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| THIS IS AN ANIME ONLY DISCUSSION POST. DO NOT DISCUSS THE MANGA BEYOND THIS EPISODE. ---------------------------------------- This was a great movie. An heartbreaking but also an heartwarming one. The scenes I loved the best were the scene where the brothers and Tanya played with the locomotive and the scene where the japanese kids sang in russian followed by the russian kids sang in japanese. The scene where the father held the brothers' hand and the moment Kanta saying his goodbye in the metaphorical train heading for heaven got me. :'( The ending scene was a very good cloture and I loved the quoting and references to the Night on the galactic railroad. |
| I've watched the anime and that was pretty good, I loved it. It's kind of similar with Hotaru no Haka, but the only difference is the ending, and how the kids see the world. Well, we can guess what will going to be happen since the beginning clearly tell the end of the story. But still, I loved how this anime directed. Unlike Hotaru no Haka that showed us the bitterness of the world after WWII , this one show us that there are still many kind people, even though they're enemy. Kurini said: The scenes I loved the best were the scene where the brothers and Tanya played with the locomotive and the scene where the japanese kids sang in russian followed by the russian kids sang in japanese. The scene where the father held the brothers' hand and the moment Kanta saying his goodbye in the metaphorical train heading for heaven got me. :'( The ending scene was a very good cloture and I loved the quoting and references to the Night on the galactic railroad. Yeah I loved those scenes too, especially when Junpei, Kanta, and Sawako-sensei finally can met Junpei's father. oh, also when Tanya kiss (?) Junpei, that was really funny. by the way, Junpei's drawing is so good, suddenly I remembered Nello from Flanders no Inu (He also good at drawing) |
| Very good movie, indeed is was very heartwarming and heartbroken adventure. That scene when they started singing each other songs, was sweet. I'm glad they chose to accept being different and as for the Japanese, having the Russians "lending" their primary homes. So sad when the father got captured.. with the only purpose of getting rice, so the village wouldn't starve. The moment where Junpei had to pretend Kanta was alive and having a conversation with him was also heartwarming. Did it really take them that many years to get home to the island again, I didn't quite understand that jump? Good ending and such colourful scenes! really liked those Galactic railroad moments, a sweet way of showing the way to heaven. |
CandyFace said: Did it really take them that many years to get home to the island again, I didn't quite understand that jump? The island of Shikotan where they used to reside became a part of the Soviet Union after the Second World War and later a part of the Russian Federation. Thus, I would assume all the Japanese people who were deported would have needed Russia to approve their Japanese passports in order to travel to the island [after the dissolution of the Soviet Union in this case]. I am assuming that none of those former residents of the island were allowed to visit Shikotan during the Cold War era, so they were only able to go back 50 years later in the 1990s [after the approval of the Russian Federation and the arrangements for this social gathering / cultural event / "elementary school graduation" at the end of this movie]. Of course, one major flaw with my explanation is the Senou family gravesite on Shikotan. I suppose one possibility is that it was much simpler to arrange burials on the island rather than traveling there during the Cold War era. |
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| Interesting, that would seem very likely. You may assume that Kanta didn't get buried on the island, but somewhere in Russia... He could have been burned and then brought to the island whereas he would have a proper burial, although i think that's unlikely. Thanks for the explanation :) |
CandyFace said: Thanks for the explanation :) No problem. I'm glad to be of help. On a side note, I wonder if all the Russian and Korean voice-acting (this was only in one scene near the end of the film) were done by native or fluent speakers. I couldn't tell whether or not the ending credits of the film really identified those voice actors. The film definitely put a lot of effort in the music, as the studio recorded the vocals of children from Russian orchestras in Moscow. It would certainly be a shame if the voice acting was not on par with the rest of the audio. |
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Singan said: Indeed, they were. Wow. Thank you for all the information! It's great to know that so much effort was put into the audio of this film. I hope viewer can really appreciate the great quality of it. |
