- Last Online2 hours ago
- GenderFemale
- BirthdayOct 16, 1996
- JoinedJan 15, 2016
Also Available at
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Mar 14, 2019
1 of 1 episodes seen
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3
people found this review helpful
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| Overall |
4 |
| Story |
4 |
| Animation |
8 |
| Sound |
6 |
| Character |
4 |
| Enjoyment |
2 |
I did not care for this one. The only thing saving this movie from being scored even lower is the beautiful visuals, (well, some of the CG was a little iffy, but I have soft spot for this Pokémon season's animation in general) so I'll try to keep this brief.
I wasn't really a fan of the way we're just thrown into the plot... the way Hoopa literally grabs our heroes out of their daily lives and plops them down into this plotline. It felt intrusive, and I wish they'd found a better way to tie this movie's story into something the gang was already working
towards. And Hoopa was obnoxious in both forms. That's kind of a tough handicap to overcome, given how much of the movie revolves around and is driven by him.
But mostly, the very idea just felt distinctly... cash-grabby. I can practically see the dollar signs (yen symbols?) that must have been in the creators' eyes when the idea of a movie that would bring together legendary Pokémon from across a whole bunch of seasons was first proposed. It's kind of funny, because I just watched Bonds Beyond Time-- the Yu-Gi-Oh movie that brings the first three main protagonists together-- and they're kind of based on that same sentiment... But it didn't bother me so much there, where each of the characters actually had their own place in the story. Here, the legendaries are popping up just to be notable cameos. I'm glad I can check this one off my list, but it just... wasn't for me.
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Mar 13, 2019
180 of 180 episodes seen
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1
people found this review helpful
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| Overall |
6 |
| Story |
6 |
| Animation |
6 |
| Sound |
6 |
| Character |
7 |
| Enjoyment |
7 |
Getting through GX has been quite the journey for me… Of the first three seasons—which are the ones I associate with my childhood—GX was the only one I never got into. And in the past I would have said it was because I didn’t like the Duel Academy premise or because Jaden was annoying… Or basically, I just latched onto all the most popular reasons to hate this season. Even when I decided to go back through Yu-Gi-Oh the way I had with Pokemon, I seriously considered just skipping this one… but at the end of it all, I’m really glad I didn’t.
From the
beginning, GX had its ups and downs, but I was surprised by how much potential I saw right off the bat. The one that caught me most off-guard was Jaden himself. I was prepared to just… tolerate him all the way through, but you know what? Jaden Yuki is not the god-awful character I often see him made out to be. It’s all about context. Early on, GX’s story is mostly about the school itself. Along the same lines of shows like Baka and Test or Assassination Classroom, Duel Academy values grades above all else, and those who get placed in the lowest-scoring dorm (like Jaden) are treated like dirt. Jaden, who’s unflappably cheerful and couldn’t care less about his grades or schoolwork, is completely unfazed by this and inadvertently manages to empower many of his other classmates as he continues to succeed despite his position in their little Duel Academy society.
Unfortunately, this also leads us into one of this show’s flaws… GX had a problem with focus as a whole. The longer this series went on, the less meaning the different dorms held. So, though we see characters making disparaging comments about being a Slifer Red almost all the way to the end, it stops feeling relevant pretty early on. But it did succeed in giving me an appreciation of Jaden. He wouldn’t become a truly interesting character until year three, and he may not be the best protagonist ever created, but he was designed to be the perfect hero for these particular circumstances. And his carefree attitude started to feel like a breath of fresh air amongst his group of more serious friends.
Most of Jaden’s friends were all hindered by the same thing: they were set up to be likable characters that the series itself never spent enough time on. Honestly, I could go on and on about the potential almost every single one of them had. I loved the direction they took with Chazz. He was introduced as the new edgy, rival character, but the showrunners acknowledged very early on that no one was going to replace Seto Kaiba. (In the same way that Yugi and Jaden have very little in common past their main character charisma. I never got the impression that GX was trying to replace the original; perhaps the strongest thing it had going for it was that it was committed to being its own thing.) Chazz falls from grace very early into things and when he finds himself again, he returns as this goofy, over-the-top, complete joke of a character… but people embrace him for it, and I loved that. Even though he’s mostly pushed out of the spotlight later by some of the other characters.
