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Apr 22, 2023
Something of a mix between doing everything in one's power to find some semblance of joy within a hopeless situation, and being struck with a sense of naivety that stops you from fully grasping just how bad things are, with each attempt at grasping positivity being increasingly fleeting and reckless. The way it all mixes together with this malignant sense of pride is nothing short of tragic, with the contrast between Seita's own perception of how well he's treating Setsuko vs the harsh reality of the situation becoming increasingly clear as it all goes on. It's this the feeling of inevitability that comes from these
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brighter moments being short lived that hurts the most, the destruction in itself is bad enough, but the unsustainable nature of hope within such an environment pushes it further. An absolutely devastating watch.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Mar 8, 2023
The constant connections and bonds formed through totally aimless wandering and happenstance within such a short amount of time make for a movie really rich in an atmosphere that simultaneously feels so comfortable and surreal. Masaaki Yuasa has shown time and time again that he's got a real knack for adding a sense of exaggerated wonder to the most mundane of things and revealing the magic beneath it in a very unique and engaging way, but I think that this is his best work in that regard. The pacing and the way the writing felt like ADHD incarnate also helped a lot of this atmosphere
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I feel, with absolutely constant shifts between subplots happening every 10 - 15 minutes in ways both seamless and jarring, as if the film was similarly following the path of girl where it was gleefully moving along entirely based on its own random whims. Seeing this often stream of consciousness approach to ideas and locations having such a powerful sense of wonder being injected into them as well just further reinforces what I love about this, the biggest instance being everything about the book market. The animation also rules, embracing both a somewhat strange artstyle that distorts things to really strong degrees, while also maintaining this insanely high level of animation where everything feels so fluid and expressive. Basically one of the best movies ever.
Reviewer’s Rating: 10
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Jan 11, 2023
The best of the Sailor Moon movies to me, but also the one that feels the most reliant on having actually watched the series up to this point, since a lot of the things I found especially striking more stemmed from the nuances in the character writing here rather than the plot in itself. A ton of little themes continued on from the associated season, especially in regards to what it truly means to "grow up", all tied together with this clash between one's dreams for what an ideal existence is and the reality of those compromises that come with life. That dream sequence near
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the end was especially great because of that, combined with the overwhelming fairy tale imagery creating this utterly cloying atmosphere that perfectly played off the antagonists. The space lesbians also make a return here, so it's awesome based on that fact alone.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Aug 27, 2022
Ghibli films often have this sense of magic in they way they're able to craft a unique and expansive world and distinctly feel as if the viewer is only able to see a very small aspect of it rather than feel as if they've functionally experienced it all, and I feel like Castle in the Sky does this very strongly. There are so many characters here that appear for 5 minutes at most and yet end up feeling so significant in their own ways, as if they're clearly interacting with things far outside what the viewer is directly informed of, all feeling like the lifeblood
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for this absolutely gorgeous town that feels almost as wonderous as the giant floating island that the movie's named after. Uncle Pomme is literally just some old guy who lives underground and appears for a single scene and is never mentioned again, and even someone such as him feels vital to the experience this is trying to craft, a film about people just doing their own thing and happening to intersect time and time again in ways both intentional and accidental. Some might call it contrived for so many things to occur due to happenstance, but a lot of the most important moments nonetheless are distinguished in the way they're swayed by the choices people make. Sure, these two people happened to cross paths without meaning to, but that's not the important part as much as what comes after that, which is where things really shine.
More than anything, Castle in the Sky attempts to cram as many different perfect pieces of imagery into its runtime as possible, each seemingly more awe inspiring than the last. The especially prominent focus on air and the sky is something I'm a huge fan of in particular, with so many different takes on what huge flying behemoths can look like all throughout. For as obviously gorgeous as the clashing of foliage across the futuristic architecture of Laputa is, my favourite would have to be the clumsy, industrial look of the pirate airship, with the perfect middle ground between looking majestic and as if it's about to completely fall apart, which ties to a pretty consistent visual theme throughout having even the most incredible displays being on the verge of collapsing. It's also cool to see that Miyazaki's perpetual burning hatred towards people willingly destroying the natural world is once again on full display, and while it might be a bit less overt than the heavy handed dialogue in Nausicaa, I'd say that it's more effectively conveyed here. The way that this untouched paradise is immediately ransacked and exploited for power the moment people decide to land is the best part of the film with the way it's able to evoke this intense feeling of dread as things are torn apart, yet it still ends up making for a surprisingly understated conclusion in certain respects, with the most energetic and chaotic scenes taking place right near the start of the whole adventure. Overall I think that this is a really strong movie with an insane amount of charm and a seemingly endless sense of wonder. Might not be my favourite of what I've seen from a narrative standpoint due to the fact that there are quite a few moments that feel a bit too disjointed, but it's still great and is paired with some of Ghibli's greatest imagery I've experienced yet.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Aug 24, 2022
Nausicaa is a pretty interesting experience for the way it so clearly feels like an incredibly early Ghibli film while still immediately bringing a very strong artistic voice to the forefront, with a lot of elements present here being ones that would go on to form the backbone of even stronger movies later down the line. I think that one especially interesting aspect of this is the way that the setting feels considerably less lush and whimsical than the vast majority of the studio's output feels, there's no sense of beauty in a lot of the small aspects as much as this looming sense of
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dread in this dreary world that is being slowly overrun by a horrible decay. Even most of the kinder locations still feel closer to a refuge from the inhospitable wastelands that have ravaged the Earth, and I think this is definitely the strongest part of the narrative, and makes those few moments of natural beauty that end up appearing later on feel all the more impactful. This is further all reinforced by the large insect creatures crafting an atmosphere that feels considerably more alien and hostile due to the inherently far less emotive nature of these giant hulking exoskeleton beasts.
