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Mar 14, 2024
At long last the much-anticipated sequel to Gundam Seed and Gundam Seed Destiny has released and thankfully it was well worth the wait. Whilst I absolutely loved the original Gundam Seed as a modern remake/alternative version of the original Gundam, Gundam Seed Destiny was largely a letdown due to the shift to a far worse cast (Shinn) and a feeling that the old characters were getting purposefully dumbed down and discarded. Gundam Seed Freedom is to me Destiny done right.
Although a lot of the plot is a retread of the themes of Destiny, with the new villainous organisation entitled Foundation even aiming to carry
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out the Destiny Plan from that series, Sunrise made the right choice to this time squarely focus on the relationship between Lacus and Kira with the other characters coming secondary in importance. Due to this, the message of both Destiny and Freedom – that the individual must have the freedom to control their own destiny, rather than the government or their genes – is conveyed far more clearly and in keeping with what we know of the characters. Kira and Lacus are thereby allowed to make active plot advances and grow both separately and as a couple.
The other key focus of this film is love. The new characters Orphee Lam Tao and Agnes Giebenrath essentially act as the foils to Kira and Lunamaria, with Orphee seeing love as a purely pragmatic matter and Agnes using it to distract from her own insecurities. In contrast, the movie sends the message (through Lacus) that one should need the person they love rather than love the person they need; a rather simplistic yet poignant point that sums up much of this aspect of the movie. By the end, all of the couples we have come to care for get a moment to shine and connect, strengthening their relationships from the TV series quite satisfactorily.
Sunrise has once again kept up their high production levels with this film. Action scenes are as usual brilliantly dynamic and exciting, with excellent sound design creating a truly cinematic feel to the fighting. The music too is fantastic including epic orchestral pieces (some remixed from the TV series) and the return of T.M. Revolution and See-Saw for fitting new theme songs.
Even with so much to like, there are of course a few blemishes present in this film. Much of the melodramatic teenage angst that is present in Gundam Seed (and indeed most Gundam series) is back here, so those who find such characters frustrating will not be won over by Freedom. Additionally, the aforementioned similarity to Gundam Seed Destiny may leave some finding this film to be a little superfluous, although I do think the improvements to the structure and characters largely negate this issue. Fans of Athrun and Cagalli may also be disappointed to find these two lacking really any presence in this movie especially compared to their role in the past, however this too I think is a justifiable trade off in order to keep the focus on Lacus and Kira within the constraints of the 2-hour runtime.
Overall, I think Gundam Seed Freedom is a triumphant return which fixes much of the series past problems and confidently concludes (at least for now) one of Gundam’s most prominent series. If you already liked Seed, this movie will definitely be a fun and satisfying return to the Cosmic Era timeline, although it probably won't do much to win over new fans.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Aug 8, 2023
While somewhat of an improvement on the first part, this conclusion to the story started a whole 9 months ago still does not come even close to the standards of the early seasons of this show.
The decision to split this in two still baffles me as Part Two certainly does not offer a complete package. What you are getting this time is 50 minutes of Tristan, Lancelot and Meliodas battling waves of demons and the culprit of the attacks Deathpierce. The story in this part is essentially meaningless as the action really is what you are here. Unfortunately though, the continual use of subpar,
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cheap anime game standard CGI makes even that look lacklustre.
The only real entertainment I got out of this was seeing Tristan and Lancelot a bit before their upcoming proper debut in the Four Knights of the Apocalypse (a show which promises to be far greater than this). If you have already subjected yourself to watching Grudge of Edinburgh Part One, then you can probably handle watching this too. People who are huge fans of the series may even get some joy out of watching this. But to anyone else already let down by previous seasons and movies in this series, I probably wouldn't even bother.
Reviewer’s Rating: 4
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Jan 30, 2023
Doraemon the Movie: Nobita's Little Space War continues the trend of Doraemon movies always having extremely interested premises executed in the most basic way possible. This time around, the gang meet a tiny alien who is fleeing a war back home so they are called in to action to help. Probably my favourite portion of this movie was the opening sequence, as it featured a mix of film references to keep it interesting including Star Wars, E.T., King Kong and even the MGM intro. I found this to be an especially delightful way to open the movie and to pay respect to the key sources
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of inspiration for the film, as upon watching you will soon realise that it is essentially an amalgamation of all of those films in to one. I also appreciated that the story felt more cohesive from start to finish this time around, as Papi is introduced very early on and the alien/space war remains integral to every scene. However, as usual the film falters in the second half, offering little originality to keep the movie fresh as it goes on. Instead, it returns to the safe adventure and action that has defined the majority of the Doraemon films so far. This far into the series, I would expect one knows if they are a Doraemon fan or not and this film will certainly appease those looking for another fun Doraemon adventure, but it ultimately does not deliver a satisfying experience for anyone searching for anything more than that.