I had high hopes for Alexis. She was shaping up to be a strong female character, something not exactly in abundance in my childhood shows. I liked that it was her skill that set her apart from their classmates—rather than something shallow like her beauty. She does develop a one-sided crush on Jaden, but it never completely takes over her character like you see so often in shows that are aimed more towards boys. And the mystery with her brother gave her and interesting purpose and kind of drives the plot in the beginning. Unfortunately, more than any other character, Alexis really fades into the background as the series goes on. (I really liked the role she played with the tag-team duel near the end, but it felt overwritten, almost, as Jaden learns pretty much exactly the same lesson—again—from his duel with Yugi.)
Of all the characters in the original little troupe, Syrus is the only one I never really warmed up to, and I think it’s because he’s the only one who doesn’t really have that lack-of-screen-time excuse. Syrus’s early development did catch my attention—his insecurities and relationship with his brother gave him just as much potential as everyone else. But it takes so long for Syrus to grow… And there’s really no excuse for it, because he gets several episodes devoted specifically to overcoming those insecurities… but there’s no follow-through. The next episode, he goes back to being exactly the same person he was before, excessive self-doubt perfectly intact. By the time he finally starts standing on his own mid-season three, it just felt too little, too late. Endearing me to him at that point just wasn’t in the cards.
In case it’s not already apparent, it was the characters that really drew me in to GX. The first two seasons’ plots were kind of hit or miss for me. I think season one did some interesting things—especially the twist they threw in with Banner—but kind of dropped the ball with the whole missing kids plot, which was the most interesting thing about it. Season two’s story… just wasn’t for me. It felt kind of filler-y. (Though, if there’s one thing, story wise, that I really liked about season two, it was the way Jaden’s deck had to evolve to combat what he was up against. Oddly enough, that’s something I haven’t seen too often in this franchise.) But if it did have one thing going for it, it was the season that brought in one of my favorite characters.
I love Aster. After the turn Chazz’s character took, Aster was the rival we could take seriously. And I love the way he parallels Jaden. They both have hero-themed decks, and Aster clearly views himself as The Good Guy. So, because he starts out on the side of the villains, it was clear that he was going to get a redemption of some sort, but it happened a lot sooner than I was expecting. Aster starts distancing himself from the people he’s working with almost immediately when he starts to suspect their goals may not be so pure. And that’s something I really respect. He may be a (loveable) snarky little asshole, but he’s not too caught up in his own edginess. And there’s a sweet (if extremely brief) character development moment where he goes from constantly distancing himself from others to being willing to sacrifice himself for the people he now considers to be his friends. That one aspect is very blink-and-you-miss-it, but in general, Aster was one of the few characters who felt fully developed by the show’s end.
But season three was where GX really started to shine. It starts out by introducing us to four More characters, all of whom are interesting in their own ways. Most notably, of course, is Jesse, who quickly becomes Jaden’s new best friend as they bond over their shared ability to see duel monster spirits. (Another plot point that had kind of been building up to this moment.) You might be thinking, “Wow, that’s a lot of characters!” (And I didn’t even stop to talk about Bastion, Hassleberry, Atticus, or Zane.) There was a moment where I just had to stop the episode—paused on a scene where Jaden’s friends were all gathered together looking for him—and count how many people were on screen. (And there were, like, nine of them.) And it kind of blew me away. I’m not sure I can name another show with that many characters making up our hero’s team. (Maybe Digimon 02, during the few scenes where the older team was there to help out the new kids.)
And I kid you not, maybe two episodes later, the show suddenly gives us more of a backstory for Jaden. You want to talk about things that really blew me away… I was prepared for Jaden to be this carefree, happy-go-lucky kid from start to finish with that easygoing attitude being his greatest strength. (In a very Davis-like way, speaking of 02.) And then suddenly we’re given this story of how Jaden’s parents never had time for him and a… problem with one his card spirits made it so that he didn’t have any real friends either. And so you just know that all this—going on these crazy adventures with a huge group of friends—has got to be everything he’s ever wanted. Which was a really poignant realization… that then came back and hit me like a truck when it all started falling apart around him.
