Blending elements of time travel, psychic awareness and philosophy, "Nerawareta Gakuen" (Psychic School Wars) focuses on a group of students who get caught up in a time traveler's attempts to change the bleak future that seems to await humanity. Through loosely connected sequences, the film poses questions about when to express your actual feelings and the morality of whether or not to change something that inevitably will happen. Set in a vibrant world of color, the film uses two interlinked love stories to tackle these questions, linking the stories with the overarching theme of the difficulty of forming connections.
Using psychic powers and time travel as a medium, the film wants to challenge the notion of what it means to stay connected. The psychic powers here are mostly telepathy and psychic awareness, as opposed to things like psychokinesis and pyrokinesis. It is a complex plot with many things to take into consideration, and it will take creative thinking to piece together the loosely connected sequences into a single, overarching story that has many, many layers. Peel a layer back and another more complex one replaces it. It is smart and refreshing, and linking the themes to the story gives a wistful interpretation of staying in contact with one another. For the time traveler, who lives in a hopeless future, and for the psychic, who lives in relative peace, their interpretations of personal relationships and ideas of love are considerably different.
One of the most striking features of the film is the beautiful animation and diverse color palette. Shades of red, blue, and green dominate the scenery, and the characters make references to fairy tales and plays, almost giving a self appreciating kind of awareness. With the animation quality rivaling other films known for this, such as "Kotonoha no Niwa" and "Byousoku 5 Centimeter", both directed by Makoto Shinkai, "Nerawareta Gakuen" is definitely one of the best looking anime films. The sky in particular looks beautiful, with many different colors used. Watching the film almost feels like a dream, with one fantastic background moving to another fantastic background. Colors flow and blend easily, immersing the characters in a vibrant world. Lighting is also a high point of the film, mimicking the sun's rays and emphasizing the contrast between light and dark.
One of the most common staples in anime is cherry blossoms blowing in the wind, or falling from the trees. The beginning of the film in particular has cherry blossoms scattered everywhere, from train tracks to the path leading to school, almost saturating the film with the flowers. It is toned down significantly as the film progresses, but their presence is a common reminder of the passing of seasons and fading beauty.
The film's soundtrack consists of soothing instrumental pieces and piano themes. The transfer student in particular likes "Clair de Lune" by Claude Debussy, a fitting piece for him given the character's background. It's placement is smart and is a major point in one of the central love stories, bringing the two characters to a common love of piano playing. The opening theme is "Giniro Hikousen" by supercell, and the ending theme is "Sayonara no Hashi by Mayu Watanabe, one of the voice actresses. The soundtrack captured the mood of the film perfectly, with breathtaking, dreamy scenes accompanied by a resonating soundtrack.
The characters talk about fairy tales, dreams, and acting, and that's almost precisely what this film is, a modern interpretation of a fairy tale. Its moments of blending reality and fantasy is visually and emotionally spectacular, and something that will bring with it many questions. Common to fairy tales, there is a lesson to be learned, but I think I will leave that lesson to be learned up to you. Interpretations, after all, are the most important thing when watching a film of this complex nature. It's re-watch value is very high, and a second or third viewing will lead to new interpretations and new insight to the time traveler's and the psychic's journey. While difficult to digest, I believe "Nerawareta Gakuen" is a worthwhile experience that will leave a positive, if bittersweet impression on the viewer.
After all, even in the hustle and bustle of increasing technology, and even when fantastical elements are introduced, simply reaching out to someone else can make all the difference, affecting the present and the uncertain future.
