It was about a month ago I watched this movie. I saw people comparing it to Chuunibyou, which I love, so I thought “oh this is going to be great”. Well, I was right, though not in the way I thought. See, Aura takes the idea of chuunibyou, but instead of making it lighthearted and comedic, it puts a darker spin on it. It’s much more dramatic than Chuunibyou was, which was refreshing. I don’t think I’ve ever seen an anime that actually took the 8th grade syndrome elements with any amount of sincerity. Off the top of my head, the anime I’ve seen chuunibyou in is OreImo, Haganai, Sabagebu, and, of course, Chuunibyou. There’s probably more I’m forgetting. However, not a single one of them took it seriously. And that’s what sets this apart from the others.
Story: 9.5/10
The story of Aura is very focused. Maybe because it’s a movie with a limited amount of time, or maybe because of the writing, or some other completely different reason, it has direction. Without spoiling too much, it takes the idea of chuunibyou and asks “what if society was less accepting of this”. There’s a huge stigma against people like Ryouko and Ichirou. Ichirou has learned this and conformed to the standards, but Ryouko hasn’t. The bullying scene(s) really worked well for drama. They felt natural, realistic. It felt like something that would really happen, maybe because I’ve seen the same thing happen at my middle school.
Now I’m going to talk about the ending, so stop reading if you haven’t seen it and don’t want to be spoiled. So basically Takanashi Rikka builds this huge contraption out of school desks on top of the roof. How she managed to do that is beyond me, and I wish they’d addressed that, but it wasn’t enough to ruin it for me. She basically says that in order to complete the incantation, she need to kill herself. It’s at this point that you realize just how obsessed she is. Throughout the whole movie it just felt like a game of hers. But now that she’s actually ready to jump off the school roof in order to complete the incantation you realize that oh shit she is way too into this. It was an awesome setup. Maybe it’s just me and my love of tragic endings, but I feel like the ending would have been been better if she’d actually gone off the edge. It would have at least been much more dramatic and in line with the tone of the rest of the movie. The happy ending felt like it kinda came out of nowhere, and the sad ending would have just worked more naturally. Regardless, the story was amazing.
Characters: 9/10
Our main characters, Ryouko and Ichirou, are the two most fleshed out characters in the movie. Ichirou is a former chuunibyou whose delusions drove his family apart. He henceforth decided to never be a chuunibyou or associate with them. This is fine as a character motivation, although the idea that his parents actually beat him because of his delusions is kinda bullshit. Ryouko is just fuckin crazy. At first she seems like a “normal” chuunibyou girl, but as time goes on you realize she’s reeeeally into this shit. She’s a very interesting character, and her relations to the bullying are realistic and believable. The bullies are really the only characters I had any issue with. They’re almost as two dimensional and evil as the bullies from Elfen Lied. I get that they weren’t supposed to be deep, fleshed out characters since they’re pretty much just plot devices, but still… they weren’t sympathetic at all. They felt inhuman, and even plot devices should feel a little bit human. At least in my opinion they should.
Art: 9/10
The art was really good. It looked beautiful and the coloration fit the mood very well. The final scene on the rooftop stands out in particular. The orange color added a mystical, final feeling to it. I loved the character design of Ryouko, even if she did look and feel like a carbon copy of Takanashi Rikka, as well as the costume she was always wearing. I have a soft spot for cool looking clothing.
Sound: 9/10
This series knew how to set the mood with music. I am once again going to refer to the ending scene with them on the roof. The music used adds to the drama really well, building up to a climax at the same pace as the events. However, none of it really stood out as something I’d listen to again and again. There wasn’t any music that I’d listen to and say “ah, that’s Aura music”.
Overall, I think Aura is a really well done movie. In the time they had, they managed to tell a believable, realistic story about delusions and the effect it can have on your social life. The characters were sympathetic (well, the characters who weren’t the bullies that is) and the art was stunning. This movie is worth a watch, especially since it isn’t very long.
