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| THIS IS AN ANIME ONLY DISCUSSION POST. DO NOT DISCUSS THE MANGA BEYOND THIS EPISODE. ---------------------------------------- So difficult to discuss this movie. On one hand the journey to a fantasy land is a complete success, with various gorgeous landscapes and sights, but on the other hand the wondrous creatures are few and the magic is scarce, though only a faithful adaptation of the source is to blame for that. Which leads to another issue, the fact of the adaptation. Yes it feels faithful, but still here and there some parts feel unexplored (the blacksmith guild for example), giving the whole less cohesion. A whole that visually seems to lack cohesion too, with elements seen before in movies like The Cat Returns ot Howl's Castle. A refreshing thing was the movie is structured like an old Crayon Shin-chan movie, but again is way too discursive due to the written source. An enjoyable experience that as a coming of age story felt a bit dated, but should satisfy the very young target audience. |
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| it is an attempt at making a child movie in the style of gibhli. it fails. not only is it toxicaly moralist it is naive and chilidsh in the way only a child with retarded sense of critisism would like it. there are a few plotholes but that's not the main problem. this is just an incrdibly generic and mediocre story that's even more predictable that okuto no ken but instead of a classic badass main character, it's """"""""""""""""""""average"""""""""""""""" (god I hate this shit) overdramatic typical generic unninteresting characters who fight for the ""good"" of this word and everything ends up well. there is nothing interesting about this movie. it is good visually and has good music though. but it has no value. it is worthless. in fact, it is not mediocre. it's just bad. |
| I'm impressed at how bad this movie is in general. From how poorly it flowed, to how things just kept happening without establishing anything or caring to make you invested in the first place. Hell, it was even hard to care about the main girl considering the way they introduce her character with that awkward scene at the school where she just follows the group and ignores the isolated girl. The jokes, some of the lines of dialogue and even the character reactions to most events were facepalm-worthy material as well. Overall it's like they tried to give the movie Ghibli elements but miserably failed to capture what makes those truly appealing. Would not recommend at all. |
UnowenJan 13, 2020 4:02 PM
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| feels like a movie i'd forget about in two hours. the art looks good, kuvshinov's characters design really well adapted with beautiful animation and backgrounds. story-wise it's just a one time. they briefly go over the situation and as briefly try to move on with the plot, have a happy ending, while planting seeds that the same story has continued and will continue for generations. i would compare it to family inheritance but even that has more impact and value on the person than just the mc have their worldview broadened a bit. and that after credits scene where she and her friends make up with the lonely girl from the beginning of the movie was such a lazy attempt of character development lol. but hey, at least in the end she got some |
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| Could've been fleshed out more here and there, but I enjoyed the movie overall. Fine fantasy adventure with a chill atmosphere. |
One Piece episode 914 & 915 & 1027 were a mistake and 957 brought the salvation - FMmatron |
| I went into this with high expectations; I remember seeing the concept art and trailers for this baby early on and I am a Iiya Kuvshinov fan deeply, who uses his work in all facets. However it’s hard to ignore how placid this movie was and just goes to show you that breathtaking art cannot make up for lack of story and character. I don’t know anything about the original book but they really should’ve used it as a loose template and expanded from there. Some of the jokes and visual comedy were very good, I’ll applaud some of the wit in the snappy transitions and evolving jokes. Some of the best shots in the movie were quiet moments especially in the desert sky lines, just the contrast was phenomenal. Literal wallpaper pictures. The OST wasn’t memorable but was soothing at points and very laxed. I do kind of like that they leave it a mystery as if her mom was the previous goddess but literally after the movie I calculated the year to time difference between the worlds and it was 25 years, so it had to be her! Weirdly enough this should’ve had a dub with so much to digest visually; I took my sister to this who isn’t so used to the subtitles and though she was fine even I kinda like most these state side releases to get dubbed. Oh well. Might come back to this. I’m leaving it at a 6/10 just because it impacted me so heavily visually but really it should be a 5/10. I’ll decide after another watch. |
