Tibet Inu Monogatari

A new take on the classic "boy and dog" relationship. This is a must see for any animal lover or for anyone looking for a beautiful story. If you're not already, you'll fall in love with the Tibetan Mastiff.

For anime the setting is original as takes place in the mountains of Tibet. The PLOT is engaging as it follows a young boy who moves to the Tibetan countryside following the death of his mother. As he struggles to fit in to his new way of life and the relationship with his father he befriends a mountain dog. ART, The landscapes of Tibet are beautifully ... draw while the CHARACTERS are distinctive and origina and provide an insight in to Tibetan lifel. OVERALL I really enjoyed this film and would recommend it to anyone.

EDIT: This is an older review and my reviewing skills were pretty meh back then so take this with a grain of salt

I was interested in this movie since I am a Tibetan myself, so I watched it with my family yesterday.

Story: 7/10
Nothing really new, just the same tale of a lad meeting a dog that changes his life. It was interesting that there was a "devil" killing many people though

Art: 8/10
The art style reminds me of a Ghibli film. It's charming and approachable. I also really think the landscapes were especially well designed

... Sound: 6/10
It was alright. Had some traditional Tibetan music but nothing really else. The VA's were decent

Character: 6/10
The characters were decent as well.

Enjoyment: 8/10
It was fun seeing all the Tibetan cultural references. My parents were very happy about how they captured the life of a Tibetan nomad and were able to present it this well in the movie.

Overall: 8/10
A good movie to watch with your family. I would definitely recommend this.

Score: 8.3/10 (rounded to 8/10)

Tibet Inu Monogatari is a Madhouse film from 2011. Yes, Madhouse. The studio that can make things as good as Rainbow and Monster but also things as rubbish as anime X-men or Highschool of the Dead. I never know what to expect from them just because their quality does vary so greatly that I can honestly say they've made some of the best and some of the worst anime I've ever seen. 

Story:

Our narrative opens with a youngster named Tianjin being moved up to the mountains of Tibet as his mother just passed and that's where his father is. He quickly forms a bond with a golden-furred ... Tibetan Mastiff that he calls Duoji Yongzhi. Things become complicated for the duo when Duoji is accused of being responsible for a string of attacks against villagers and animals. 

The biggest down side of the film is just that the climax gets a bit ridiculous, almost imbuing Douji with supernatural abilities. The arc is also going to be really obvious for adults. Which I'll mostly excuse because it is a family film. 

On the positive side, the whole emphasis on the bond between this young boy and his dog does work well. It leads to some strong, heart-warming moments. When the adult characters are arguing about what they should do, they do bring up some solid points that makes it feel like a legitimate discussion. The film also does take some risks and ends up involving a lot more death than you'd see in most family films. It may not be enough to make the narrative surprising, but it does make it a bit different and it's nice to see Madhouse execute something like that in a subdued fashion. 

Characters:

For the most part, the main characters are a bit shallow but kind of endearing and the side characters are very much there for a function. There are some interesting character dynamics. Like the tension betwixt Tianjin and his dad or the rivalry between his dad and the old woman who sells snake oil. Which do serve to elevate some of the cast so they're above the regular archetypes.

The biggest problem is that there's a particular character who loses all sense of reason and perspective at the climax of the film so that he can go full antagonist. His actions before that point all make sense even if they're misguided but at the climax he just says "I'm not going to pay any attention to what I'm seeing here because I stubbornly refuse to be redeemable."

Art:

The artwork is pretty great. The nature scenes look great. The animals are really detailed and look like what they're supposed to. Which means the dogs are super cute. The characters look good. About the one complaint I have is that the monster they're chasing down kind of just looks like a big, black blob with teeth and eyes. A stronger, more detailed design would have worked wonders, I think. 

Sound:

The acting is well handled. It is in Mandarin, which is an odd choice on Madhouse's part. Maybe they were going for that sweet Chinese market that's so lucrative for media developers. The music is well done. There are some really nice scenes with flute playing. 

Ho-yay:

There isn't any to be had. 

Areas of Improvement:

1. Tone down the climax to fit better in with the rest of the film. Seriously, most of the film seems like it could take place in a real world setting. Then we get supernatural elements and absurdities in the climax. 

2. Have the particular character I've already talked about actually believe his own senses. 

3. Give your monster a stronger design. 

Final Thoughts:

Tibet Inu Monogatari is a pretty solid, enjoyable film. It has a few issues, but they don't detract from it too much. In the end, I'll give it an 8/10.