I was intrigued when I saw this movie as it's directed by Makoto Shinkai, known for his great works that does NOT involve adventure, so I decided to give it a go.
At first, I thought that this movie would have a light adventure-y storyline. Well, not exactly light, but I didn't expect that this movie which seemed like a typical children's adventure fantasy movie to have such a heavy plot.
For me, the storyline is unique, as it incorporates both adventure and mystery elements into the story seamlessly eventhough it's not tagged as a mystery genre show. Since the beginning of the movie, I felt that there was an air of mystery although nothing really mysterious has happened. The early part of the movie almost felt slice-of-life like, but the subtle odd hints that were shown ( A girl listening to music from a mysterious pendant on a cliff...The new eccentric teacher...) made this show felt mysterious.
A bit later, a heavier theme would be explored: The death of a loved one.
The three main characters all had lost someone very dear to them. Struggling to move on, they harbor the desire to bring their loved ones back to life, no matter what it takes. This movie shows how awful humans could be when they've lost their humanity to get what they desired. Yup...It's quite heavy. But above all that, it is actually a touching story of growing up and learning to say goodbye.
The art is absolutely gorgeous. The use of shadows and lightings, along with the colourful blend of sceneries is sure to grab anyone's attention. Most of the landscapes, especially in the Underworld were very pretty.
The soundtracks used really help to set the mood, and the ending song got me all teary-eyed. It was beautiful. The voice actors really did great job bringing the characters to life.
The development of the characters were quite decent. There were actually reasons why the characters behaved that way, like why Asuna's teacher were so determined to seek Agartha. However, there are some unanswered questions, like where did Asuna's father get that stone? Shin's background were also blurry and Shun's motive was blurry too.
I really enjoyed this unique and heartfelt movie. For those who love the adventure and feels genre, try watching this :)