Season three was really good in general and got really dark. I know it’s hardly unique to Yu-Gi-Oh GX, but I love that storytelling twist where the hero has to accept his flaws or inner darkness as a part of himself, rather than overcome them completely. So that moved me too. Jaden grows more during the second half of season three than in all of the two and a half seasons leading up to it. I mean, I liked all the new characters introduced, Zane and Aster really shined in this season, it’s where Syrus finally comes into his own, I liked the story it told… The whole thing was just a great ride.
Season four… had its ups and downs. It was a chance to come down from all the horror of season three and wrap things up. I think the episodes devoted to getting the kids ready for graduation were really good. Throughout, I wasn’t generally as fond of the episodes that were just about their everyday school lives. (Original Duel Monsters had entire filler arcs, but I could get into those more easily than this style of individual, more inconsequential filler episodes.) But these episodes felt meaningful and focused more on individual characters, many of whom had been neglected for most of the series. The actual evil they faced felt a little… overdone, given that it really just boils down to the kids being afraid to go out into the real world and having to find that courage. I think what disappointed me most, though, was that it really doesn’t explore how Jaden’s changed since the big event at the end of season three and barely touches on his new connection with Yubel. I mean, it’s a change that’s really clear just looking at him, but I would have liked to see a little more self-reflection there. And I feel like the big lesson that final evil teaches them could have easily been worked into the character episodes. I did like the way GX wrapped up, though. Jaden’s new goal for himself also felt like a good representation of GX trying to stand on its own, apart from the original.
I feel like I need to take a step back and just breathe, trying to wrap this up in any coherent way. The thing is, my reaction to season three tends to make it seem, even to myself, like I enjoyed GX more than I actually did. And don’t get me wrong, it did get really good for a while there. And I was really invested in most of their (inadequately explored) characters. But then I have to remember that the first two seasons were really hard to get into most of the time. (We’re talking, like, 100-120 episodes before it was gripping enough for me to want to start binge-watching episodes whenever I had a spare moment.) And most of the things I loved about those characters were… well, inadequately explored. At the end of it all, I am really glad I didn’t just skip right to 5Ds like I was seriously considering. GX was very different from what I’d been expecting, but most of those surprises were pleasant. And I’m walking away from this experience with fond memories.
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Mar 10, 2019
2 of 16 chapters read
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0
people found this review helpful
Preliminary
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| Overall |
3 |
| Story |
5 |
| Art |
7 |
| Character |
2 |
| Enjoyment |
1 |
I don't write many preliminary reviews, because I'm always really hesitant to read them myself. So I encourage everyone to take this with a grain of salt, but sometimes I just feel the need to justify why I dropped a series.
I'm generally pretty fond of ghost stories and supernatural plotlines. So when I found myself wandering around the bookstore, caught up on all the other manga I was currently reading, Ghost Diary looked like a good fit to fill that hole in my life. It became clear very quickly, though, that it's just... not for me.
I'll admit it: I only read the first
two chapters. It quickly became clear to me that the premise of the story was the only thing it had going for it. A lot of characters are introduced early on, and I didn't find a single endearing thing about any of them. And Chloe was annoying practically from the first page she was introduced. I just... couldn't imagine willingly sitting through two and a half more volumes with Chloe as a major part of the story. Characters are the most important part of a story for me, so this is a hard handicap to recover from. (Not to mention the incest-y vibes between the main protagonist and his sister. Which is something I've gotten kind of used to seeing, here in the anime realm, but just... isn't for me.) So a lot of my critiques come down to personal preferences, but yeah. I didn't get through the first volume.
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Mar 9, 2019
1 of 1 episodes seen
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1
people found this review helpful
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| Overall |
7 |
| Story |
6 |
| Animation |
8 |
| Sound |
7 |
| Character |
7 |
| Enjoyment |
8 |
All right, I'll admit it: my nostalgia/eagerness got away from me. I've got 2 more episodes of GX, but I'm familiar enough with 5Ds that I skipped right to the Bonds Beyond Time movie. I just couldn't fathom putting it off throughout another 150+ episodes. So here we are.
On one hand, this movie was everything I wanted it to be. It's Yu-Gi-Oh! I'm here for world destruction via card games, a little angst and darkness, and the cheesiest of friendship speeches. And it delivers on that.