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| i wonder why all the wardrama anime i have seen so far have kids as main protagonist. i really would wish i could find a wardrama anime with adults. Anyways, besides the bit childish wrap up a lot of adult themes were presented and i really liked the movie for that (for example the controversy between the russina steryotype and the real ones) I think the father figure wasnt well enough presented at the start. He merely looked after his kids which made all the drama spend at the end seem kinda too much. In other parts however they made too little drama, like the scene before the uncle wanted to distract the russians, while the audience expected he will give his life for the kids and the teacher. And then he didnt even die. Its kinda like all the focus was spend on the death of the brother and all the other parts were kinda forgotten. I very much like it when movies show you at the end what happens long after the story is over. It allways bugs what will happen after a story^^ In this case not much extra information was given like: what happend to the father? Or what happend to the uncle? Did he raise the main characer? But i think it was still nice to see the main character as an old man ( seeing the teacher as an old woman was kinda unnecessary though). Overall i liked the movie. It was one of the better wardrama anime. It had a nice artstyle to it, nice execution (maybe a bit too long in some parts though) 7/10 |
| That was really interesting and quite beautiful too. It was really nice to see how the Japanese and Russians warmed up to each other starting from the children. The scene where they first played the train with Tanya without seeing her. Then the one where they were playing tag and Junpei knocked Tanya down by accident. The ice-breaking hug that Tanya gave ^^ Their dad being from the army and giving out supplies before getting arrested. The tension between the two ethnic groups once again clashes with Junpei thinking that it was Tanya who told the secret. He ripping out the picture of her from his sketchbook to only realize it was his uncle on the ship. I really liked the farewell scene and the reunion scene when he got back to the island. A new sketchbook with the torn page taped onto it and given by Tanya's granddaughter. It just felt really warm seeing how everyone was dancing together at the end. The time Junpei spent together with Tanya was also really well done. The flowery grassland and sitting together under the night sky while drawing Tanya. I felt a little bad for the uncle too. He just does things that are good but just isn't appreciated to the level it should be. Bringing all those food, the car, and to distract the guards. Those gunfire shots too but it made sense that they didn't have the time to worry about him. Meeting their dad in the prison and having to part. Kanta's death... being sick already and going off to such a terrifying journey. It was nice to see them making to the ship and all the emphasis on the book. It was nice to see that Kanta on the train... Thanks for the historical and production background guys! I really liked this movie too. Showing the consequences of war, it being both good and bad. It was a heartwrenching yet beautiful movie that gave of smiles too. |
FatefulLoveNov 1, 2014 9:46 AM
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| Japanese animated movies about the Second World War are usually really sentimentalized, but geez. I couldn't really stomach this very well. Lockensocke said: i wonder why all the wardrama anime i have seen so far have kids as main protagonist. i really would wish i could find a wardrama anime with adults. Because then the film doesn't have to ask any actual questions about the war because little kids don't understand what's going on anyway. Every WWII-related anime I've seen has been like this....well, except the ones made during the war. It's live-action but The Human Condition trilogy is an exception to this. It's very good. |
| That was really beautiful Although, I was rooting for him to met Tanya once again |
| "Burn the heretics" |
| Well, because young kids are symbols of innocence in cinema. Narrative devices, essentially. Because any naivety and slight foolishness are forgiven; they are "just children" after all. "Children symbolize clarity of perception, simplicity, and wonder. They are also associated, however with absorption in the material world of passion and suffering. " Still, I really loved it. I thought the two brothers were lovable, and how the children of the island got along with the Russian children was wonderful. Friendship between cultures is such heartwarming moment; to be able to accept differences and make peace. When they sang each other's songs, that brought a huge grin to my face. I was also surprised and happy that the adults were also quite accepting, such as when the two went to eat with Tanya's family and were treated as guests, and even though their house was forcefully taken, the director didn't really portrayed characters with hate against the Russians. In addition, how they portrayed humans was heartwarming. Tanya was not discriminating, and didn't get angry over an accident that could lead to it. I thought Hideo was a sleazy uncle who would run away (and there would be angst, etc), but he was actually a good guy! And did so much for the boys unhesitatingly. He even got shot for them. And the Korean woman who helped out, despite the trouble she would be in. Of course she was paid (the watch) and complained, but she didn't want to abandon the kids. The Russian soldiers were also shown to be brutish and plundered the villagers, but the commander was a nice, cheery guy who helped with math.The Russian soldiers later portrayed felt sympathy (when they threw away the dead baby) and weren't evil, evil, evil. So while the film portrayed some examples of bad soldiers, they weren't evil, and many of the characters were kind at heart. Another thing I liked was that, although it provided a conclusion, many things are left up to the viewer. Such as the fate of the father, and what happen to then after they arrived in Japan. The sentiment in the film was well done (I'm a sucker for sentiment). I ended up tearing up for lots of moments, even though I didn't mean to. And the ending where everyone is dancing is just splendid, except for the awkward BGM change. The vigor and happiness of the scene was great though, that left a very heartwarming feeling for the ending. I think the fact that they had native voice actors says much about the film quality.To actually go to Russia for characters and for the singing children, the's amazing. That and child voice actors for the children. (Woot, Production I.G. and their quality!!) Overall a great film. I liked the characters, the story was heartwarming, and I enjoyed it. |
