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Look Back is a phenomenal adaptation of the manga One Shot by Tatsuki Fujimoto of Chainsaw Man fame. The animation and visuals are incredibly unique yet beautiful. There are so many scenes that are mesmerizing to look at. The music score by Haruka Nakamura is wonderful and helps elevate the emotional impact of every scene.

What makes this stand out against other animated movies is the exceptionally grounded and genuine story. It is a bittersweet and emotionally provoking look at pursuing passion while being a coming-of-age story. Even with the short hour-long runtime, the story delivers a rollercoaster of emotions that will definitely stick with you ... even after it is over. This is a must-watch!

Too many romance series end right when the couple gets together. This manga, shows the life of being a couple and it is incredibly wholesome. Just as the title of the manga suggest, the main couple are completely opposites in terms of personality. Suzuki Miyu is a high energy, extroverted person who falls in love with the very quiet, introverted Tani Yuusuke.

The manga explores how both these characters deal with being a couple as they are both very new to all of it. While the series is mostly a fun slice of life, it does have some drama in some of the issues and tribulations ... of being a teenage couple. However, the drama feels very grounded and never over the top.

There are some supporting character relationships that are also very sweet that is explored in the series as well. The other supporting characters have different issues they face which are also very interesting to read.

The manga has great pacing and it doesn't ever feel like it is dragging or overstaying its welcome. The only issue I wish the ending concluded more of the things for the supporting characters as well rather than just the main.

Nevertheless, it is definitely one of the better modern romance manga and I am glad it is getting an anime adaptation in 2026!

This movie is two hours of Spy X Family goodness! Everything you love from the show is in here: the fun family slice-of-life dynamic, the ridiculously fun comedy with wacky goofiness from lovable daughter Anya, the suave spy action from Loid, and badass fight action set pieces from Yor. The animation is mostly similar to the show, but there are moments in the final act where the animation is glorious!

However, the story isn’t really much to write home about and the villain is very "underbaked” (pun intended).

Overall, this is a very fun movie set in the Spy X Family universe. If you love the show, ... you’ll love the movie.

This shoujo manga has such an incredible premise. It is mind-boggling to me that this never got an anime adaptation because the concept is so intriguing and the romance is so wonderful. The characters are great and have very human flaws that you can sympathise with. The drama is gripping but never feels too overblown. There is a part of the story in the middle that does get a bit out there with a sort of silly antagonist. They were the only character that I feel didn't get enough depth but it doesn't overstay for too long. Everything else is wonderful and the art is ... gorgeous.

I don't want to go in depth because I feel like this is manga that people should go in with minimal knowledge.
I highly recommend you read this one!

I like a lot of Mari Okada's work including Anohana, Maquia and O Maidens in Your Savage Season. However, I came out of "The Anthem of the Heart" with very mixed feelings.

It is a high school drama that feels a bit half-baked. The drama mostly revolves around the main girl, Jun Naruse, who cannot speak because of an event that occurred in the past. This is an interesting premise but the problem is that this is not the main focus as much as it should. Instead, we have a lot of romance subplots with other supporting characters that just aren't developed enough. The third ... act and even the ending felt incredibly forced as well. I do give props for not being predictable and being a decent message but the execution is kind of poor. This premise feels like it would be better as an anime series than a movie. That way, the supporting characters and even the romance could be more developed.

The movie does have great animation, character design and music. Unfortunately, if you wanted a good high school drama or romance, this is not it.

This is a typical boy meets girl story with a supernatural twist of a tunnel that can grant your wish but every 3 seconds in the tunnel equates to 2 hours outside. Just from this premise alone, you can guess exactly what is going to happen. The plot is incredibly predictable with tons of cliche tropes.

However, what it lacks in plot, it makes up for it in everything else. The art style and characters are visually appealing. The interactions between our main leads are enjoyable to watch. The animation is gorgeous. The soundtrack is terrific. The theme and message are incredibly heartfelt.

The ending ... does raise a lot of questions but the overall experience was enjoyable. It is not going to be for everyone but for anyone craving more of that sweet anime romance, this is a good one to watch.

