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Oh, UBW, where should I start?

UBW was probably one of the most anticipated movies, and I can't blame people for that - the original route in the Visual Novel was outstanding, touching, at one time keeping you at the edge of your seat, at another causing you to cry about the pain of the characters, the results of their unfortunate choices, their small mistakes or simply outstanding sacrifices. The movie made me remember that story, made me want to live through it again.

Too bad it doesn't MAKE me live through it again.

IMO the obvious mistake the creators did, was forcing 20 hours of game-play into ... 1,5 hour movie - at the same time being forced to cut some portions of the story in order to squeeze it into the time frame. A 3 part OVA would've been much better, but they decided to make a single movie, and cut things out. Unfortunately, the thing they cut was - of all things - the plot.

I am not amused.

When I first watched the movie, I thought they were doing the same thing as FMA:Brotherhood did, cutting out portions that already were covered in the TV series, as to save some time for later action - It turned out that yes, they did indeed do something like that, except they didn't stop at the moment movie derived from the series. Through the first two thirds of the movie I felt like I was watching that "Previously on..." preview section, that reminds you what happened last week in an episode, and helping you to "get into the mood", to get better enjoyment out of an episode. Large chunks of story were cut out, the only things that were left, were the absolutely-essential-to-the-plot scenes, that push the story forward. There are two main problems with this:

First thing is, you can't have only plot-driving material in the movie, you need to join it together somehow. If you want to know what I mean, try launching any series, but watch only odd episodes (1,3,5,7...) - You'll somehow understand what the plot is about, but in the process you will lose the whole mood, the suspension of disbelief will be broken, because the story won't flow, it will be stitched together - If they really did not want to put in the portions in-between, they could've helped it if they worked around it. They didn't. And yes, watching an anime series with every second episode cut out will get you a pretty decent idea of what this movie is to the original VN route.

But there's another problem - If you throw out all your character development, you also lose any attachment the audience might feel towards those characters. This is especially important in movies dealing with sacrifices, helping others by losing something precious to you. I hope this won't spoil too much, but there's one death in this anime that particularly hit me - in the VN it was display of honor, sacrifice and chivalry, and it really made me sad that that person died in the process - Now what hit me is that in the movie... I felt nothing. Absolutely nothing. I didn't get to know this character, I didn't establish a connection with him/her, so even though I know this scene should be sad and touching - I can't help, but not give a crap. Things in this movie just... happen, but I couldn't help but feel detached.

And that's really a shame, because animation is superb. The fights are exciting, the visual effects are stunning, and the whole animation just feels so smooth and flowing - something I really lack in a lot of animes that have fights in them. It's really dynamic, but you can follow what's happening on screen, and made me jump in my chair a few times, visualizing I was blocking enemy strike :) That effect is something I saw in only a few series, and I personally think that this is how all fights should actually be done in animation. There might've been some inconsistencies, but it was nothing to make a drama out of - and if you look at the way they did the story, all other faults bleak in comparison.

Sounds are... good I guess. I think I heard the original music from VN a few times which is a plus of course, all of the original actors are here... I'm not a sound specialist, so I can't say much, but I have nothing to throw against sounds. I like them.

The movie actually gets A LOT better near the end, where - surprise, surprise - there isn't much plot to deal with, because for the most part it's just fights.
My opinion? Watching TV series is the least you REALLY should do before seeing this - otherwise you won't get half of the things, because they aren't explained, as well you probably won't really understand characters' motivations and personalities.
But in the end - I recommend to just go and read the VN, because there's just so much more to this story than what this movie presents. If I was to use this movie somehow, I'd cut out the fight scenes, remix them and input them into the VN as cut-scenes, and just remove everything else. All in all - considering the hype and my expectations - I am really disappointed by this movie.

6 out of 10

Hmmm... It's actually my first time writing any kind of review, but I'll try my best...

First of All let me say I enjoyed original series. It was touching, it was interesting, had great art...

With that being said, I personally don't see much similarities between this movie and original. First: the animation. I just couldn't get used to new art, it kept bugging me through whole series. In Original series characters actually looked cute, while in this movie just freaky. Animation itself was OK though I think.

Then the characters... I'm sorry but the idea of making someone say "A", "definately A", and then without any real ... reasons say "B" out of the blue isn't really convincing. Besides the whole thing between the two was VERY streched idea IMO. Also Harukas character was completely changed, with the original showing through a few times, making whole thing confusing and irritating.

Story... Well the biggest thing bugging me is how they made exactly the same ending as in original, and different rest, making it stick out like a sore thumb. And that hair thing was just... Come on, who would do that in her situation... Also that "Misuzu in a Pinch" just irritated the hell out of me. It was idiotic if I am allowed to say that, and completely ruined the mood.

I don't have much to say about sound, it was pretty OK, except maybe that moment where Yukito start whistling. they COULD remove the BGM, at least you would be able to hear him better.

As for enjoyment... honestly saying the only moment i TRULY enjoyed was when Yukito punched [spoiler - you'll know what i'm talking about once you watch]. This was really well implemented, I could see it coming and I would do exactly the same. Other thing is how the mentioned person acted before and after he met Yuki, with the two completely different IMO, but it's a detail, isn't it?...

Overall. It could've been a good movie. But little details here and there, inconsistency in characters behaviour, some sticking out moments that completely didn't fit the story ruined it. Maybe it would be better if I haven't watched series before, but... no, I won't say "don't watch it", since it's your choice and what I wrote were just how I saw the movie, but personally i'd like that 1,5 h of my life back.