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Jun 19, 2017
When a series has one of the hypest openings ever, directed by Bahi JD and worked on by legendary animators like Mitsuo Iso and all new webgens, then that opening delivers with some funky tunes and godly animation?
What could go wrong?
Oh you know they just showed off a load of Sakuga in the opening had an alright set up, dragged the filler before the actual plot out for a bit too long and then have all the attention focused around plane asf characters.
If only they had stopped there though, no they go ahead and make their roided up version of robot wars completely
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in CG.
So yeah I think I'm done here, maybe it was my own hype because of I love the opening director and animators so damn much. I was expecting a lot more from this, I think I'll just go watch robot wars instead.
Completely average and a let down is all I can say about it.
Reviewer’s Rating: 5
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May 27, 2017
So I ordered the collectors BD from japan: https://twitter.com/2DMechaOnly/status/867453787073589250
Utterly refusing to watch it in any other way since I missed the cinema release in the UK.
It's a brilliant film and while I could talk about many things there are two things in particular I'd like to talk about. The directing and Photography.
not since Shinsekai Yori have I been completely tricked by an anime, an anime that hides it's driving force in plain sight. It's a film that reveals itself near the end and only on the second watch will you even begin to see the things about the characters that aren't spoken
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in words, but instead their actions.
Naoko Yamada, is a masterful director that understands how a manga has to be translated into animation probably more than anyone else, proving time and time again that she will innovate and add more to the source.
Mutsuo Shinohara & Naoko Yamada. There are very few people that understand the power of photography like they do, they're a paragon duo within KyoAni that have brought a great sense of realistic fantasy through photography. They understand just like Mokoto Shinkai, does. That Photography and the colour pallet chosen, is just as important as the surrounding animation.
Well done to the development team, well done to Kyoto Animation. And here's some links if you want to learn more: https://blog.sakugabooru.com/
Everyone should check out blogs like Sakugablog and Wavemotion.
Reviewer’s Rating: 10
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Feb 4, 2017
To put this simply - This film is not for people that play the game, because you won't be finding much of that here. Instead this is a film of pure nostalgia and progression.
The story is nothing much to speak of, a slotted in bad guy with the wrong intentions and then another "bigger" villain. The heroes then all come together to save the day. But like I said, this film is about character and that's where it shines - Because this film is for Kaiba.
They knew perfectly what people love about Kaiba, his sass and utter fire that he talks. His personality is better
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than it's ever been, it was all tuned up to 11 for this film as Kaiba does everything WAY over the top, and it's beautiful.
((( WARNING FOR SPOILERS AHEAD)))
But Kaiba's comedic ways aren't the only thing shown from him, we get to his his acceptance of the past. He refers to Yugi as Yugi and Atem as, Pharaoh. Kaiba isn't in denial anymore and we get to see this, but what's more is that we see him missing his greatest rival. His passion to defeat his rival is so great that he invents the worlds most advanced holographic systems and then even later on, breaks the barrier between dimensions.
Kaiba is having a struggle, because while everyone else accepts their loss, Kaiba for once is the one character that has completely refused to give up on someone.
He is the driving force for this movie, he sets up all of the plot and shows he's more than capable of crushing anyone in his path even if they possess magic.
On the other end we have Yugi. Having parted with the Pharaoh and grown up a bit, he feels as if a bit of him is missing but has chosen to move on. There's really not much else to say for this, Yugi is simply here within this film. He's here for Atem to have a single second of spotlight.
Speaking of which, Atem does show up and in the most glorious of fashions. A golden light suiting of his majesty, a draw of a single card that allows him to win, to prove his might. It was something that got the cinema cheering in a situation that should be silent.
Buuuut then everyone's spirits were crushed because in the three instances Atem has, he says NOTHING. I'm not sure what they were thinking with all this because it pissed a lot of people off, there wasn't a single "It's time do duel" or "You've grown" Or ANYTHING - But anyway.
Visually the film is stunning, probably the best YuGiOh has ever looked, they perfectly evolved the style whilst keeping it nostalgic. And the masterful use of CG models (Which doesn't have a frame lock) were perfect for a lot of the mechanical designs.