But on the other hand, I can't deny that this movie felt... rushed. And I just can't fathom why.
Or rather, how it found itself in that position. This is the big, celebratory, 10th anniversary movie where we get to see the first three main protagonists band together and overcome some great threat. It ought to be epic and moving, and to an extent, I did feel that. But any scene that wasn't directly related to setting up the story-- or the actual duel-- was zipped through. Not that a part of me didn't enjoy seeing our three heroes become instant, effortless bros, but you're telling me they didn't have the budget to pad out the scenes that really gave this movie heart? I mean, this movie isn't even an hour long. And the few lines Yusei has about having hope for the future just felt... obligatory? Like the writers got through the bare basics for the movie and then were like, "Oh shit, guys, do you think we should have some sort of moral?" That final scene with Yusei returning home really felt like it was tacked on as an afterthought.
Don't get me wrong, I did really enjoy the experience, but it felt a little lacking. (Actually, in hindsight, given how much of the focus was on Yusei and his Stardust Dragon specifically, this really felt like more of a 5Ds movie than a movie meant to represent all three seasons.)
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Feb 26, 2019
13 of 13 episodes seen
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1
people found this review helpful
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| Overall |
7 |
| Story |
6 |
| Animation |
7 |
| Sound |
8 |
| Character |
8 |
| Enjoyment |
7 |
On one hand, I really loved this show. On the other… I didn’t like it as much as I wanted to. I tend to see the two main components of Kokoro Connect (the friendship story and the mystical/supernatural elements of the story that led to the kids getting closer) as two very separate things, because one was done very well, and the other just… wasn’t. Which is unfortunate. If it had been a truly great show, these components would have blended together effortlessly, like I assume was the intention, but I think I’m getting a little ahead of myself.
To start with what Kokoro Connect
did well, I love these types of friendship stories: where something brings a group of kids who don’t have much in common together and then forces them to suddenly get real close, real fast. At first, it’s the school these five attend, which requires every student to join a club. This group ends up together just because they don’t really fit in anywhere else. (A premise that has a lot of potential on its own.) But the real catalyst is when they suddenly start swapping bodies for brief periods of time.
This series gets off to a really good start. I’ve always felt that the first episode is pretty brilliant. The whole thing takes place almost exclusively in their club room, and we barely know these kids at this point, but it felt obvious, even to a first-time viewer, how out of place Iori’s high-energy reactions and mannerisms looked in Taichi’s body. It just felt like a very fun, very clever way to introduce us to and acquaint us with these characters. And the atmosphere and tone of the whole thing was great too. Even with its more lighthearted moments, the scenes where it really sunk in for them that this crazy, unexplainable thing was actually happening felt genuinely eerie. It felt very real to me.
And as the series goes on, I came to really like all the characters and their personal stories. Everything from Himeko’s pride to Iori’s identity issues… Aoki questioning what it really means to love someone and Taichi’s battle between selfishness and selflessness… And especially Yui’s journey to recover from a past sexual assault over the course of the series… Every single one of them moved me at some point, and I think they’re all relatable in their own ways. And I loved seeing them all grow closer as the anime went on, navigating these increasingly invasive supernatural happenings.
Which unfortunately leads us in to the part of this story that was not handled quite so well. We are technically given an answer as to why these things are happening: in the form of Heartseed, this vague alien(?) being that’s taken over the teacher who acts as their club advisor. But it is one of the most half-assed excuses for anything that I’ve ever seen. Heartseed has no personality or motivations to speak of. He tells them they’re entertainment to him and these things will just keep happening until he grows bored of them.
Which does happen. Kind of. Once they’re rid of the body swapping, they start losing their impulse control for brief periods of time. After these ‘unleashed desires’ come to an end, brief periods of de-aging begin. And after the de-aging, they start hearing each others’ thoughts. And I think the worst thing is… that it’s not like these aren’t interesting ideas. But I was losing patience with this show before it was even half over. Heartseed is nothing more than a weak plot device, an excuse for the creator to play with these (genuinely interesting and likable) characters. We’re never given any deeper explanation of what/who Heartseed is. It just felt… lazy. It felt like blatant creator manipulation, which was really disappointing to me.
