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May 11, 2024
Just watched this in the theater today. TL;DR, this was a very well-animated idol anime with great songs for a more mature audience (compared to, for example, Love Live or IdolM@ster). Its small flaws come from the fact that it is adapted from a novel, so its running time feels unsatisfying for getting to know the characters, and the drama ramps up very quickly in the second half of the movie then gets resolved relatively conveniently.
Overall score: 8/10
Animation: 9/10. There was some spotty CGI but for the most part everything was very well done, and certain scenes were downright impressive with the way the characters
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moved.
Sound: 10/10. The songs were very enjoyable and I wouldn't be surprised if this turns out to be one of those movies where the songs outstay the movie in popular consciousness years from now.
Characters: 8/10. Unlike your typical idol anime where all the girls are happy-go-lucky with their minds set on idoling, the girls in this one each have their motivations and flaws which become apparent in the second half. These girls feel a bit more realistic than your typical idol anime heroines, which some people will like and some will not. I found all 4 of the main girls likeable by the end despite the drama.
Story: 7/10. Similar to my comment about the characters, this is a much more dramatic take on being an idol than your average idol anime where everything is rainbows and sunshine. The girls have conflict and struggles with a few touching scenes that will make you root for them, but not everyone will enjoy that aspect. Pacing also feels very quick in the second half compared to the buildup of the first. Not a huge issue though.
In summary, this was a very solid and satisfying "I'm glad I watched that" movie with more mature drama than your typical idol anime, but I am not sure if I will be rewatching or remembering the details in a few months.
Recommended anime: Wake Up Girls! is another idol anime with a slightly more "realistic" take on the industry and the struggles of being an idol. For a more lighthearted comedy about upstart idols, I highly recommend "Oshi ga Budoukan Ittekuretara Shinu."
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Oct 6, 2023
2 main reasons everyone should watch this movie:
1) The coolest use of 3D camera angles in perhaps all of anime. Certainly in the running for any top rankings list.
2) Unbelievable tank physics in the most outrageous and entertaining fight in the series so far.
That's all I wanted to say. It's an hour long, if you've watched the other ones you already know what you're getting yourself into. This one is the most memorable one yet - they keep upping the ante! So highly recommended, some of the best animation I've seen outside of Ufotable/Mappa, and actually good use of CGI. Eagerly anticipating the next one,
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which I'm guessing won't come out until 2026... sigh.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Jul 6, 2023
The first season of Psycho-Pass is one of my favorite anime of all time, one that I have rewatched half a dozen times since its release. Like most fans, I felt disappointed by S2 and kind of "meh" about S3 and other spin-offs. I think this movie is the best Psycho-Pass entry since S1, which is pretty high praise from me. Although some plot elements were a bit contrived to give all the characters things to do and inject some more depth into the story (some could argue forcibly), overall it works to expand the series in a fresh direction that was better than both
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S2 and S3 in my opinion. Instead of retreading the same Sibyl system ideas (like S2) or make something so different that it didn't feel like Psycho-Pass anymore (S3), this new film instead explores and tries to answer the question of, "what happens if a similar system/society tries to develop to compete with Sibyl?"
This movie finally gives us interactions and banter between fan favorites from S1 (Ginoza, Kogami, Tsunemori) and some extremely well animated fight choreography/martial arts scenes. A new song by Egoist also helped give this movie a boost in terms of being close to S1 in feel and quality. There's also more much-awaited interactions between S1 cast and S2 cast, in case you liked the S2 characters as well. Lastly, the ending was a bit of a twist in a good way that ends up tying everything together, and did not feel overly safe like the first movie did. The movie's ending also develops Akane's character the most since S1.
Overall, this film was Psycho Pass at its best since S1 under Urobuchi. Does it beat S1? No, not even close. But it doesn't need to since it still added to the world and character building, and unlike S2, felt like a fresh take that deserved a spot within the franchise. If you're a fan of the series, check it out. It might not reach the highs of the original, but it might surprise you in a pleasant way.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Apr 3, 2022
Massive disappointment is an understatement. I was expecting 50% recap at most like the Goblin Slayer movie, but this movie turned out to be >90% recap and honestly just felt like a cash grab. The movie is over 2 hours long, but - no joke - 2 full hours is just recap, and the MAL description of "reconstruction" was giving it too much credit: it was basically just all the characters narrating the scenes from the anime series from their perspective without adding that much. Maybe if you dig really deep you could find some discrepancies/omissions in their narrations for some he-said/she-said type analysis, but
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that is a huge stretch.