MirorinJul 26, 2015 5:23 PM
| How is it hard to sympathy with the children, families that were forced to be a part of the war. There were lots of innocent people, not everyone wanted to be a part of it. Being a citizen of the country, be it Germany, Russia, Japan, US or any supporting country, you were pretty much forced the join the war or take the consequences. The country (meaning those who had power) chose to let their citizens become a part of something terrible, like Germany, there was presumably a lot of convincing or persuasion (something hitler was very good at) before anyone would agree to take part in it. I have sympathy for those who never got to understand what living means.. those who did not choose or had a chance to decide. This movie just like Grave of the fireflies, focuses on those poor people IMO and not the innocence of Japan. They had no choice, they were forced to move out. How can you not sympathise that? Being born in the war, how can you not be persuaded by your surroundings and take part of it for your own and your families survival. |
CandyFaceFeb 3, 2015 8:34 AM
| I didn't care too much for the character design nor the animation, but the story was absolutely incredible. I'm still sobbing over the death of Kanta. Then ending really choked me up again when it showed everyone dancing happily together again. Sent with Mal Updater |
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| Brilliant, absolutely brilliant, people can rave all they want about how it's similar to GotF, but we get the same recycled harems every season, GotF was 27 years ago. I also felt the movie actually improved on certain aspect of fireflies, i do admit i would have liked to see a bit more Tanya, perhaps later on, and the ending was absolutely fantastic, the graduating after 56 years of education hit me hard, yes, i am a sentimentalist, can't believe this is only a 7.90 on MAL. 9/10 |
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| This got me pretty damn emotional, which means instant 10/10. About midway through I was thinking about how good this was, but it just kept getting better and better! Good story, unique animation and epic execution! Zee530 said: the graduating after 56 years of education hit me hard, yes, i am a sentimentalist, can't believe this is only a 7.90 on MAL. 9/10 This! |
loliowoFeb 18, 2015 5:17 PM
I almost never read discussions after I made my post, if you want to reply PM me or post on my profile page. |
| Really akward when the kid's teeth suddenly turned into fangs like wtf. |
 Novels I have read/am reading pending approval: since November 10 2022 |
| Being Russian I can confirm that voice acting and dialogues in Russian are done very well. I do believe that the reason why children are often protagonists in anime of that genre is very simple: it's not often that anime primary target audience is adults and even it happens it's certainly not in a movie format. And it's easier to pass the message to the children when they are around the same age as protagonists so they can sympathize. I think that choice is only natural and not very poetic. There are certainly a lot of books for example about adults in similar setting, probably a lot of movies too. And I don't really get people who have that strange understanding about how bad each nation was acting and trying to dictate how objective portrayal of its actions in the war should be. In this movie I didn't even see much of taking sides, mostly it's about how war and politics may make simple people suffer and maybe teaches us to be more considerate and kind if and when such things happen. What I really think is great about movies such as this is that it's showing us the emotional face of the events from history book so it becomes easier to grasp them and learn something. If one wants to learn more about the objective side of events or some boring historical details, one can always go and read some additional information but stimulating the curiosity is certainly very important. |
| But if the arrow is straight And the point is slick It can pierce through dust No matter how thick... |
| Solid technical section. Excellent execution. Bittersweet. Loved the references for "Night on the Galactic Railroad". Good. Totally worth the time. |
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| Not many anime can make me cry,but this movie...I'm crying like a baby right now :( Beautiful movie that's all I have to say. Now I need to rewatch Night on the Galactic Railroad ;) |
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| When Kanta started coughing it was death flag all the way. Sucks balls but I guess it couldn't be helped. Same with Tanya dying just a year before. I haven't read the "Night on the Galactic Road" even though it's been referred to, alluded, parodied and a whole lot of other ways in lots of anime. Maybe later... XP I was expecting something but what I got what something better. 7/10 |
