Hinata no Aoshigure

---------------------------------Hinata no Aoshigure-----------------------------

Ok this short was aired on 2013 and I'm just doing the review now. I found this anime by a gif and I decided to check it out, and boy that was a good decision. This anime is really short, only 17 minutes long, so you can watch it on your free time. This was an enjoyable anime for just being 17 min long.

[ART & ANIMATION]

The art is really simple but at the same time it looks cute. I think the art design fits perfect with the story, giving a child look to a child story that puts it perfect. Also, the ... colors of the background help to transmit the feeling that at the moment the anime wanted to transmit, for example when the part was sad the background had dark colors, and with happy moments the background had lighter colors. The animation was pretty smooth and I enjoy it. It doesn't seem to have lag or look weird at any time. 9/10

[SOUND]

I really like the acting of the voice actors, they could interpret their characters and emotions pretty well. The music was pretty good, I really like it and it fit with the climax of the story. 7/10

[STORY]

The story is really simple, but in a cute way. It made me mad about the ending, but i think is a good fit with the emotions the anime tries to give to the audience. Also, the anime had a lot of clichés at the beginning, I really didn't understand why and personally I would prefer not to have them. I like the different meanings that the anime has with the birds and the train and overall, I think it was cute for a short anime. 8/10

[CONCLUSION]

The anime was pretty cute and it was pretty interesting. It told the story very well for the little time they had. Personally, my favorite thing about this short was the art, which was pretty wonderful. The story is a cute childish story which is pretty nice to see from time to time. I enjoy this anime and I hope you do it as well. 8/10

An 18 minute short. Such a small scale of time compared to the 24 hours in a day. And yet, there is so much Hinata no Aoshigure portrays in those 18 minutes.

The story is pretty straight - boy loves girl and chases after her. It's nothing special, but taking into account the short amount of time I was flabbergasted by how it was presented and it really distinguished itself from most daily life/harem anime - a 7.

Art is impeccable - the style is similar to that of Ghibli but with the colour contrasts of the great Makoto Shinkai. Just stunning, a 10. Voice acting was ... strong and bold despite how short the script is and the music fit perfectly with the setting. Another 10.

Characters were pretty cliché, awkward boy meets girl next-door, but the sentiments and aura of the characters were established wonderfully; the character development outmatching a multitude of shows that spanned 13+ episodes. 8 for characters.

I definitely enjoyed this short film. Traversing through this amazing universe was a treat that I wish most anime series would be able to convey. 10 for enjoyment.

Overall, there are some things about Hinata no Aoshigure that could've made it a stronger short film. But taking into account the immaculate character development, fitting music and art as well as how enjoyable it is? Definitely a 9 in my books.

"What happened." ~ Me at the end this short film.

I walked into this with high hopes and with the first act of the movie shaping up to be something amazing that soared even higher. Once the final arc of the short film kicked in I was speechless. I literally had no words to describe what was occurring on my screen. Well let me save this for the "enjoyment" section.

IT'S SHOWTIME

[PART 1: STORY]
We, the viewers, follow Hinata, I think, as he tries to confess his love to his crush, Shigure. It's simple but it works. I kind of was confused why the movie was switching ... from a grounded style to a metaphorical style like it was something to be proud of. I think it removes the realism the first half of the short film tries to portray. The ending is such a missed opportunity that if given this project I would have done things different from the half way point onwards. If you found this emotionally impacting I am happy that you did, but I for one could not find it this way.

SIDE NOTE: The very end makes it seem like their encounter was sort in his head which would make the second half lose all of its problems, but sadly they never directly tell the viewer if this is true or not. If I am wrong about this then this short film would easily be a solid 7 or an 8.

[PART 2: ART & ANIMATION]
This is easily the strongest part about the whole experience. Unlike the story that is being told the animation and the music stay consistently good for the most part. This short has a Ghibli/Disney feel, just like what most of what Studio Colorido has done in the past. The art and animation are extremely fluid and expressive for the duration of the film. You could say that it was as fluid as riding a canoe down the Colorado River and when you were riding this canoe a tree branch known as the plot knocks you off making you drown. Sure the water known as the presentation was a joy to the eye, but the story it was telling was no where near the quality of the water. One thing of note is that the CG Train didn't look bad and I must thank the people at ColorDorito for a pretty train instead of a poop one you would usually get in modern day animation.

[PART 3: CHARACTERS]
We have a main male character who is very easy to relate with and get behind. We have his crush, Shigure, whose past is shrouded in mystery. This movie is short and skims over their relationship because of the duration of the experience. I guess they were good for what we got.

I shall end this by saying that this was easily one of the biggest disappointments I've had the displeasure of viewing in a long while. The movie may look good but the story was so detached from any reality that I thought the main character was going to told to pick a pill at the end of the movie. The one I would have picked was to change the ending of this movie. I detest this for squandering its potential and making it something worthy of my hatred after such a strong start. I wouldn't give this movie a recommendation unless you wanted to watch a spectacle in which I could point you to other movies and series that do this much better. For other things to watch besides this that are of the same vain, 5 Centimeters per Second; a love story that acts more closely to the first half of this than the second half, and The Wind Rises, a Ghibli film in which it kind of feels parts of this were cut and pasted from this movie because of how breathtaking some of the shots are.

TL;DR A wasted idea with good production to back it up. Pass and go watch something better.