Unfortunately, while the setting is incredibly evocative, I feel like Nausicaa suffers a bit from biting off more than it could chew and being left with a lot of ideas that could've used a bit more time to really flesh out. The whole environmentalism and pacifism stance that the film delved into felt a bit rough with how many different motives seemed to be brought up throughout without spending all that much time on any of them. While one possible take that you could have on this is that it represents the seemingly infinite reasons why war leads to destruction and misery, but on the other hand, I just don't feel like even this is developed that much either, instead usually favouring clunky and very heavy handed dialogue that often feels like it just keeps repeating some variation of "don't kill each other" over and over. It doesn't really kill the film since there is still such strong storytelling from other avenues that make for an awe inspiring journey nonetheless. The final 10 minutes are especially great from a visual perspective, with the encroaching chaos and hopelessness from all sides being one of Ghibli's finest moments in general. All in all I feel like despite how great this really feels, it would have been elevated if the pacing was either taken up a notch, or the film was longer to further complement the slower nature of the bulk of its runtime, which would've turned this great movie into a potential masterpiece. Still very worth checking out on its own merits as well as being an interesting starting point for one of the greatest animation studios out there.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Aug 21, 2022
A very stylish, playful film that is just a whole lot of fun more than anything else. It's a heist movie that never feels fully comfortable with taking things in a wholly conventional direction, there's always this sense of needing to just do that bit extra to ensure that every scene is its own memorable, spectacular setpiece, and it leads to an adventure that never really has any moments that feel like a lull at all. Fantastically paced as more of this expansive castle with so many funny, cartoonish quirks and traps scattered about everywhere is revealed, whether it's statues that open up huge trapdoors,
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or walls that fold open to make for little extra balconies, it's always wonderful just seeing what's coming up next. I also feel like the film does a pretty good job at establishing a lot of the characters and the general dynamics that the series operates under, definitely felt like with just the opening scenes with them I immediately felt like I got what their deal was, at least in more basic terms, which I think is pretty neat and definitely made this an easy enough point to jump into the series with. It's just a great, fun time filled with so many visually incredible scenes that are drenched with really evocative atmosphere that I could see myself returning to, and it's convinced me to check out more Lupin III in the future too.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Apr 9, 2022
Pure comedy anime is a bit of a tough one from my perspective, like, how do you make a show be constantly full of jokes that's focused primarily on making the audience laugh not hit a point where it feels repetitive or tiresome? Well the answer a lot of shows seem to have had is just, "you don't", and to an extent, Saiki K also falls into a sense of repetition, but it ultimately doesn't matter too much when the show is both so goddamn funny and also really touching and charming in a lot of ways. I feel a big reason this works so
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well above a lot of other shows that attempt to focus hard on surreal, wacky comedy is the way this one understands where to properly place its emphasis to elevate a joke rather than being tiresome in how it focuses on every small weird detail. So much utter madness is skimmed over within a few seconds of appearing, and it not only makes for a show that goes at an absolute breakneck pace, but one that ends up being hilarious for it due to respecting the audience enough to understand that these shenanigans are meant to be ridiculous, rather than dwelling on it for long stretches at a time. I think it also helps that the titular Saiki, while filling the role of the "straight man" is just as full of his own brand of weirdness and absurdity, with his blatantly overpowered abilities allowing to take his role to incredibly massive lengths while often not acting all too different from the rest of the cast, essentially being a voice of reason who eschews this in his own special way.
