Despite how much I loved the movie, I must say, although it DID come before the anime, my advice is to watch the anime first. I don’t think I would’ve sat through very much of the movie had I not already had an understanding of the characters. The movie is more of a serious drama then the anime with most, if not all, of the slapstick removed. This brings me to what I feel was the hugest change between the anime and the movie; the anime, usually, was lighthearted and care free with only a mild serious undertone that only engulfed the show in a few episodes, but the movie, on the other hand, seem to have a bit of a dark cloud following it the whole time.
Over all, I just love this series in its entirety and am soon to begin watching the after story. I truly only recommend the movie to fans of the series and people looking for an anime movie with a chick flick-esk feel to it. Those are the people I think’ll get the most out of this movie. To fans of the anime series, I say to you that you will find this movie completely endearing as it adds greater depth to some characters, especially Tomoya’s father, but I also would like to warn you to look through the differences and take the in stride, remembering that the movie DID in fact come first and it‘s differences are not a load of bull poopie. To people just hoping to get into the series, I suggest to you to start with the anime instead just because of how dark this movie is in contrast. And to those with no real interest in the series, I suggest this movie only if you’re in the mood to cry because I seriously got to the point, a whole THREE TIMES, near the end, where I had to take off my glasses and/or pause the video because I was crying.
