Kin no Kuni Mizu no Kuni

Absolutely beautiful. I watched this alone today in the cinemas but I was left crying by how beautiful this is.

Saara, the princess of country A, meets the prince of country B, Naranbayar. As they pretend to be a married couple to protect the peace between the countries, they find themselves gradually falling in love. PRETEND LOVERS TO LOVERS TROPE FR.

I can't write a long review about it but if you're looking for pure fluff and romance like Romeo and Juliet but instead of their countries keeping them apart, they are the ones giving the other distance, they are what keeps "them" apart.

If you're ... looking for an anime that has so many representations, like feminism, body issues, self issues, this might be the one for you cause it certainly was the one for me.

Not all might like it and say its boring, but for me, being in love and being loved for who you are, no matter the country, no matter the position, no matter the body size, to be truly loved despite all that, is for me, a wonderful thing to see.

It's funny how fate and destiny works in mysterious ways to make you find what you've always been looking for.

I hope you guys check it out! Both Sarah and Naranbayar are so cute.

I watched this movie on a plane and was genuinely surprised by how much I enjoyed it. While the romance aspect between the main characters felt a bit rushed initially, I grew to appreciate the uplifting development of Sarah and Naranbayar's relationship as the story unfolded, the two bringing out the best in each other without being overly reliant on the other. Towards the end, I found myself quite satisfied with how things played out for them and their respective kingdoms, given their role to help both.

The film also introduced some really compelling side characters, though I wished they had more time to fully ... develop. For instance, Piripappa, the king's massage therapist turned advisor, could have benefitted from more depth as an antagonist. On the other hand, I was pleasantly surprised to discover that the sisters were given more depth than I initially expected in this movie. They didn't come across as mean for the sake of it, and I found their relationship with Sarah to be rooted more in her anxiety rather than any mere pettiness. Saladin, was also a standout character who defied my expectations in a pleasantly surprising way, as an actor turned advisor, who though a bit of a trophy husband actually went to the effort to make a difference without betraying his character. (Maybe I also liked him because he was voiced by Hiroshi Kamiya, and man does he do a great job in all his roles!)

However, unfortunately, the movie was not without its flaws. The excessive use of flashbacks unnecessarily padded the runtime, and the comedy, especially in the 'introduction' scene, was one of the weaker aspects of the story. Unfortunately, the final conflict also left me somewhat disappointed, and Sarah's jealousy towards the 'fake wife' Naranbayar had felt like an unnecessary layer of tension in their relationship that I don't think was needed, at least to the extent the movie pushes on you.

Either way, this was a solid movie, but not something I'm going to rush to rewatch.

An entertaining watch, even though I thought it tried to pull in two directions at once and ultimately did not do enough in either.

The film obviously has had a lot of warmth poured into it, which is reflected in both design and personality of its characters. The FL is bright and warm, albeit plagued by anxiety. The ML is straightforward and a quick thinker. Together they form a cute couple, it's just a shame their relationship and characters were not explored further, as I don't think that what's been shown is quite enough to mark this as a romance. Rtaher, it feels like an ... abridged summary simply showing us the headers of each chapter, but skimming through the contents.

On the other side is the political - and I hesitate to eve use the word - "intrigue", which is straightforward in the best case, and naively oversimplified in the worst. I mean there's a literal *wall* you can get a ladder to cross over and on one side it's a dry desert and on the other it's *immediately* lush forests, lakes, rivers, and rain. That's not quite how climate biomes work, so I almost felt it would have been better to claim it's some sort of magical wall that causes those stark differences. The left Minister (the actor ikemen) used to be a nomad.. 5 years ago and now he is the boytoy of the princesses (plural) and the - yeah a figurehead, but still - minister? And then the moment he gets in contact with the ML he suddenly finds his ministerial chops and pulls off - together with the ML who is a civil engeneer and has no political acumen, seemingly - this grand scheme to unite the countries that have been fighting for the past millennium? None of these make sense to have been so easy. The only positive point about any of this was the Crown Princess turned out to be something more than a cliche mean older sister. Ultimately, just like with the romance, the political aspect falls short of being a fulfilling plot point.

Overall, I think this film suffers form not spending enough time on developing either of its main points: romance or political intrigue. If either one was properly developed, the other, brief as it is, might have served as a good enough backdrop for the main element that is fullyt realised, however since that is not the case here, one feels quite unsatisfied after finishing the whole thing.

Still, the characters are likeable and what there is, is fun to watch. I never felt the need to just turn it off and never found myself rolling my eyes at the characters/plot. If you have some time and want a quiet watch, this will do the job. Just temper your expectation and don't expect a grand romance or deep plot.