The way this chaotic, ridiculous comedy is then further used as a way to bring in this really lovely, touching story about friendship and the importance of being oneself without ever losing its core identity is that final thing that brings everything together for me as well. By the end of the season, while the vibe is kept pretty consistent, I love how many episodes seem to forgo the idea of being outright funny and instead focus on some elements of (admittedly goofy) continuous narrative to better represent the change of Saiki as a character over the season and how much he really does care deep down. The way the cold introversion in early parts gradually shift to a sense of insecurity and not wanting to let down others is a particularly poignant element that gets brought in, as while sure, sometimes Saiki really just wants to have peace and quiet, often there's this clear sense of "I'm not really that fun and don't want others to deal with me anyway" thrown into the mix, and it ends up making for some pretty compelling moments of characterisations that culminates in a really wonderful scene that I can't help but think is a perfect way to end this season. While the show isn't flawless by any means, with some overreliance on throwing new characters into the mix along with just having some subplots that feel a bit too weird or mean spirited, the show as a whole is an absolutely wonderful time all tied together by a character who's equal parts ridiculous, yet rather relatable in certain respects, and I think that it ends up being some of the best comedy anime I've experienced.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Apr 3, 2022
Some shows just radiate this powerful air of being insanely cool, and Baccano, with its interweaving mafia storylines tied to urban legends, wacky thieves and the secret of immortality, is definitely one such series that I got this vibe from. It's all of course helped along by the groovy, jazzy soundtrack making even the most brutal of scenes have a more freewheeling, lighthearted vibe to it all without completely negating its more serious elements. It's a careful balancing act for sure, but one that is executed fantastically to set a consistently idiosyncratic and engaging tone that makes it far easier to connect with the sizeable
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cast of important characters. For me personally though, the element of the show that really stands out to me as something that makes it so engaging is the way its non-linear storytelling is utilised to strengthen the narrative and successfully craft multiple points of intrigue and mystery, almost always leaving the viewer hungry for more. While this narrative could theoretically have been told chronologically, I feel like it would have lost a lot of its appeal, especially with how the constant onslaught of small mysteries this sends forth ends up further tying into other parts of the timeline of the plot.
I love the way that this essentially begins at the intense, climactic moment where everything's all going nuts, completely forgoing starting off with a bunch of episodes to establish a lot of concept and move pieces into place for a grand encounter, and instead just throwing the audience into the deep end. It works especially well thanks to the way that usually the elements of piece moving are either made implicit through context clues that get presented, or properly contextualised through a flashback to another point in the story. This ends up making it easy to play on expectations, often using the chance of contextualising choices and events something that redefines the significance of whatever is going down, which is especially notable with the more thematic angle that episode 8 takes with what segments of the story are revealed. My only issue with this is that while this often leads to an absolutely hectic experience where it feels like all hell is breaking loose, with the climactic moments in the narrative usually lining up pretty cleanly, the inverse to this also becomes true. Usually when there's some sense of slower buildup, every focused part of the narrative requires the same treatment, which leads to a pretty inconsistent viewing experience where you'll get some episodes that are absolutely incredible mixed with others that feel like barely anything of note is happening. It's not really a dealbreaker by any means thankfully, and I still love this show however, especially when taking into account the wide array of loveable characters in their own respects, especially Isaac and Miria, who take the idea of being gleefully idiotic to a whole other level without ever being annoying. Really great stuff all around, with the minor pacing issues being pretty easily overlooked in the grand scheme of things.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Apr 2, 2022
Sonny Boy is certainly an interesting show to look at for many reasons. It seems to fall into this weird middle ground where it's entirely turned away large groups of people thanks to its intentionally obscure presentation that heavily draws from a sense of wandering, somewhat aimless surrealism, and yet a lot of what it says is conveyed in such a way that comes across as a tad overt and simplistic towards those who have taken the time to really try and understand what it's getting at. The anti-escapist nature of the show is another interesting point in how it feels almost like a lost
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cause to attempt to craft such strong messages to encourage introspection, with the morals completely being missed either through being excused away as part of the show's own set of rules that it's following, or by being seen as pretentious shlock if the piece of art ever tries to question the audience in a far more direct way. The issue's made further complicated by the way that even if a show such as this decides to forgo a concrete sense of intenal logic, it can then be hard to both craft a message that doesn't feel overly didactic while also engaging the audience as a whole, and it's this last bit that I feel lets Sonny Boy down the most.