Reviewer’s Rating: 5
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Jan 29, 2023
Doraemon the Movie: Nobita's Great Adventure into the Underworld is a slight step up from the previous Doraemon film, though it still fails to pass the threshold for what I consider to be average. This time around, Doraemon and Nobita have entered in to a parallel world similar to our own but with the existence of science being replaced by magic. All is not well in this new world as demons have come and it is up to the gang to save the world, with a new character called Miyoko Mangetsu helping lead them to the demon world to fight back. The premise was a
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real strong point of the movie, enabling the establishment of an interesting alternative reality. The early scenes showcasing the differences in society were to me the main highlight of the film. Unfortunately, the film quickly devolves in to the standard romp for these films. Nothing throughout the majority of the movie really does anything to make it stand out from any other Doraemon film, with Miyoko being a bland expository character (as every new supporting character in these films are), the villains being completely paper thin without any real motives and the plot amounting to nothing but another basic battle. Really the only other aspects of this movie that I enjoyed were the time travel elements which were decently trippy for Doraemon and the appearance of Dorami (even if it was rather brief). Overall, this film may not have been the worst of Doraemon so far, but it was exceedingly standard for Doraemon and arguably sub-par as a standalone movie. Only bother watching this if you are a serious Doraemon fan.
Reviewer’s Rating: 4
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Jan 28, 2023
4 movies in and a distinct formula is definitely starting to set in. Structurally, this film is extremely similar to the previous film (which I had plenty of issues at the time - read that review for more details), with the gang proposing a trip followed by an hour or so of light adventure before the sudden reveal of a hidden society two thirds through culminating in a major battle at the end. Unfortunately this time around I found the ocean exploration to be rather dull, slow and boring. Some minor tension is introduced at a few points thanks to encounters with unknown creatures and
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the power of their talking buggy, however it is otherwise a slog to get through. The latter portion of the movie was also a relative let down with the underwater society being bland and only a single new character being introduced who himself was totally unremarkable. While the film does offer a slight degree of educational value for children, such as the explanation of evolution and information on the Bermuda Triangle, it still does not deliver enough to be worth a watch in that regard. If anything, kids too would likely get tired of the dragged out underwater exploration. The animation and sound is also nothing special, with its age obviously showing and even being subpar compared to other Doraemon films from the time. Overall, Doraemon the Movie: Nobita and the Castle of the Undersea Devil is the weakest movie in the franchise thus far, having a slow and dull plot, uninteresting new characters and locations and relatively poor animation.
Reviewer’s Rating: 3
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Jan 26, 2023
Doraemon, Nobita and friends are back once again, this time determined to explore uncharted lands and discover the mysteries of the world. Firstly, be warned that the synopsis listed above does spoil the first two thirds of the film, though that is largely because the first hour of the film is lacking in a great deal of plot. Instead, the majority of the runtime is spent showcasing the fun adventure of our heroes through the dangerous African landscape (specifically around central Africa in the area now known as DRC), encountering a variety of wild animals and people which threaten them with peril. I had a
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continuously fun time throughout this section of the movie enjoying the variety of charming and childish encounters and scenarios. At the one hour mark though, the film takes a sudden and drastic shift in style and tone, switching focus to a hidden kingdom and the ongoing troubles there. As a result, the film comes across as extremely disjointed, feeling almost like two films in one. Though this isn't necessarily deal breaking, the extreme contrast can easily leave viewers bored during one half or the other depending on their preferences in film. Personally, I found the whimsical adventure of the first two thirds to be more entertaining than the exposition and plot heavy final act, though again one's enjoyment will largely come from whether you enjoy plot or adventure more in movies. I also found the villains to be rather weak as usual for these Doraemon films, further cementing my preference for the light-hearted side of Doraemon. To summarise, Doraemon the Movie: Nobita and the Haunts of Evil is another adequate entry in the series, however the drastic divide between the two parts of the movie make me hesitant to recommend it to everyone.