Makoto Shinkai is one of my favourite animation directors of this generation. The Garden of Words, Your Name and Weather with You were all stellar movies. Of course, I was massively looking forward to Suzume! Does this live up to his previous movies or is this finally a dude in his resume?

Let's get the obvious out of the way first. The animation is still as gorgeous as ever. There are still many beautiful shots that are just jaw-dropping. You can clearly see the amount of detail in drawing and animating many of the scenes. The cinematography is just breathtaking and the otherworldly scenes are just ... incredibly mesmerizing. Radwimps returns again to collaborate with Makoto on the music score. Radwimps made a terrific upbeat, yet moving soundtrack for the previous 2 movies. In Suzume, he made a more sombre and otherworldly song that is very fitting for the themes explored in this film. It's different but I still love it.

On that note, I enjoyed the themes explored such as coming to terms with loss and building new relationships. The main character, Suzume, begins her journey by meeting a man named Souta and gets pulled into a supernatural world. She then goes on a journey, meeting new people and building more friendships. It is genuinely heartwarming and results in a very terrific 3rd act. The final act is so impactful and has a powerful, emotional resolution that can definitely tug at people's heartstrings. Suzume is such an endearing main character. You do wonder why she puts herself in danger so much but as you learn more and more about her, you end up supporting her a lot and hoping she succeeds. The support characters are all charming as well, even with their short screen time.

A problem I had with the previous movie, Weathering with You, was how it felt too similar in structure to Your Name. Unfortunately, Suzume is still the same. We still get a boy and girl who get brought into a supernatural event in the first act, the second act with an increase in supernatural and a revelation, and a final act dealing with this revelation and its consequences. It results in the film being incredibly predictable. One element this film does do worse though is the romance aspect. Suzume and Souta's romantic chemistry just isn't as strong. There is a lack of romantic moments between them and it is made more difficult to believe when Souta is mostly a chair. Honestly, the movie would have been better if the romance aspect was removed.

The movie can be a bit repetitive for the first half of the story by repeatedly having the characters search for an evil cat, get taken in by strangers, see a worm in sky, find a door, face a challenge and then close the door. It also does have pacing issues with some of the road trips being a bit too long, especially one near the end of the second act. It detracts attention from the main plot and slows the film down. While this film is mostly beautiful, it does use CG a lot more than before. For example, the worm entity is entirely 3D. The CG would be fine if it blended well with the 2D animation. The problem is that the 2D looks amazing and the 3D looks cheap causing this jarring visual at times.

Overall, Suzume is still a wonderful film from Makoto. The themes that are explored will definitely be more appreciated by Japanese audiences than by westerns but the emotional conclusion will still hit hard nonetheless. I don't enjoy this as much as his previous movies but I still enjoyed it a lot. I will still 100% see his next project but I do hope it tries to be a lot more different this time.

After watching the amazing Japanese animation movie "Your Name", I've wanted to watch director Makoto Shinkai's next work. The premise is simple and it's about "A boy runs away to Tokyo and befriends a girl who appears to be able to manipulate the weather". So is the movie another hit from the director or a flop?

Let's get obvious out the way but the animation and art style is still absolutely gorgeous. There are so many shots in this movie that are visually stunning and is done with meticulous detail. The animation team somehow made the rain looks dazzling in different ways, sometimes foreboding and sometimes ... elegant, it's quite exceptional. There are a lot more supernatural elements in this movie compared to "Your Name" and these elements are magnificent to look at. Radwimps returns to do the music and it is still phenomenal here as well and the director utilises these Jpop songs at the right time and they hit the right notes.

The characters are all great as well. The main leads are Hodaka who is a 16-year-old boy that ran away from home and moved to Tokyo, Hina who is a girl who takes part-time jobs to support her family after her mother's death and can control the weather. They meet each other by coincidence but end up tangled in each other lives. They are both lovable characters and the chemistry between each other is strong which leads to the strongest moments in the movie. I enjoyed watching both of them and following alongside them. The supporting characters are also great and also a lot more relevant and developed compared to "Your Name" making them stand out more. They are all distinct with their quirks and their struggles making them more memorable.