At its core, the series' attempt at representing the unease and fear that comes from growing up and feeling as if your world of freedom is already reaching its end, combined with the broader sense of not fitting in the world and the simultaneous desire to get up and make the changes you want while also having to bring yourself out of the depths of self-pity is all handled in a conceptually interesting way. Rather than trying to craft a strong, defined narrative, Sonny Boy instead feels like an abstract set of related, philosophical vignettes of stories that represent various elements of both society and humanity, drawing numerous parallels to the experiences the other characters are facing before reflecting everything back onto the audience. In theory I love this for the way it emphasises the conceptual elements of narrative above the surface level plot, made even stronger by the gorgeous animation that is smooth yet also takes full advantage of its medium as a storytelling device, having everything in this constant flux state of rapid change without attention being drawn to it. It truly feels like this uses animation to such an amazing degree to ensure that it's a story that couldn't be properly told another way and I think it's easily the best thing that the show has going for it, to the point where I'd say it's worth watching and episode or two just for the abstract beauty on display.
It's unfortunate that despite all this potential that it has, that the characters feel so weak to me then, as it ends up tanking so much potential engagement, leaving the show being full of great ideas that are just presented in a way that stops them from being interesting to properly reflect upon them. The characters feel more like vessels to further communicate ideas, but not proper, interesting characters in their own right, it feels more like they're just telling me things as opposed to representing the things they're attempting to say in any deeper way, and it makes for something that not only ends up taking away from some of the show's density by presenting some things in such a painfully matter of fact way without any room for audience interpretation, but it almost feels like being dryly lectured at points. I feel like I get what this show is trying to go for in a lot of ways, but it's also just not something that I actually felt particularly moved by in a lot of cases, as it simultaneously obscured what it wanted to say while also screaming it out to the point where trying to sit back and take it all in doesn't quite work, but diving far deeper into things ends up revealing a disappointingly small amount of additional insight. Sonny Boy had a ton of potential, and had an incredible amount of pieces all in place to make for something truly special, but for me personally, the way in which a lot of these ideas were handled left me wishing that things had maybe been a bit less intentionally obtuse, or a bit deeper, rather than the awkward middle ground it ultimately fell in.
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
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Mar 30, 2022
As time's gone on, I've increasingly realised just how much interest I find in art that explores the creative process and experience in one form or another, and in this sense, I'd argue that Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken ends up being one of the strongest examples of how such a story can be told right. What truly sets it apart for me is the way in which it delves into the whole concept of naive optimism clashing with harsher elements of reality without ever feeling as if the stakes of the situation are raised to any particularly high levels. This not only allows the
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series to maintain a very chill, comfy atmosphere, but it ends up being utilised as a tool to strengthen the personal motivations of each character instead, reinforcing the whole idea that the protagonists are doing this for the sake of their own artistic expression as opposed to needing to do it based on an outside force pushing them towards it all, focusing instead on the intrinsic rewards many experience from being able to express themselves in one way or another.
What truly makes me appreciate what's done from here however, is the way in which this moral argument is used to further refine and add nuance to what is being conveyed, which is where Kanamori's character comes in as essentially a way of forcing the naturally optimistic characters of Asakusa and Mizusaki to further consider their approach to situations. Having a character so entirely uninsterested in the process beyond how it can lead to monetary gain is interestingly handled with how she's framed against the rest of the cast. Typically I would find such character traits in a series like this to be framed entirely antagonistically, a sort of foil that attempts to stifle creativity or force an artist to commit to something they're unhappy with, but by making her instead be yet another friend who helps them along, it paints the idea of needing to be realistic, compromise and curbing one's own ambitions as a positive and natural element of the workflow. Rather than trying to paint an endless amount of unstoppable creativity and drive to craft something around all of your interesting thoughts as an absolute virtue, it's framed as an important thing to keep in check if you want to actually get anything done, and I feel that this theme is something that can be carried through to the dynamics between Kanamori in general, she's stern and completely disinterested in the art side of things, and yet she's nonetheless integral with the way she brings reality into the overblown dreams of those who surround her.
Even putting aside the fact that I love how all this is handled, I'd be remiss if I mentioned a Masaaki Yuasa project and didn't touch upon the fantastic art. The character designs in general are so wonderfully unconventional, with the artstyle definitely contributing towards this, with the characters all looking a bit strange and angular, along with the animation often tapping far more into cartoonish aspects that aren't afraid to be constatnly going entirely off model to further sell the sense of expression that comes across. Just watching this completely removed from any of the narrative is a joy in its own right, with the idiosyncratically construcated setting promoting the idea of finding beauty and wonder in even the most innocuous things, and doing this consistently throughout basicallly the entire 12 episode run. The sense of beauty is further displayed through the sections which represent a sketchbook, everything becoming far more messily composed while retaining the key details required to get the point across, and overall leads to so many moments of amazing spectacle in a show that's for the most part as chill and down to earth as it is, with even the more ridiculous elements being played completely straight as if it's nothing to really need to pay attention to at all. Overall this is a fantastic watch that I highly recommend, especially for those who appreciate a good story about artistic passion and all that goes along with it.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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