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
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Jan 26, 2023
Doraemon: The Records of Nobita, Spaceblazer is nothing special, but is overall adequate enough as a fun family movie that I cannot give it any less than a 5. All of the usual gang is back again this time with the introduction of new space companions Roppuru and Chammy. These characters are fine enough on their own, though their obvious inherent similarity to Nobita and Doraemon leaves less of a lasting impression in the long run and leaves little room to distinguish them during the film. The villains too are entirely one-note, as you would largely expect from this type of film. The animation and
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music were standard for Doraemon, with the usual opening and ending sequences recurring as always. I did also wonder throughout the movie why Doraemon had no way of giving the gang a baseball field to play on when it really does not feel like that outlandish of a task for him, although that is more of a general critique or issue of the franchise given Doraemon's permanent role as a deus ex machina. In all, while this may not have lived up to the standard set by the first film it was still a perfectly fine sequel that serves its duty of giving some light family entertainment.
Reviewer’s Rating: 5
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Nov 13, 2022
A surprise to be sure, but a welcome one.
When Ghibli announced that they were going to be collaborating with Lucasfilm, speculation immediately grew about what these two juggernauts of their respective mediums could do when teamed up. From a movie to a new Visions episode, many ideas were thrown around including that of a Grogu based short - an idea backed up by the pre-existing rumour of just such a thing coming out on the third anniversary of his debut. Within a day we had our answer: Grogu was indeed being animated by Ghibli, and just a few short hours later it had been
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released to the astoundment of many. However, for all the potential and excitement that this collaboration offered, the question became would this measly three minute short be able to deliver an experience worthy of the collaboration? And the answer to that, I'm afraid, is a resounding no. Though it may be disappointing to hear, this short is no Spirited Away or Star Wars. But ultimately, it was never meant to be. Instead, it is an enjoyable little glimpse into what these companies can create; a joyous celebration of two industry icons condensed into a bite-sized burst of fun. Stylistically, it overwhelmingly resembles the classic Ghibli style (though in an incredibly simplified form) and brings the cuteness and tranquility that their style evokes to a character very fitting of it. While this is obviously not the outcome that many were hoping for and is certainly nothing too deep or impactful, to me it simply inspires hope as to what the future could potentially hold for Ghibli and Star Wars. After all, isn't hope what Star Wars is all about?
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Jan 18, 2022
After having thoroughly enjoyed the original manga a number of moths ago, I was equally as excited to experience the anime adaptation of 100-nichikan Ikita Wani and see exactly how they would adapt what was an incredibly short, incredibly bittersweet story into a feature length film. The answer to this conundrum turned out to be very simple - they didn't.
Story - (4)
Character - (5)
Clocking it at a mere 63 minutes, this film barely managed to meet the minimum of what one could consider worthy of a theatrical release and even at that meager runtime, only half of the film is an actual adaptation of
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the source material. While I do entirely understand that they were always going to have to make drastic changes to make the story work as a cohesive work of cinema, rather than individual ten second jokes, I feel as though they ended up losing track of what made the original story so great. The relatability of Wani's struggles and the theme of making the most of one's life while they can were both essential elements to the charm of the manga that were glossed over in a mere 25-30 minutes in the film. Instead of focusing in on these key elements, the film chooses to introduce an entirely new plotline set 100 days after the end of the manga, telling the tale of Kaeru and his similar attempt at befriending the other characters of the story. While this new content does make a semi-successful attempt at showing the ways in which one can overcome and move on from grief, it ultimately feels largely superfluous given how unrelated it is from the original point of the story. The characters themselves also ended up disappointing compared to the manga. While some of their individual personalities and character traits did shine through, the short runtime again hindered the ability for any true insight or connection to be made.
Art - (5)
Sound - (6)
Both the art and sound of 100-nichikan Ikita Wani were fine enough, though lacking in any particular stand out moments. Obviously the first element that one may notice when viewing the artwork of the film is the character designs, with each character being portrayed as a different anthropomorphized animal. While there is not anything inherently wrong with the designs, with each one being pleasant enough to look at, it was mildly disappointing to see no real meaning behind these designs. Where other recent series such as Beasters and Odd Taxi utilized the animal designs in interesting and unique ways for greater story, character and artistic purposes, this film simply goes with the designs out of the generic quest to create an instant cute appeal to the art. The actual animation was rather lackluster as well, with there being very little animation outside of simple dialogue scenes. The score, while slightly better in comparison, was also nothing to write home about. Though any music that did play was sweet and pleasant to listen to, the large gaps in-between such appearances left me wishing there was more.
Enjoyment - (5)
Though the short runtime of the film did bring many other issues into play, it at least did help prevent the film from getting boring or stale at any point, with the film ultimately flying be fairly fast. In addition, the solid foundation of the story on which the film was based meant that I overall did not dislike the film. Instead, I was simply left feeling let down and mildly frustrated at how an enjoyable little manga had been turned into such a bland and uninspired film. Thus I must insist that to any who have read this far and are genuinely interested in the premise of this story, the manga is a far better experience, being both more entertaining and slightly shorter than the film.
