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“Come back when you’re in the top 100!
But I’m at 89 already!”

The aesthetic of this film is extremely crisp. Everything from the beautiful animation (as to be expected from Ghibli, even if it’s one of their b-teams) to the elegant soundtrack, filled with flowing flutes and playful keyboard sections. The colors are all soothing to the eye, and the outfits are SPECTACULAR and honestly probably nail most of the film’s aesthetic down to what it became. Even the framing does some unique techniques, using a white border to frame a smaller screen of the animation from time to time. All of these aspects come together ... to give off a comforting “slice-of-life” feeling that you don’t find that often in current day media.

The main characters, Taku and Rikako, are also both pretty fantastic. Rikako is very dense, and has too many layers for Taku to really understand her on a decent level, and doesn’t really get a grasp of what he was clueless on until he’s an adult. Taku is very straight to the point and scarce, and doesn’t exactly look into the deeper issues he faces, instead going more off of the face value of it.

These characters clash, and it should be more memorable, but unfortunately it’s not. Ocean Waves feels like it’s missing substance at times when it tries to introduce further drama into this relationship. These characters are great, but the plot is a bit too nonsensical and sloppy to embody them.

Ocean Waves is most comparable to a late night drive for me. Sure, it’s enjoyable in the present, but how much of this experience will you really remember? Maybe a couple standout things, but both deliver a similar promise: to relax the mind and unwind a bit while partaking in both. Even after just finishing it, I can only remember the few great things about this film, but the melodramatic, and almost mindless plot become distracting as the film comes to a close.

Once you realize you only have about 10 minutes, you say to yourself “Really? That’s all? I was feeling comfortable where I was at, but now I’m being thrown off with little conclusion to walk away with?” While the film does have a decent ending, it just feels weakened from how little it did to build up to this state. I think another 15 minutes detailing more info on Taku and Rikako’s interactions would have made this feel a bit more worthwhile.

Otherwise, a pretty enjoyable experience I suppose. It had some small editing issues here and there, but they’re small enough to be forgivable. It’s aesthetic is strong enough to get through the film by just taking in how gorgeous some parts of it look. Perfect is too much, but calling it unique feels more proper. Strong 6 to a light 7!

"It's too late. Your body will disappear from this world in 10 seconds"

Fist of the North Star has slowly become one of my favorite intellectual properties over the last few months after revisiting it recently. Every day that passes, I think about the deep themes of hope in a desolate wasteland, and the struggles that Kenshiro had to face.

Kenshiro is hands down one of my favorite characters of all time. Not only is he incredibly honorable, but he's badass with a purpose. In a world of equally (and less than equal) opponents, Kenshiro faces everyone with a untouchable geist that is incredibly satisfying to watch. ... You already know he's going to win these fights (he's the main character, c'mon) but watching him take out lesser enemies in just one hit with extreme power is an absolute treat, and makes fights where he uses more force that much more interesting.

Not just Kenshiro, but every character in Fist of the North Star is intriguing, and have amazing designs to boot. The characters feel realistic to the world they live in, and all carry unique designs that would put current character designers to shame. Whether it be the telepathic, impoverished girl Lin who can call out Kenshiro for help, or the hate-filled Jagi, who has a strong grudge against Kenshiro for almost killing him, adorning a skull mask that covers his disgusting face (or what's left of it), everyone remains memorable in some way.

Another aspect of this film that's great is its soundtrack. It exercises powerful string sections to illustrate the lost hope of the characters, which lead into booming drums that signify the evil that is near. Contrasting this with the fantastic and rowdy guitar segments, Fist of the North Star becomes more of a unique experience as it goes on. Hell, some of the trumpet sections in the soundtrack make the film feel like a spaghetti western at times. This is supported further as songs like these are in the background as Kenshiro walks through the deserted wasteland.

My favorite moment has to be in which the song "Heart of Madness" is used, playing over a silent montage of Rei attempting to fight Roah while Kenshiro walks to Cassandra. The low bass drones fit beautifully with Roah's grin, emitting more of an evil presence to his character than before. It's an absolutely perfect scene, and the song adds so much power to something that should be so minor.