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| The world's design is the only appeal of this film that does nothing with a yet very easy to tell coming-of-age travel. The chara-design is interesting (I never met this russian artist's work before) but rigid, and the heroin never looks her age (I wouldn't have known before the cake picture if there were no school scene in the beginning.). I like the actress' voice but here, it only amplifies the discordance between apparent and theoretical ages. Omnipresent and noticeable CGI. Weird music placement. I can't even make a nicely paragraphed text, the film made me lack structure myself. Enjoyment: 3/5 Score: 4.5/10 |
Rei_IIIFeb 15, 2020 12:13 AM
| an ok film...... but nice nonetheless. |
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| It was a fun time. As usual, the visuals outweigh the story. |
| An underrated movie for sure. Most of the time when something has such weak plot consistency I am the first one to start hating, but Birthday Wonderland was different. It is a fantasy story 100% and follows the classic "Alice in Wonderland" structure, but the way the scenes and chapters were linked kept it always interesting for me as a watcher. It was a lot of fun and DEFINITELY not just for kids. Now I want to get to the rest of Keiichi Hara's work (Colorful, Sarusuberi: Miss Hokusai and Summer Days with Coo). |
| My wife bought this BD on Amazon and we watched it on a 154" screen in our home theater tonight. Visually, the film was spectacular. I thought the character designs were a little odd, almost Disney-like, but I got used to that pretty soon. Noted that director Keiichi Hara, of "Summer Days with Coo" fame, directed this film. It was an Alice in Wonderland like adventure and it was a pleasant one with some interesting characters and a mystery. We find a shocking revelation about the prince, though his savior is rather predictable. The prince's back story could have been fleshed out more, but even so, the film was enjoyable and had a good conclusion. |
| I would declare this film as underrated. I enjoyed this film as any other Hara Keiichi's work. The animation was stunning, the soundtracks , the story every thing was executed pretty well to me. I would rate it 8.5/10. I would really love to watch it again. |
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| The plot was interesting, the art style was OK, the execution was meh. 6/10 good enough to pass the time but forgettable. |
| You see there's no need to wonder where your god is, Coz he's right here! ...and he's fresh out of mercy. |
| I don't really understand what happened in almost 2 hours, like there's a lot to explain but it's okay I enjoyed it. I know I've got to let it go and just enjoy the show ~ I think the ending song really fits the movie. |
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| Definitely the most disappointing of Keiichi Hara's non-franchise movies. The character designs are sort of decent (not in the case of the prince though) but look very "flat" and lack texture. I like some of the antics of Chi (an older woman on such an adventure is a nice refreshment), but overall it was kinda bland and...strange. The entire world's water supply depending on a royal family performing some magic ritual is ridiculous (and the "villain" version of the prince tried to bring water out without the ritual? Lol). |
| It was alright but woefully underwhelming at the end. It felt like it tried to copy The Cat Returns (dapper, magical guide and the cats at the inspection) but without the charm. Biggest problem was it didn't make me care 1 drop about the world or its inhabitants. They showed some beautiful areas but barely anything about the people, and even less about the magic. Akane was too whiny for me, while Chi was cool. I guess that was the point, Chi showing Akane how to go with the flow and appreciate things, but it didn't work for me, and Akane's sudden turn at the end felt unwarranted. Then there was the story of the Prince. Why was he so angry in the first place? I got that he felt pressured and his parents had died, but the way they showed it he started rebelling for no reason before any of that happened. I thought the comedy and some scenes were good, though (like the fish scene), so it wasn't a complete bust. But otherwise, forgettable. 7 blown-out candles /10 |
| "You can't decide the future, but I'm going to re-educate you in the past!" - Erna Kurtz |
| This movie is pretty cool... Yeah, I liked it. Nothing to brag about, but yeah. And the art is clean. |
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| Loved the animation but the story is a mess. |
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Jan 29, 2020 12:56 AM |