the narrative) is difficult to buy into, even taking into account that it is a movie with movie related constraints. come on now. we becoming a tree for this sh*t? to add, agito's voice acting was disappointingly subpar. i don't remember thinking it was bad in 2011's UN-GO (katsuji ryou's sole other main character seiyuu role). he improved from poor and unsuited to unremarkable. this is simply not his calling...
i still give it a 9/10, from the 10/10 i was expecting. it was comprised of elements that i already knew i was going to hone in on, such as the man vs. nature theme: which i never tire of. the art, animation, and opening sequence are some of the BEST that i've ever witnessed. TOP; gonzo did not come to play. except for that one jarring vine cgi part... i was floored by the opening, especially when i heard kokia's "chouwa oto ~with reflection~" playing. i had no idea for so long that it was used for gin iro no kami no agito... now the track's title and lyrics own higher significance. a crazy, unforgettable scene. |