I think whether or not you’ll enjoy this show really depends on what you’re looking to get out of it. The heartfelt friendship story is really good, but the supernatural plotline that’s meant to be the big, driving force behind it all is really lackluster. Personally, I wanted both.
I’m not going to write a separate review for the Michi Random episodes, but it should be noted that they’re not really OVAs in the way that I tend to think of them: as mini adventure stories unrelated to the main plot. The Michi Random OVAs are really just the last four episodes of the show, wrapping up the love triangle, Iori’s personal journey, and (sort of) the business with Heartseed. I do think it’s important to note, though, before you jump in, that the episodes that really complete the series were only ever released on DVD. (Instead of reaching the end of episode 13, like me, and Then realizing there’s more to the story.)
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Feb 24, 2019
1 of 1 episodes seen
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2
people found this review helpful
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| Overall |
7 |
| Story |
7 |
| Animation |
8 |
| Sound |
6 |
| Character |
6 |
| Enjoyment |
7 |
This one was just a good movie in general. I feel almost like you could take out the Pokémon elements completely and still have the core story of an irresponsible princess growing up into a stronger person, and I really liked that.
But on top of that, there was just a lot going on in this movie, and I think it worked here. There were four different treasure hunters/thieves on top of Team Rocket, and they actually all fit into this movie pretty well. I thought it was an especially nice touch that they each had one of the final evolved forms of the Kalos starters,
rather than a more generically evil-looking, villain Pokémon. I saw this one after I'd finished the whole series, but this looks to have been set pretty early into XY, so it would have been really cool to see then. On top of that, each of our heroes had a place in this story, which doesn't feel like it should be a lot to ask, but there have definitely been Pokémon movies in the past where Ash is off being heroic, and his companions are just trailing along after him the whole time. In this movie, it really felt like they all came together to combat some great evil or threat, the way it should be.
I enjoyed the music. The visuals were really striking in this one... I just finished the Volcanion movie earlier today and was pretty disappointed, so I was just really pleasantly surprised at what this one achieved.
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Feb 24, 2019
1 of 1 episodes seen
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7
people found this review helpful
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| Overall |
5 |
| Story |
5 |
| Animation |
7 |
| Sound |
6 |
| Character |
5 |
| Enjoyment |
5 |
Of all the Pokémon movies I've seen, I'd say this one was just... okay. It looked very nice and had an interesting, steampunk sort of setting. But I felt like they weren't totally in touch with the lessons this movie was meant to tell--or even just the potential for what lessons it could tell.
I expected there to be more of a focus on the forced mega evolutions. I know it is something that's touched on in the anime itself a few times, (at least I seem to remember a few episodes with that plot) and so it wouldn't be entirely new, but one thing they
did really focus on was how all the Pokémon in that valley had been abused or abandoned at some point and now distrust humans because of it. Mega evolution is meant to be this big thing that only works if the bond between trainer and Pokémon is strong enough, so it should have tied in pretty easily. But there was only, like, one line shouted out in the midst of the big battle about how they're fighting back against it, and then we've moved on to something else.
Even more so, though, I was expecting there to be some big lesson about the difference between machines and living creatures... maybe how the people living in that city are so used to working with machines that they've grown insensitive to the needs of their more animalistic Pokemon? And that's why they don't see a problem with forcing the mega evolution? Because it's like overriding some function on a machine? I don't know; there are a lot of things they could have done with it, instead of the super generic, "I'm going to use and abuse this pure-hearted being's power because I'm the bad guy" plot that they went with that's already been done a million times. I just feel like this movie didn't live up to its potential.
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Feb 23, 2019
1 of 1 episodes seen
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1
people found this review helpful
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| Overall |
6 |
| Story |
6 |
| Animation |
6 |
| Sound |
6 |
| Character |
6 |
| Enjoyment |
6 |
After finishing the actual series, I jumped right to Dark Side of Dimensions, kind of (completely) forgetting that there had once been another Yugioh movie, long ago... And boy did watching it again bring back memories. (Mostly of my parents' extremely unimpressed faces as we left the theater.) I think what struck me most... was that I basically got the same thing out of it watching it today as I did watching it over and over again as a kid, back when I didn't have the comprehensive understanding of the show it's based on that I do now. Which is not exactly a compliment, if
you think about it...