Overall - (5)
In summary, though not exactly being a bad film overall, 100-nichikan Ikita Wani is an incredibly bland and uninspired adaptation of a charming short web manga that would have ultimately been better off being left as such.
Reviewer’s Rating: 5
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Oct 12, 2021
Doraemon as a series is nothing but pure, childish joy. Every bit of Doraemon which I have so far seen (which admittedly is not a ton) has filled me with a youthful sense of happiness which I think we can all relate to in some manner. Doraemon: Nobita's Dinosaur is no exception to this feeling, delivering a positive, educational and exciting film which perfectly caters to everyone.
STORY - (6)
Doraemon: Nobita's Dinosaur unsurprisingly follows the three act structure to a tee. The first act introduces Piisuke, Nobita's pet dinosaur and shows their time growing up together before taking him back to his time; the second act
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sees Nobita, Doraemon and friends going on adventures in the age of the dinosaurs attempting to both rescue Piisuke and return home; the third act concludes with an action-packed fight against the evil dinosaur hunters. Through this structure, the film mixes in both some moments of slice-of-life comedy which the series is often known for, as well as some more action focused moments too. Additionally, the film deals with a variety of relevant topics and acts as an excellent educational piece for children, exploring and showcasing the world of the dinosaurs in an interesting and engaging way on top of demonstrating the evil and cruel nature of animal hunters. While the story was obviously nothing groundbreaking - anyone over the age of six will surely have seen the same plot a thousand times before - it still does a good job of keeping viewers interested and entertained throughout.
ART - (7)
The art of this film is overall well done for the first theatrical release in the series. The world is portrayed in a bright and colourful manner, lending well to the youthful and joyous nature of the film. The animation is also very well done, with the surprisingly large number of action sequences all being smoothly and well animated. As a whole there is little to complain about with the animation; its just there is little to praise it for either.
SOUND - (6)
The sound and music of Doraemon is another pleasant aspect of the film. As with the art and story, there is not anything overly mind-blowing about it - the soundtrack generally follows the typical, jovial orchestral style common to 80s animated films - but again, it does its job in adding to the ambience of the scenes. The film features three songs too: one in the opening credits, one insert song around the midpoint and one sung by Doraemon for the closing credits. Of the three, the first was my personal favourite; the tune was quite catchy, remaining stuck in my head for much of the film's runtime. The second song was much less upbeat, but still suited the situation well. Unfortunately the closing credits theme was much less catchy and wound up being a bit of an ear-bleeding song, albeit one which was intentionally done that way to remain in character. Luckily as it was the closing credits I was at least able to skip that section with ease.
CHARACTER - (5)
There is little to say about the characters of this movie, as the main cast is all there as usual at the front and center. If you have ever seen any other Doraemon episode or movie before you will know what to expect, which certainly is not a bad thing for a theatrical spinoff. Of the new characters to the film, Piisuke (despite being the focus of the movie) has very little personality of his own, largely due to him being unable to speak because he is, well, a dinosaur. The bittersweet ending with him is a little sad to see and does speak to there being some connection developing between him, Nobita and the audience throughout the film, but in the end this bond is really nothing more than a rudimentary level one created through his simple yet cute actions, rather than a deeper or interesting personality of some kind. The villains of the movie are also strikingly one-note; there goal is simply to capture Piisuke and not much more. Of course, these critiques do come across as a little nitpicky for a children's film, though it still would have been nice to get to know the villains just a little bit more.
ENJOYMENT - (6)
All in all, I did have a good time watching Doraemon: Nobita's Dinosaur. Though there was nothing particularly unique or different about it, I just couldn't help myself from coming to love the simplistic and youthfulness of the film. I'm sure a child would have an even greater time with the film than me, and I would suggest that it would likely be best enjoyed being watched with a child (if only there was a dubbed version), but alas it can still be a fun time being even at an older age.
OVERALL - (6)
Doraemon: Nobita's Dinosaur is a great first entry in what would go on to be an incredibly long and successful film franchise. As a children's film, it can easily be watched and enjoyed by people of all ages, with it's fun yet simple plot making for a good time for all. You don't even need to have any real knowledge of the Doraemon series to enjoy it; as long as you have heard the basic premise of the series you are good to go and watch. So, for all Doraemon fans, people looking to enter the world of Doraemon for the first time, or even for those who are just looking for a short, fun movie to watch - this film comes as a strong recommendation for me.
Thanks for reading!
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
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