Duels are swift and don't give the intense nature or dramatic effect of the series duels, or Pyramid of Light. Because this isn't a dueling film, this is a presentation of character - And as I said before Kaiba is that driving force. So if you're wanting a nostalgic duel, you'll get the monsters, but not the feeling tactics or display. Because most of the film is taken up by showing where the characters are now and what they're up to. (But mostly Kaiba)
For villains and side characters it can literally be summed up with.
(( Friendship powers go - Random bad guy that comes out of nowhere, and is completely slotted in - Sad backstory for those villainous agenda's - loads of cliche crap ))
But Téa's new design is hot asf.
Overall I came out of this very upset with the ending, villains, plot, even some of the new monsters (Mainly those damn cubic things). But there are some characters in this film, that simply carry it all and put a smile on your face.
Also it's nice to see Takahiro Kagami's name as character designer, he was the best animator on the original series and his style has become a staple for YuGiOh to this very day.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Nov 21, 2016
I saw the UK theatrical release at, Showcase Cinema Cardiff Nantgarw, 21st Nov. Jap Sub. In a Cinema with just me and some staff members that came in every now and then.
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A brief, personal, non-spoiler, review.
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First off let me just say. You haven't seen this film until you've seen it in it's intended quality, aka, theatrical 4k or the BD release. All of those people that watched the rip have not seen the film and completely disrespected Shinkai, Radwimps, and the entire team behind the film, possibly even just the industry in general.
Just going to go into the sound first. I'm not gonna lie and
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say "Huurrr hurr I've been a fan of Radwimps since forever" No. I became a fan late 2014 and then later became a fan of Illion. Ever since I heard about Radwimps doing the soundtrack for this film I had no doubt that it would be incredible, and then once I heard the release of Sparkle...Oh boy.
They used the music of Radwimps to it's full potential, their music plays throughout most of the film but whenever they played any lyrical music, it was powerful. They used the lyrical music whenever they wanted to really pull you into the scene, it was a sign that you simply needed to watch as the visuals blow you away.
Radwimps often make the scene in this film if their music wasn't there I honestly believe this movie would've been directed in a completely different way.
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The characters, Taki & Mitsuha, to say the very least are...Adorable, tragic and simple.
Mitsuha is a character that's more fleshed out, we get to see her past, her interactions with friends and family. Taki on the other hand is more of a standalone character. We know he has a crush, a busy scheduled school life, and somewhat how routine with friends. We also get small indications at his family life but nothing much.
This is more of a film about the interactions of two characters and the people that just happen to be around them at the time.
The two go through distant interactions over a non specified amount of time without properly ever meeting. Over these interactions are plenty of funny & cute moments that bring the two closer together. It's an interesting form of development I've never seen done before that could honestly only be done in this kind of long distance situation.
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Animation & Direction.
Oh boy...I couldn't believe the visuals in this film. I honestly though they had pushed it to the limit with Garden of Words and whilst that film may have some situations where it's visuals are better. In no way is the direction better than Kimi no Na wa, the use of camera is also insane, not only was the animation team pushed to it's limits (Also I swear the "Big Boom" scene was mostly Naoki Kobayashi...I could be wrong) but the CG team was also, with incredible use of camera movement and scenic use of digital production.
In true Shinkai nature though the amount of scenery views is outstanding and crazily detailed. Just the fact there are heavily detailed scenes which could put a lot of illustrators to shame with modified layers to create movement, and a dynamic way of doing backgrounds to create a great sense of depth ( Refer to Niko-P for the technique https://twitter.com/nik_jyp/status/774715554548494336 ).
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For my personal enjoyment, well...It's Shinkai, I love his style of writing and his attitude towards the execution of his movies, of course I'm referring to how he would literally just have random things drawn into scenes that he bought from shops.
It's not my favourite Shinkai film, Garden of Words, connected with me on a more personal level. But Kimi no Na wa, is undoubtedly the better film and is a must watch for all and every anime fan. But wait for the theatrical or BD release, don't go watching poor rips on the internet, it will ruin such an experience.
It's a 10/10 for me. Once again, thank you Makoto Shinkai, Radwimps, and the entire development team. Respect for you all, all of you deserve the success you've gotten from this film, what a wonderful passion project this was.
Reviewer’s Rating: 10
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