The only completely new material was the final 10 minutes and even that was not satisfying. Without going into spoilers, the new stuff left me feeling, "That's it? Is that all I waited months for?" They could have easily edited the anime to fit the actual ending instead of leaving it in a cliffhanger so you would have to watch the movie to get the "real ending." Overall, this movie left a really bad taste in my mouth and felt like the production company tarnishing the legacy of a great anime for a quick buck. Just save your time and look up the ending somewhere in 5 minutes.
3/10, and the 3 points are just leftover goodwill from the anime series, which remains a masterpiece except for the ending.
Reviewer’s Rating: 3
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Dec 23, 2021
(Spoiler-free review)
In 2019, Kimetsu no Yaiba took the anime world by storm and then followed up with a movie in late 2020 that smashed all box office records to become the top grossing movie of all time in Japan. Jujutsu Kaisen seems to be following the same strategy, having been arguably the most popular anime series released in 2020, and judging by how absolutely packed the movie theater was, it will probably be another record-setting anime film in terms of financial success. However, how is the movie in terms of actual content? Pretty damn good I must say, even coming from someone who enjoyed the
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anime but did not buy into the hype train at all.
The story is a prequel to the series, and stars previously unseen character Yuta. This movie shows the incident with the mysterious villain Getou, which was only mentioned in passing/hinted at in the series, and finally fleshes Getou out as a complex character with interesting motives and backstory. The story itself is rather straightforward and nothing to write home about, but serves its job well of further world-building and character introduction.
The prequel sees the return of series favorite Gojou-sensei, with the sempai trio Maki, Panda, and Inumaki also getting ample screen time. It showcases their characters a bit more than the original series did, which was a very welcome usage of running time. Nanami and the Kyoto school team also make an appearance, and although they do not have an influence on the story, their fight scenes/cameo were much appreciated.
My one gripe with the characters is with Yuta, the movie’s main protagonist. Personality-wise, he is like a slightly less annoying version of Shinji from Evangelion. His powers are poorly-defined and kind of overpowered, a deviation from the “technique-based” fighting styles that all other characters are introduced to have in the series. His backstory is also very cookie-cutter generic for anime protagonists. However, he did not annoy me as much as Shinji does and I grew to like him by the end, so this was not a huge complaint.
As expected of Mappa, one of the few studios that can rival the likes of Ufotable and KyoAni in terms of animation quality, the animation here was top-notch. All of the fight scenes (half the reason I went to see it on opening day) were crisp and an absolute pleasure to look at. There were some awkward CGI-assisted shots and far-away shots that did not look as good as the rest of the movie, but they were sufficiently few and far between that I was not bothered.
The soundtrack for the film was great, but nothing outstanding or particularly memorable, working well as background music. The ending songs were kind of generic and not my cup of tea, but I might grow to like them with repeat listens.
Overall, I am very satisfied with this movie and really liking the plot threads it sets up that should be further explored in future seasons, and it got me excited for the future of this franchise.
(Side note: JEREMY LIN spotted in the film credits haha.)
Overall: 8/10
Story: 7/10
Animation: 9/10
Sound: 7/10
Characters: 8/10
Enjoyment: 8/10
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Dec 5, 2021
A very fitting conclusion to send-off the series with, and I was at emotional peace at the end of the movie. Unlike the previous movie and (what I remember of) the original series, this movie only focuses on the development of 2 characters and has a good bit of a story going on, so it is not exactly like the usual casual slice-of-life in previous entries. Animation was crisp and the background scenery in the city was gorgeous as always. Soundtrack fit the animation perfectly and was very relaxing, while the ending was a nostalgic new version of the original series' opening. Overall, I very
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satisfied with the movie overall, and I felt the hour went by really quickly. Some very minor criticisms: This movie focuses mainly on 2 Himeya girls, Akira and Aika, and their relationship over the years. The other undine girls make their appearances in the movie, but don't get much screentime at all. If you have a favorite who's not Akira or Aika, you might be disappointed that the series ends with this story arc. Also, there was a TON OF YURI in this movie, so if you are turned off by that, you might not like it. Finally, I personally still have trouble getting into the new Shoujo manga-like art style of these new ones and much prefer the original 2005-style animation, but this is entirely just personal preference. All these were very minor issues for me and barely affected my enjoyment, so overall, a solid 8/10.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Oct 2, 2021
TL;DR: This is shaping up to be the best arc in the series yet. Can't wait to see the next movie now. 9/10
Up until now, the Princess Principal arcs have all involved trying to help someone else, or trying to keep the Princess' secret from getting exposed. Which is all interesting and helps in world-building, but the girls have never felt in danger or been up against an opponent who truly tested their abilities. I won't spoil any more, but this is the first arc that truly feels like the girls are up against an opponent that is one step ahead and stronger than they
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are, raising the stakes a lot higher. The series is feeling a lot more like a classic spy action movie now.