| You see there's no need to wonder where your god is, Coz he's right here! ...and he's fresh out of mercy. |
| Movies that makes me actually cry deserves 10/10, didn't expect this movie to be as good as it was! Beautiful movie And I loved the Galactic Railroad references. |
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| I'm kinda torn about this movie. I really liked its first part with attempts to show the past and difficult coexistence with different culture and nation. Those part with Tanya around were just great and I wished they explored it more even later in the story. But after their escape to labour camp it got kinda weird - almost like the were forcing feels on us. Sadly, those feels didn't got to me and I found the ending when Kanta was boarding the ship carrying his brother while dramatic music was playing pretty strange. And his dance with Tanya's grandchild was even weirder. I think they dedicated way too much time to this part while it would be a lot better if they explored later parts of their lives, up to the present. Maybe even show Kanta's coping with loss of his brother and snippets of his later life. I understand what they were trying to dol with this direction. Words about lost souls and stars were strong as ever. But all the second part it just felt like they're only prolonging inevitable, crying for feels later. And that's when this movie fell flat for me. Hotaru no Haka litterally broke me down for more than one evening (to the point I never want to see that movie again - that's how good it is). But after Giovanni no Shima - I felt almost nothing. 6/10 Good attempt to show the tension and coexistence of Japanese and Russian people after WWII but not so good melodrama in the latter part. |
| lmao this show can't do drama for shit whenever they try, it just don't work baby-chan yo the REAL drama happens whenever dat shaved-head kid recites lines from the book and they start showing dem dreamlike shit man dat shit off the HOUSE that means they have to ride on the coattails of a historical author to be halfway decent nice attempt to mix fireflies and marnie, but you fail with drama go learn from Dezaki minus points as well for shitty CGI used at the WRONG times (fuck you I.G suck my dickkk) the real reason i even ever picked this up is because of a marnie look-alike in a WWII setting but nope they done fucked it up what the fuck was the story about??? what was her importance??? shit man |
First time I've seen properly voiced Russian-speaking characters in anime, however Russian cuisine wasn't showed realistic enough (we eat a few little cabbage rolls without mayo rather than a big one with mayo). Also the plot brightly exploits the image of Soviet Liberator:  |
ReFordDec 25, 2015 8:54 AM
| very beautiful movie, Best scene that will always get me. |
| is this historical? Russians were even to Japan after the war and led the Japanese to forced work in Russia? |
dixie89 said: If only Kanta still alive. Stupid family. Overrated movie. rodolfoemiliano said: is this historical? Russians were even to Japan after the war and led the Japanese to forced work in Russia? Looks llike so, "In the aftermath of the most devastating conflict mankind had ever experienced, the tiny island of Shikotan became part of the Sakhalin Oblast... and on the unhealed border in this remote corner of the world, friendship among children from two different countries timidly blossomed, striving to overcome language barriers and the waves of history. Inspired by true events." Russian rascality, "if really" happened. |
Singan said: rodolfoemiliano said: Russian rascality, "if really" happened. Well, at least they didn't massacre those civilians, unlike the Japanese who did that several times in China and Korea, with the Nanking Massacre being the most infamous example: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nanking_Massacre I'm not trying to portray the Japanese as evil or justify the Russians' actions, by the way - rather, I'm saying that everything should be judged by comparison, especially when it comes to WWII where almost all parties of the conflict may be held guilty of some "rascality" and committing war crimes. 00002019 said: It was okay. The melodrama and lack of originality didn't sit well with me, but it wasn't bad. While the melodrama part was not original indeed, I think that in general this movie is quite original, because I see it as something much more than a tear-jerking melodrama. This movie is one of the very few anime (and historical movies in general) that talks about those historical events that are not described in most other works of fiction and, more importantly, portrays both sides of the conflict as normal people without victimizing one side and demonizing the other. I think all that takes a lot of talent, research and objectivity on the creators' part, and I can only salute them for making such an honest and balanced movie. Yeah, I agree... in a war, there are no heroes. |
This scene hit me right in the feels.. :'( There were few flaws in the movie for me, like how they displayed kids emotions and reactions, it was very anime cliche. I didn't feel like it fit very well. The OST was fantastic with few exceptions. |
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| Eternal lesson: never trust soviets/russian. |
| "The future is always blank. Only your willpower can leave footsteps there." "Ruling over death means ruling over life. Death is the climax of life. To have the best death, you must honor life." |