The animation can be a bit spotty at times, but as someone who considers the 80s to be apart of anime's golden years, it's easy to forgive. Especially because there's plenty of beautifully drawn scenes that are so immaculately animated, your jaw might just drop.

I always loved how the characters were portrayed as well. The art style is fantastic, and doesn't quite look like anything I've seen before. I love that some characters might look average in height at first, but will change size between scenes, becoming abnormally large. The best example of this is when a character is thrown to the ground by a thug, and they step on them, and the thug's foot is larger than the victim after they throw them down.

Some criticize the censored gore, as the original uncensored version was burned in a fire, and never quite saw the light of day. However, i'd argue that the censoring actually works in the film's favor, stylizing it with minor blurring and rapid colors. Since the character's already radiate a colored aura when they fight, it seems like a natural way to display the violence going on.

While the movie only covers about 59 episodes of the show (cutting some characters for time) it still feels like a pretty grand experience, and a great sampler of what the series has to offer. It has a pretty open ended conclusion (that I believe was left open ended in mind for a sequel that never came to be) that might not fulfill everyone, but the closing credits, set to the song "Purple Eyes" feels satisfying enough for me, especially since I know that I can get the finished story out of the show or the manga, both being things I have interest in consuming.

I find every aspect of Fist of the North Star to be perfect and fascinating. It's a raw spaghetti western in the most masculine state possible. It does Mad Max better than Mad Max with a more interesting world and environment. With how popular anime has been getting, it's a surprise to me that not that many people talk about this franchise. Many people know about the "omae wa mou shindeiru" (you're already dead) moment from both the show and the movie, but haven't actually checked out either apart from that scene.

I hope that more people would look into this series (or at least watch the movie). It should have something for everyone in my eyes, and is an undisputed classic in my eyes that I hope to cherish more and more as I get older.

Before starting this review, I’d like to send my condolences to everyone who was harmed today at the tragic arsonry of Kyōto Animation’s studio house. They’re one of my favorite anime studios, and nobody should have to face the tragedies they have today. It really threw off my day, and I figured the only way I could truly help aside from donating would be to watch one of their productions. It’s what everyone there would have wanted us to do.

When the news about the arson spread, I was absolutely appalled at the news, and was devesated to hear that the whereabouts of one of my ... favorite directors for the studio, Naoko Yamada, were unknown for a while. She was found alive thankfully, but I truly do hope the studio can recuperate after this awful event. All of their work is made to make others happy, and I wonder if they can go back to doing that with such a monstrous event on their minds. If they do bounce back, they may be some of the bravest people working for the anime industry today.

As for Koe no Katachi, this film is well deserved of its critical acclaim. The directing from Yamada is absolutely perfect, and works perfectly with the style of the film. She is known for her use of leg shots, and how you can demonstrate characterization just through legs, and this film is no exception to that practice.

The subject matter is very relatable and heart wrenching as well. The ideas of depression through adolescence and trying to fix past mistakes are handled excellently, and made me quite teary-eyed at parts. It’s hard to remember all the mistakes you’ve made as a young adult, and attempt to keep moving forward with that sort of bad conscious on your mind. Just the idea of knowing that you’ve ruined someone’s life may haunt you for the rest of your life.

The film runs into some issues near the transition from act 2 to act 3, however. There’s some high school melodrama that I think will bog down the experiences of those who aren’t well familiarized with slice of life anime, and it was a problem that even I noticed as well. I remember Digibro saying in his video “We Have Accepted Mediocrity” that this film is close to being an instant classic, but is admittedly faulted lightly by these issues, and I can understand why. While it’s not a major problem, it is something to be noted.

Other than that, this film is absolutely amazing. I’d highly recommend it to anyone that is looking for an emotional roller coaster, or anime fanatics alike.

I hope that KyoAni can bounce back from this recent tragedy, and can continue to inspire and bring a smile to everyone around the globe as they have previously. They are an incredibly progressive studio, and deserved none of this awful experience. I urge anyone who has not checked out a KyoAni show/movie to give one a try. They have such a variety of art, I believe everyone should walk away with something they can put in a favorites list. I know they take up about half of mine~

With respect, grace and love, Hank Bauer
#prayforkyoani