Sanrio seemed to be going for a Romeo and Juliet style storyline in depicting the romance between Sirius and Malta for Sea Prince and the Fire Child. The approach works decently here as the movie implements the themes of Shakespeare's tragedy effectively with love being great yet cruel, the rivalry between the tribes of the movie being pointless, and the flaws of the couple in love contributing to their tragic demises. The movie is geared for a younger audience and it does show with the movie's simple storytelling, the plucky sidekicks/ friends that accompany Sirius and Malta, and the comic relief baddie that Sirius contends with at points in the movie. Still, the storytelling for it would be appealing enough for parents and older anime fans as well to see.
The animation is outdated with its simplistic designs on characters, but has its nice moments such as the destruction caused in the land and sea from Algorac's revival being nicely animated. Some beautifully drawn artwork stills are shown in the beginning and ending of the movies as the credits roll, both having beautiful ballads sung throughout their run. Beyond the mentioned ballads, the soundtrack may have Western viewers make parallels of it to older Disney films having a nicely composed orchestral score to accompany key scenes of the film.
If you're a fan of older anime titles or looking for a good family film, Sea Prince and the Fire Child is definitely worth a look thanks to its solid storytelling of Romeo and Juliet-inspired tragic love.
