Clean. Refreshing. Endearing. It's impressive how little work the show actually puts into making the audience care about its characters, but the simple presentation and small snippets of the past are all it took to make them seem... not so distant. One very noticeable quality of the show was in its efforts to keep the focus of the viewer concentrated on the primary characters. Very little background was shed on the supporting characters, and in a movie like this, it worked well in keeping the flow of the overall story and not diverging any of its main plot points. Would I have liked to have seen and understood a little bit more about the background of our main protagonists and why their situations were as they were? Perhaps. But in the grand scheme of the present plot, all of that exterior information seemed quite trivial and unneeded. A smooth ride from start to finish, it wasn't necessarily the most grand of scenarios, but definitely not forgettable. The story can be described as... focused. Aimed. Straight. Never looking sideways or backwards, and always keeping the audience where they need to be: at the heart of action and plot progression. You know what they want you to know at that moment in time, and it was the structure of the story that really elevated this movie to a higher level.
The good guy was the good guy, and the bad guys were the bad guys. But at times the lines seemed... blurred somehow, and made both sides questionable. The character development begged the question: What really makes someone good or evil? Perhaps their allegiance to the cause they serve? Or perhaps their individual mindsets, and what drives them as their own selves? Incentives and motivations to do what they can and must, it was an interesting part of the show to try and better understand the complexity of these characters, and what made them do what they did.
Although sometimes the art seemed a bit too mixed at times and the background looked a bit dark, everything that should have been there was there, and more. The characters looked like themselves, but not gleaming with light, if you know what I mean. It wasn't something I focused too much on, although there were many moments when I felt that the various locations fit just so well with what the characters were trying to accomplish. The shrines, the beaches, and the forests matched my imaginations impeccably, and I had no complaints. What I appreciated even more was the music.
Now, truth be told, the entire movie had maybe two music types. I exaggerate, but the music just sounded incredibly similar to one another, as if it was difficult to escape from the style. Not that there was anything wrong with that. The mood was set to perfection with its soundtrack, and I can honestly say I blinked back a tear at one point. Because the music was just that appropriate. APPROPRIATE, not a masterpiece (although I enjoyed listening to it very much).
This movie is to be watched, enjoyed, and watched again, if the person so desires. But its interpretation seems straightforward and obvious. A story of an unexpected encounter, and the guardian/friendship relation that is born from it. It may be too simple of a setting to some, but it delivered its message well and executed its ending with the most satisfying close. Sure, people may debate on the meaning of its ending, but to me it felt that the movie had done what it wanted to do, and I greatly appreciated the sense of finale.
