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I will always love being preached to about banal philosophy, especially when an atmospheric, dreamlike OST embellishes it. A story for those who love stories, this anime surrounds the rambling plethora of ideas and questions brought up as Kino travels through various hypothetical countries that act as thought experiments. It feels a little like Star Trek in a way, except the only consistent characters are Kino and her motorcycle, Hermes, making for a more laid back and meditative tone—as loneliness can often do. The storybook vibe also brings a little mix of everything: action, scifi, drama, iyashikei, mystery, the whole works! (Reminds me of something ... like Yamibou or Durarara.)

The theme of the anime draws me in, as I love to travel and also only stay a few days at most in any place when I do. I find that feeling of being afraid to slow down or something will break inside you as if your very identity is lost to be relatable as well although in other contexts. As with any good journey, the show displays that great feeling of discovery and appreciation for collecting little experiences with all sorts of different people. I love the quiet, reflective moments between locations as well, looking out over the scenery. If only the anime offered more diversity in its settings and character designs, then I could truly appreciate these aspects. More often than not, designs are cheaply pulled from a vaguely historical European setting and it feels like the same actors changing their dress for a new episode (which would arguably be appropriate I suppose). It kind of reminds me of visiting quant little towns in Professor Layton but just completely uninspired. Luckily the OST pulls its weight, drawing out enough beauty and mystery in these places that I didn’t mind so much.

The thought experiments can come across as fairly heavy handed, lacking nuance and a more human element. Due to the disconnect between stories and the short length of each episode, the worldbuilding—if you can even call it that—falls flat. The stories shouldn't be taken literally anyway, but I rarely felt as immersed in the show as I would have liked. On the other hand, I love that it doesn’t mess around and always gets right to the point in each episode. This show understands my heart! Oftentimes the stories bring out the darkness of humanity, yet Kino understands that there's nothing she can do in many cases. She is willing to fight and take action when she sees fit, but her justice isn't necessarily good, as she can live with orchestrating the deaths of those who idly benefit from the suffering of others. There's certainly some hypocrisy in her character surrounding whether you have an obligation to use your power for good, but I enjoy that it’s left up in the air. While she may not find it her place to get involved, she does believe in the importance of experiencing these different ways of life and coming to understand how people think.

Thinking or more specifically not thinking for yourself is a general theme across stories. Through technology, religion, war, and whatnot, people give up their autonomy or stop feeling the desire to be curious. The show doesn't necessarily take a position on moral issues, just letting the audience ponder over them and the greyness of everything. Kino herself pays attention to details and others around her and I can feel that she has empathy for them despite her realist attitude. I find Kino's cool analysis and badassery to be pretty outstanding, like everything is a bore even when her life is seemingly in danger or when something supposedly amazing presents itself. She can be somewhat of an enigma, but that’s precisely the kind of character that shines through introspection and short glimpses of her emotions underneath the surface. There’s always something more to places and people than meets the eye.

"I don't know if the world is beautiful or not, but it sure is big"

Pompo the Cinephile is a film about everything a manic, starry-eyed filmmaker may imagine a film to be while actually being just about none of those things. From the soulless delivery of film techniques and inspirational advice, to the rose colored depiction of damaging aspects of the creative industry, my eyes slowly glazed over watching this ironic tragedy.

I often say that if a work surrounding an interest or philosophy lacks heart, then I might as well be reading a wiki page. This film is wiki content at its finest, introducing and narrating everything like a documentary, yet even a legitimate documentary would more likely grant ... greater depth and humanity in its education. The meta filmmaking techniques read out over vaguely related animation could be legitimately useful for an amateur, aspiring filmmaker, and yet I would understand and be intrigued simply reading them on paper. It's almost laughable how much is dryly told to the audience rather than shown. The enthusiasm Gene, the character who serves as director, does show for his craft comes across through dramatic visuals and music, yet bombasticity is not a replacement for real character depth. He carries about a notebook filled with his notes from watching films and being on set, yet the love and dedication never leaves those pages. Here we have yet another bland Shirobako, with the energy of Eizouken, yet none of its passion. It helped a lot that the latter surrounded kids making something all on their own. Here we have a full-blown production, so the sardoodledom of both the movie and its movie within the movie is unfortunate. Especially as the film approached its climax, the campy asspulls continued one after another.