So everything good in "Your Name" is good here but is the story still good? Yes, it is. There is a profound mystery ongoing throughout the movie about the constant rain happening in Tokyo, the weird "fish jelly water" floating around and Hina's weather power. However, the emotional core of the movie is the relationship between Hodaka and Hina which is what keeps the audience so engaged with the story. There are some very dramatic and heartwarming moments throughout that are genuinely touching. Additionally, the use of Japanese rituals and Shinto beliefs gives the movie it's own flavor that will set it apart from American romance movies.

So is the movie masterpiece? Unfortunately, no as the biggest flaw of this movie is that it feels too similar to "Your Name" and not as good. It's difficult to not compare it to "Your Name" when that was his last movie before this. Weathering with You follows too many similar beats to that of "Your Name" with how similar the acts and structure are. It doesn't help that the movie also a romance movie and also has the same Jpop band singing within the movie. It probably would have been better if this movie was something completely different as people can't avoid comparing it to the masterpiece "Your Name".

The movie also has some pacing issues as I feel it drags at times which is most prominent in the middle act. The movie could have cut around 5 to 10 minutes worth of stuff to improve the pacing so it feels more cohesive. It also uses a lot of cliches and cheesiness that are seen in romance movies especially in the final act which make the movie feel not as unique. Furthermore, there are a lot of plot threads still dangling that I feel should be answered such as why Hodaka ran away from home?, how Hina got her own house despite being young or why she has weather manipulation powers? and did Natsumi (a supporting character) get a job or not? It's weird to mention Natsumi is going through countless job interviews but failing and show it, only to not even bother to resolve it. Likewise, it's weird they don't elaborate much on the backstory of the main leads.

Overall, it's a good movie but it just feels too similar to "Your Name". An interesting tidbit I've found about Makoto is that he wasn't exactly fond of the massive hype of "Your Name" as it made it difficult for him to live up to that hype for the next movie. Sadly, what he feared happened. I think it would've been better if Makoto did something a bit more drastically different and then comparing it wouldn't be so problematic. However, Weathering with You is still a visual glory with a narratively engaging story and likeable characters. Despite the lack of backstory for our main leads, we the audience will still have no trouble in rooting for them and wanting them to be together. It may not be as good as "Your Name" but it still went down a storm with me and I believe it would for you as well.

It's a One Piece movie that does something different with it being more of a musical centred on the new character Uta, Shank's daughter. It's not action-heavy like previous movies. Uta herself is a complex character with clear mental issues, which is not what you usually see in One Piece. It delivers great songs, good animation and an emotional yet dark story. The last 20 minutes of this film are stellar!

Don't come into this one expecting something similar to 'Strong World' or 'Film Z'. This is a unique experience for One Piece in general. I personally found it a fun watch but I understand that ... this film might be divisive for One Piece fans.

Jujutsu Kaisen (2020) anime was awesome, so I was definitely looking forward to the prequel movie.

STORY: 5/10
The story is very straight forward which is slightly disappointing. The main character, Yuta Okkotsu, is suicidal of the curse but can't kill himself. He gets taken into Jujutsu high school and learns to love himself. Also some bad guy is going to do bad things. That's pretty much it. There isn't anything that happens that is surprising.

ART: 8/10
The animation is awesome and definitely worthy of its movie production. The fight scenes are awesome to watch but I do think the choreography isn't as awesome as the TV series. ...

CHARACTERS: 6/10
The main character has a generic personality and the villain, Geto, has a genocidal plan because he evil. They don't spend enough time to explain why Geto is the way he is but this was probably done so they can do it in season 2. Every returning character such as Gojo, Mak and Pandai are as great as you remember them from the series.

MUSIC: 9/10
The soundtrack in this film is flipping awesome. The sombre song in the intro and the rock songs during the fights. They elevate every scene

OVERALL: 8/10
I enjoyed the movie and think it is a great addition to Jujutsu Kaisen. However, in terms of world building and actual plot development, I'm not sure it did much for the overall story. It could easily be skipping and nothing would be missed. Nevertheless, it's a great movie and fans should definitely watch it.