Reviews

Dec 10, 2023
I really enjoyed this film. End to end it kept me engaged in story whilst the animation continued to be stunning throughout.

Animation wise, this reminded me a lot of the style from Porco Rosso. Its like it has hints of Disney whilst rooted in Japanese animation. This films animation is stunning. Everything moves fluidly, the characters, I feel anyway, are nicely designed and have their own originality. As we journey through the film we are treated to variety. The environments vary in a nicely contrasting way, the above ground segments looks vibrant and full of life and the below ground environment look dull and devoid of life, not physically but spiritually. The animation does a really good job of painting the picture this story is trying to convey and is honestly one of the most classy looking anime films I have every seen. I'd give the animation a strong 9. Ifs funny because I watched this straight after finishing Sigurui which is, in my opinion, one of the worst animations shows Madhouse has ever done, which is rather contrary to Metropolis.

Music wise, I feel is rather strong. It takes a nice detour away from what we are used to from anime. We go from swing, to orchestral, to jazz, to just straight smooth and gorgeous tunes. Honestly one of the finest, best fitting soundtracks I have heard in a film. Its such a stylish OST and still manages to be coherent and fits the film perfectly. I is quite evident that just as much time was put into this soundtrack as was put into the animation. Though I'll be honest, I feel the music tops the animation by just a little which means I'm giving the score a 10/10.

On to the story now, which I think is it's weakest point. Don't get me wrong, this film still kept me thoroughly engaged throughout, but I felt this was more down to it's stunning animation and the perfect soundtrack. The story doesn't have a whole lot of weight to it. Its still tells a great tale for sure, it just lacks much dynamic. There isn't many soring highs or heartbreaking lows, it's all just a little flat. The characters are well written but do little beyond what they deliver upon their Introductions. This film still has a story worth watching, it's just not hitting the levels it needs to be among the great stories of anime. For me it's a low 7/10 on the story front.

All in all this brings us to an average of 8.6 but I never round up. So this is getting an 8/10 which is help up by the great animation and sublime soundtrack. Its still a film worth watching, it's just unlikely to be in most people top films/shows of anime.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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