The premise seemed really fun, I was looking forward to it. Instead we got a very short anime with an interesting art decision that just didn't do it for me.
I would've much preferred they made an actual anime out of this. The characters could've been explored more, the art being all choppy and with little to no animations does not look good nowadays, the episodes aren't even 20 minutes long for whatever reason and the themes are not fully explored. I feel even the relationship between Taito and his wife felt lacking.
Some others mention this is just an ad for the live action, and that's
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Apr 3, 2021
Umi ga Kikoeru
(Anime)
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Umi ga Kikoeru is a very simple story about a love triangle in the countryside of Japan. There's many of those around, and some manage to stand out. Sadly, I don't think Ghibli fully worked its magic here.
We grow to understand and relate to the characters to some extent throughout the movie, but even at just over an hour in length, it still feels dragged out without much progress being made. The art, however, is charming, and the music is adecuate to such a slow-paced movie. I still would not recommend this one other than for completionist reasons, as there are many better alternatives to slow-paced rural ... 
Apr 3, 2021
Cello Hiki no Gauche (1982)
(Anime)
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Absolutely gorgeous movie about a musician rekinding his passion.
The story itself is not new (nor was it in 1982), but the delivery is absolutely brilliant. The soundtrack and art direction are top of the line, which makes sense since it's a movie about a musician, under the ghibli tag, and the mind of Miyazaki behind it. The movie is very simple, very straightforward, yet we're immediately drawn in from the very first second and it's hard not to go along for the ride as we see Gauche reconnect with his passion and his emotions as we see all the different characters that come visit him in ... 
Apr 3, 2021
Yuki no Taiyou Pilot
(Anime)
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Miyasaki's first solo director gig. This is a short that seems to serve as a pilot for the manga, but is more like a quick trailer of a larger story.
Perhaps they were hoping to make a full series out of this, which would've looked like many other anime of the time: era animes showcasing the rural life in either Japan, Europe or the United States such as Rascal the Raccoon, Candy Candy, Haha o Tazunete Sanzenri, and many others that were popular at the time. We're immediately presented the main character and within a minute we're shown her personality, what makes her lovable and what ... |
