Reviews

Aug 7, 2024
Dear King feels like a love letter to Studio Ghibli. One of the first things those interested in this particular Anime title notice is that it utilizes a style very similar to the one used by Studio Ghibli. The story, despite the high rating, is also very family-oriented, but the Studio Ghibli movie that Dear King first and foremost reminded me of as I watched the movie wasn't Princess Mononoke but Grave of the Fireflies.

The movie does, after all, cover the effects of war following a man who lost his wife and son before becoming a soldier in a war that led to him being a worker down in the mines. This leads to him meeting Luna, whom he adopts as his daughter. Nor is the movie afraid to get nitty-gritty when it comes to the details, being very detail-orientated regarding what is going on and building up the two clashing cultures within the movie. Of course, certain elements seem trivial to certain viewers, such as the second prince's encounter with Van as a young soldier. Yet, in the end, these things are actually important to the narrative, with these small details woven into the plot that set up the ending in a way that makes sense.

Suppose there were two things that might turn viewers off. In that case, it may be the narrative point of view, that the narrator of the story is the doctor, as well as the fact we're still coming off the ramifications of the illness that actually delayed the release of this movie to the point delaying the movie until things died down makes sense, also resulting in the movie coming across as attempting to say something about what was going on despite not having been meant to do so in the first place, having been adapted from a novel by the same name.

Back to the movie feeling like a love letter to Studio Ghibli. This will of course make the movie of interest to fans of Studio Ghibli, but I think there is a chance that fans will also see elements from one of their favorite Ghibli movie in Dear King. Some of this is intentional, while some comes from the source material, but perhaps making the movie into a love letter to Studio Ghibli, which is in part known for it's adaptions of classic works makes sense in a work one might actually expect to be picked up by Studio Ghibli for adaption.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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