The setting, new characters, and music are excellent as always. If you liked the series or first movie, it's the same quality. It also has the best fight scene (both choreography-wise and animation-wise) in the series so far, and the girls are tested to their limits.
The only possible negative of note is that the ending is a cliffhanger ending, so we're going to have to wait another year or so for the next entry. I for one can't wait!
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Jul 6, 2021
TLDR: Much better than Part 1 in terms of story, characters, and pacing, with more action scenes and actual character development. Definitely worse in terms of animation, with many fight scenes where they obviously ran out of budget and/or outsourced to other animation studios. 7.5/10
I left the first movie impressed with the visuals but underwhelmed by the story. I left this 2nd movie the exact opposite: the story was much more engaging than the first one, and they finally explain all the character motivations and made me care about what was actually going on.
Unfortunately, it was also clear that they ran out of budget for
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many of the fight scenes, some of which looked outright bad. Honestly the animation quality was all over the place, and there were some scenes where the art style changed completely, sometimes for the better, but mostly for the worse. Certain scenes also seemed like they were outsourced, and the characters ended up looking like some college art major's project and completely out of place.
But overall, I would say I enjoyed this movie just a little bit more than the last one, so a solid 7.5/10 (not rounding up to 8/10 for this one, sorry).
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Jun 5, 2021
Visuals: Beautiful background designs, creative character outfits, smooth and detailed animation.
Sound: Catchy and unique songs, perfect performances from voice actresses.
Fight scenes: Well choreographed, absolutely stunning to behold.
Story: WTF did I just watch? I barely understood anything.
As summarized above, the visuals, animation, music, VA performances, and action sequences were all perfect or close to perfect. However, much like the anime series, the story was cryptic and difficult to understand. At a high level, the plot is about the girls graduating and finding their own paths beyond Starlight and high school. The details, however, were very abstract and open to interpretation. The ending may also be unsatisfying
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and abrupt for some people. If you watched the series, you should already know what to expect from the story though, so I'm not going to elaborate further - see it for yourself and come up with your own interpretation of the story! Everything else was beautiful.
Overall enjoyment: 7.5/10
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Jan 2, 2021
TL;DR: As good as sex, but lasted 60 minutes longer ;)
First off, all I can say as a longtime fan of Seitokai Yakuindomo since all the way back in 2010 (yes, it's been over 10 years!!), is that it was an absolute joy and surprise when I found out they were making another movie for this series. After all, it's not often an anime that debuted more than a decade ago gets a sequel, let alone an anime that's basically just dirty joke after dirty joke. So my sincerest thanks to all the creators (and apparently crowdfunding contributors).
Onto the review - so how was the
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movie? Quite simply, it absolutely beat my expectations. I went into the theater expecting a lazy cash grab for desperate fans hoping to see our favorite group of pervs one more time, coasting on an old franchise's legacy and tired running gags, but I am ecstatic to report that I was completely wrong. This second movie was even better than the first movie.
First, I was quite impressed with the framing device for this movie - it opens with Shino reminiscing about old times, with a serious tone, implying something happened since we last saw her. But this framing device pays off pretty well at the end with a great punchline joke (not going to spoil it, but be sure to watch until the very end!!!). So hats off for going the extra mile instead of simply slapping together 1 hours' worth of non-sequitur jokes.
Second, although I admit that the whole "high school girls telling dirty jokes" novelty has completely worn off by now, the jokes themselves still work and made me laugh out loud a few times, with many smaller chuckles throughout. Yes, many of the jokes fell flat (I'd say 1/3 bad jokes, 1/3 chuckle jokes, 1/3 genuinely laugh-worthy jokes), but when there's a joke coming every 30 seconds, there's no time to think about the jokes that didn't work. This is truly a rare case of quantity over quality!
Third, for those who are hoping for more of the romance angle in terms of Tsuda's harem, this movie has also got you covered! Plenty of Shino and Hagimura blushing, and some of the other girls also hint at their entry into Tsuda's harem. People hoping for romance fanservice will get plenty of what they want!
As for the technical aspects, the animation is on par with the first movie. To my surprise, there wasn't much skimping on the animation like I expected. In fact, a few scenes genuinely impressed me (for example, in scenes with the girls' hair waving and sakura petals falling). However, they reused the opening, and the music was nothing to write home about, so the sound was just OK.
Overall, I quite enjoyed this movie. It was shorter than I would have liked (less than 1 hour 15 minutes I believe), and a bit disappointed at the lack of a new opening, but I can't really complain too much when I had a blast during that hour, and absolute nostalgia for the characters who I was unsure I'd ever see again in all their animated, perverted glory.
Story: 8/69
Art: 7/69
Sound: 6/69
Character: 8/69
Enjoyment: 9/69
Overall: 8/69
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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