The film gets caught up in blindly glorifying certain harmful aspects of the industry rather than making any witty criticisms. Even in a man’s world, the women could have been treated a little more seriously rather than only a pretty face for the male gaze. More central to the movie’s message though, is the endorsement of the artist’s necessary sacrifice. Ironically this film feels as if it were a self insert piece, crafted by a cinephile themself, who doesn't know how to apply their knowledge with tact. The entire thing comes across as an artist’s fever dream in how nicely everything goes for this supposed heroic and selfless outcast. I could swear I've already seen this movie before in my daydreams as a child, only able to think in extremes. Especially romantic is the discipline to trim away all else in life for the purpose of channeling everything towards the creation of a masterpiece—that you must live a life of hardship and loneliness to create real beauty in your art. The world is not painted in blacks and whites, and only by experiencing everything in moderation can you find all the colors it has to offer. I can’t bring myself to appreciate a film which encourages those who are isolated and have extreme tendencies to damage themselves further. All that being said, Gene's directing journey paralleling his own work is a nice touch if a tad too campy. Perhaps more focus on how movies helped him understand himself could have saved the film from blatant mistreatment of its subjects.

I will say though, Pompo (the character) is incredibly based in her opinion on one thing. The shorter a story, the better. Trim away the fluff, and get to the point. A truly great storyteller knows how to use the bare minimum to allow the audience to fill in the gaps with their own imagination. However, the beauty in minimalism is the impressionistic quality. Simple emotions given the time on screen to sink into you can create entire stories in your mind. However, in its execution of these ideas, the film doesn’t give itself the space to breath and instead regurgitates Gene's unpolished notebooks verbatim onto the screen. Rather than even a B movie with a beautiful actress to sell it, we just have an offensive movie and a man with constant bags under his eyes. At least it was an hour and thirty minutes.

Pros:
+Lovable characters
+Slow and deliberate pacing which lets the atmosphere and emotions of the characters settle in
+Breathtaking OST and background artwork that give the world life and never get repetitive

Cons:
-The characters could have more quirkiness
-Some fanservice oriented camera angles

To tell a story, one does not need much time or detail. A mundane moment in time shared between two characters we just met can leave a powerful impact if executed correctly. The artistry of Manaria Friends is all in the impressionistic nature of its direction. Each short episode captures a distilled emotion experienced in school life. Nervousness before a performance, loneliness while studying, frustration at being unable ... to help others, and most importantly joy spending all the slow little moments with the one you love. The story more specifically follows the romance of two princesses, one human and one half-dragon, at a majestic magical school in a fantasy world. While its scope is down to earth, there are just enough hints at the depth of the world the characters reside in to breath life into their existence. Sometimes fantasy elements can play a major role in the story, but usually they serve as a backdrop which inspires wonder and idealistic beauty in every scene. The backgrounds and soft OST take the immersion to even greater heights. Each episode brings new sights and sounds. Words are often put aside to let the moment be told through music and subtle animation. These scenes allow for sitting in the emotional soup, yet never feel melodramatic. Everything slows down for quiet reflection. The school held in a magnificent castle with breathtaking architecture, the sound of rain outside of an empty library, playing a duet in the middle of a field of flowers. These vividly crafted scenes become a conduit for recalling the magic of this show and carrying it with me always.

THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS

Pros:
+Character and world design
+Captures magical Ghibli inspired feel
+Environmental message

Cons:
-Propaganda for the privileged (although probably unintentional)
-Poorly written villain
...
Thoughts:
The immediately obvious selling point of this film is its visuals. The characters and world are captivating. They bring out a similar spark to Ghibli films. Throughout the film, the characters travel across this breathtaking "wonderland", and boy is it gorgeous. However, the world is losing its color due to drought. In order to save it, the main character must go and rescue the prince who can perform a ritual to bring back the rain. They make a point to differentiate this world from Earth, which has already lost much of its beauty due to climate change. That's all well and good. I like me an environmentalist movie.

Sadly the movie, almost certainly unintentionally, also manages to tell a darker story. We quickly learn that the tale's villain comes from the slums. The main character's guide, an esteemed alchemist, warns her never to go near there. Already we have an upper class citizen steering our heroine through a biased view of this so called wonderland. The privileged only see what they want to see. To make matters worse, the villain is immediately labeled a bad person because they come from the slums rather than because of the crimes they have committed. And that's not all. The main characters are literally on a quest to save the prince--another upper class citizen obviously.

SPOILERS

It turns out that the prince and the villain are one and the same. Saving the prince is actually a matter of returning him to "normal" from his delinquent form. Immediately upon regaining his privileged-rich-white-boy self, the prince is forgiven and everyone lives happily ever after. According to the movie at least.

END SPOILERS

I wish I could recommend this film to support the artists and designers who clearly crafted it with passion, but I cannot bring myself to support its damaging message which is especially prevalent in today's world of growing inequality.