| Rewatched after a couple of years. |
Novels I have read/am reading pending approval: since November 10 2022 |
Novels I have read/am reading pending approval: since November 10 2022 |
| The Korean woman has the heart of an angel to help out her enemies! lots of people are only remarking how she was complaining and whatnot, but as I saw it, she had the right to say what she said for the shit storm she went through. Heck, a silver watch is nothing compared to turning them in, if not for the children! As all war movies go, it's made to empathize with one side. sympathized with the Korean lady, couldn't relate to anything else. Made light of what Japan did... but overall 7/10 π€· if you bitch at me I will fight you. civil replies only |
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| Wow the graduation scene at the end really got me. Very few anime can get me eyes to start sweating. Also Hideo is immortal confirmed, he's probably still kicking around somewhere out there to this day. KewpieBabe said: The Korean woman has the heart of an angel to help out her enemies! lots of people are only remarking how she was complaining and whatnot, but as I saw it, she had the right to say what she said for the shit storm she went through. Heck, a silver watch is nothing compared to turning them in, if not for the children! As all war movies go, it's made to empathize with one side. sympathized with the Korean lady, couldn't relate to anything else. Made light of what Japan did... but overall 7/10 π€· if you bitch at me I will fight you. civil replies only Bitch bitch bitch bitch bitch bitch bitch bitch bitch bitch bitch bitch bitch bitch bitch bitch bitch bitch |
DancingTheBaOct 30, 2018 10:56 AM
DancingTheBa said: fight fight fight fight fight fight fight fight fight fight fight fight fight fight fight fight fight fightWow the graduation scene at the end really got me. Very few anime can get me eyes to start sweating. Also Hideo is immortal confirmed, he's probably still kicking around somewhere out there to this day. KewpieBabe said: The Korean woman has the heart of an angel to help out her enemies! lots of people are only remarking how she was complaining and whatnot, but as I saw it, she had the right to say what she said for the shit storm she went through. Heck, a silver watch is nothing compared to turning them in, if not for the children! As all war movies go, it's made to empathize with one side. sympathized with the Korean lady, couldn't relate to anything else. Made light of what Japan did... but overall 7/10 π€· if you bitch at me I will fight you. civil replies only Bitch bitch bitch bitch bitch bitch bitch bitch bitch bitch bitch bitch bitch bitch bitch bitch bitch bitch |
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KewpieBabe said: DancingTheBa said: fight fight fight fight fight fight fight fight fight fight fight fight fight fight fight fight fight fightWow the graduation scene at the end really got me. Very few anime can get me eyes to start sweating. Also Hideo is immortal confirmed, he's probably still kicking around somewhere out there to this day. Bitch bitch bitch bitch bitch bitch bitch bitch bitch bitch bitch bitch bitch bitch bitch bitch bitch bitch attack attack attack attack attack attack attack attack attack attack attack attack attack attack attack attack |
DancingTheBa said: πππ πππ πππ πππ πππ πππ πππ πππ πππ πππ KewpieBabe said: fight fight fight fight fight fight fight fight fight fight fight fight fight fight fight fight fight fight attack attack attack attack attack attack attack attack attack attack attack attack attack attack attack attack |
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KewpieBabe said: DancingTheBa said: πππ πππ πππ πππ πππ πππ πππ πππ πππ πππ attack attack attack attack attack attack attack attack attack attack attack attack attack attack attack attack ππππππππππππππππππ |
| Such a heartbreaking story and bit warmer in the end. But I wonder how did the father died or the uncle? I wish they did explain what happened to them. As for sensei, I guess she and Junpei didn't marry. The story based on the friendship of Tanya and Junpei more, so I guess others weren't that important which is sad in my part. But that scene with Kanta really touched me. 8/10. |
How I learned to stop worrying and love the bomb --- Dr Strangelove  |
| I enjoyed the movie. I didn't love it though. I loved that they used actual Russian voice actors for the Russian characters, even a Korean character, etc. I already had a feeling that Kanta was going to die. Ever since he got sick so his death did not really come as a surprise. Surprisingly, I didn't tear up at his death but I felt sorry for him, his brother, dad, etc. and all the suffering they had to endure. I wonder what happened between Sawako and Hideo? Did their dad ever get released? Was he executed? What happened? So many unanswered questions. 7/10 because it felt incomplete. |
| θγ- |
| Great visuals! But this movie has too much going on which makes it feel like it doesn't have a clear purpose aside from the many correlations to Night on the Galactic Railroad. Feels like a generic Japanese post-WWII drama after a while. |
| I wonder if this movie would’ve been a better experience if I had already read Night on the Galactic Road. As it stands, I didn’t really like this movie. It has some moments (Kant’s and Junpei re-uniting with their dad) that are really well done but for most of this movie, I just didn’t really feel invested in what was going on. |
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