This struck me as the sort of movie that you could watch in place of the series itself. Obviously, you wouldn't get the whole story, but you'd get enough. It does sum up the premise of the series and include all the major points you would have absorbed if you'd been actually watching the series, even just casually: The whole thing being driven by a combination of Yugi's connection to the spirit of an ancient pharaoh and Kaiba's pride. All their ridiculous problems ultimately being solved by winning a card game--or, at least, the monsters from that game coming to life in this case. The huge emphasis on the group's friendship and how it can overcome just about everything. So I mean, it was faithful to the show it was based on, at least, but it really doesn't build on that show in any meaningful way. I could see this movie being created just to try and draw in a new audience of fans-- and wouldn't be surprised to learn that it was. There are very few anime movies I can think of that got big, advertised theater releases like this one did. So, critically speaking, it's not as impressive or moving as it could be... but I definitely had nostalgia for it, and was surprised to realize just how much of it I remembered in detail.
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Feb 7, 2019
12 of 12 episodes seen
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2
people found this review helpful
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| Overall |
5 |
| Story |
5 |
| Animation |
6 |
| Sound |
6 |
| Character |
5 |
| Enjoyment |
5 |
I feel like I should probably start this off on the note that I'm not exactly the target audience for this show. I've only ever been a casual gamer at best and can't claim to have ever really gotten into any arcade games. But I do tend to enjoy stories about protagonists who are unabashedly passionate about their nerdy hobbies-- so I can appreciate that aspect of its charm-- and it did feel insightful in regards to how gaming and attitudes around gaming have changed over time. Something I don't have a ton of experience with, as even the last little arc takes place a
year before I was even born.
But I was expecting the real draw of this anime to be the characters... and for about the first half it was... but by the end, they never really develop in the meaningful ways I was hoping. I think Oono and Hidaka are both very interesting. (Or had the potential to be at least.) They do--almost-- develop Oono. A girl who's well-off and well-liked but only Haruo really understands is seriously misunderstood. And there was a little development there, in how he came to be able to read her subtle expressions... but she doesn't say a single word over the course of the whole series, which, along with her penchant towards violent reactions when she doesn't know how to express herself, I interpreted as a sort of cry for attention. Clearly her parents don't care enough to get to know her, so it's going mostly unheard, but I expected for Oono and Haruo to have to some big heart to heart where they finally accomplish something and she determines to better stand up for herself. But it just... doesn't happen.
Hidaka, too, I found interesting and to have a lot of potential-- as a girl who doesn't know how to have fun but finds herself with a lot of natural talent for video games... but then her entire character is taken over by her crush, and her storyline really stops being about her own growth. She's just another presence to motivate Haruo. Honestly, I think I would have been okay with a much simpler story that wrote out Hidaka entirely and just focused on Haruo and Oono getting to know each other over time, and then having a more conclusive ending.
Haruo might be the one exception. I could appreciate his storyline as well--as a boy who's escaped into video games so thoroughly because he doesn't feel like he could ever succeed at anything else. I do feel like he learns a little more about being a human being through his experiences with the two girls and some of his other classmates, but even he ends the series feeling like he's basically still where he started. Honestly, I don't even care that they don't properly resolve the love triangle. That's really not what I was here for. I would have been perfectly happy with a good friendship story, but it feels like a stretch to even call it that.
I mean, I didn't dislike this show... It felt very easy to watch and I enjoyed it well enough. But I don't feel like it really holds up on a critical level.
(However, I did just notice that three more episodes are set to come out in March, so perhaps there's still hope after all.)
UPDATE: Just watched the last three episodes... Eh. They weren't bad. I enjoyed them as much as the rest of the show, but I didn't get enough out of them to feel the need to write a separate review. It still feels a little inconclusive.
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Feb 1, 2019
1 of 1 episodes seen
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3
people found this review helpful
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| Overall |
9 |
| Story |
9 |
| Animation |
10 |
| Sound |
10 |
| Character |
9 |
| Enjoyment |
9 |
This movie was beautiful to me in a lot of ways, and I don’t just mean in terms of representation. It was billed to me as the movie about bullying with the deaf protagonist—and those things are true—but I definitely wasn’t aware going into it that both main characters are suicidal by the time this movie starts. I felt it was just as much about depression—even if that depression was caused by bullying—and one of those artsy, beautiful things that I really liked was the way they depicted how Shoya views the world once he’s lost his ability to connect with others.
Shoya himself was probably
the strongest point of this movie for me. The depictions of bullying in all stages of childhood felt very genuine to me. I could look at both the instigators and the kids who just went along with it for their various reasons and relate them back to real kids that I knew throughout my own childhood. Shoya was a(n unfortunately) typical little boy—insensitive just because he’d never been exposed to something like deafness before.
But I think the really striking thing about his character is how much he’s changed by the time we see him as a teenager. After everyone turns on him, he grows into a very… thoughtful human being. Not that this mindset should be entirely applauded. A lot of it is the depression talking: he’s really started to believe that the entire thing was his fault. Which is also not to say that he wasn’t in the wrong. There’s just a balance he hasn’t quite reached between accepting your own flaws and understanding when you’re being too hard on yourself to allow yourself to change. This whole movie is really about finding that balance, as we see echoed through a lot of the other characters. Miki in particular was one who annoyed me but felt very real. She was one of the ones who may have scolded the others for making fun of Shoko a few times, but it never stopped her from laughing along with them. Now, as a teenager, she’s the quickest to deny any involvement, wanting to be seen as a better person than the rest of the group. It’s something we see in a lot of the older characters: They understand now that they were wrong but aren’t yet in a place where they can confront their own flaws. Shoya’s trying to find the middle ground from the other direction. He’s all too willing to believe that anything bad that happens around him is probably his fault too, which leads to him being very understanding of everyone around him, even the people who don’t deserve it. Shoya’s personal journey of learning to open himself back up to the world was really moving to me. That final scene gave me chills.
Honestly, I never got quite as attached to Shoko. In a lot of ways, she and Shoya are on the same journey. I don’t mean to reduce her to nothing more than her deafness, but when her personal story is basically already being told (in a way that felt more compelling to me, if only because Shoya’s the one telling the story) that’s kind of what’s left, and the movie’s representation of a deaf character tended to be what I was most interested in when Shoko was on screen. I’m not deaf myself, and I haven’t had any extensive experience interacting with deaf people. By my sister is majoring in sign language and interpreting, and I’ve taken a few ASL classes myself. Not that it helped me with any of the Japanese sign language in this film, but a big focus in the class was always on the social aspect of being deaf and what’s considered rude when speaking to a deaf person, what it’s actually like to try and ‘hear’ through a cochlear implant, or just to live without sound entirely. And there were a lot of scenes in the movie that I really liked where they really accentuated the sounds Shoko would have been able to feel—like the kids running their fingers across the bars while she’s on the jungle gym. It showed an awareness that’s really crucial to a movie like this.
Unfortunately, it’s also where things start to go downhill. There were quite a few flaws that took a hit at my suspension of disbelief. Some of them were minor—like when Shoya woke up from his coma and was able to immediately unhook himself from his tubes and wires and stagger out of the hospital without anybody stopping him. (You’re telling me a boy with recent suicidal history wasn’t hooked up to anything that would bring nurses running when he woke up?) But the bigger one—from the very beginning—was that I find it really hard to believe Shoko didn’t have any kind of interpreter in the classroom with her. Even with her hearing aids, it was clear she couldn’t follow along with the teacher’s instruction.
The biggest problem I had, however, was with the way it handled the outcome of the bullying. I didn’t totally buy the way they all came back together at the end. It felt like they’d intended for there to be some bigger, overarching message about bullying and why people sometimes act in despicable ways… but like they never quite got to it. I was approached by two other fans in the theater afterwards who’d read the manga and said a lot had been left out and, as I am planning to read it anyway, I hope that’s one of them. But as far as the movie goes as a standalone work, it just wasn’t conclusive enough for me.
I would hate to leave a review for a movie that I gave an almost perfect rating to on a bad note. It really was beautiful. I seriously considered giving it a 10, which I reserve for very few anime and manga that have special meaning to me. In the end, there were a few too many flaws that I couldn’t overlook, but I definitely plan to buy this movie whenever it finally comes out in the US, and if you get a chance to see it, you should.
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