Back to rhaphazard's Profile rhaphazard's Profile

I will preface this by saying I enjoyed this movie. If you have some interest in philosophy, sci-fi, religion, and global politics you might get some enjoyment out of the viewing. If you're looking for a good plot or characters, stay away.

This movie is a prime example of trying to do too much but not committing.

Gakuen no Himitsu had a lot going for it, but the great art direction in the second half of the movie (Vega was beautiful) was marred by a plot with too much stuffed in it and characters with no personality.

This is particularly evident in the scene where the main cast ... is on their way back to Earth. They just travelled >1000 light years, went to the spirit world, saw alien species on inhabited planets, and revealed to themselves their past lives. Like they're in class reading their essays out loud, each of the friends feels the need to chime in what they learned. The guy who has shown no interest in engineering or building things wants to build a UFO (they butcher this term throughout the whole movie, by the way), no interest in moves wants to be a filmmaker (probably the director/writer's projection), the anime otaku wants to be a teacher (this actually makes sense), one realizes it's okay to be introverted and be yourself, and the last one wants to figure out a path forward for Earth.

Lets's talk about that title. Which school are they talking about? And which mystery, because there are a bunch of small ones that don't seem worth naming the movie after. It seems like they were trying to go for a sci-fi thriller mystery with some action thrown in, but there wasn't anything mysterious about this at all. The audience pretty much knows what's going on as it happens.

As if exposition is the only story-telling device, the movie tries to hammer in a new point every 5 minutes. If the director/writer honed in on a central theme, the movie could have been much stronger.

It was slow at the beginning, they do a half-ass job character building, the story picks up in the middle, but then it all starts falling apart when the aliens start to fight.

The main cast had potential, but only the main male protagonist really did anything at the end. And even that was mostly to get the shounen tropes checked off.

Despite it's shortcomings, I enjoyed it as I watched. There were many times where I felt like I was being talked to (in a bad way); bringing the sledgehammer of "Let's make the world a better place" and "Be yourself" down on the viewer (listener?) over and over and over again. But there was an odd beauty to its ambition.

The first time I watched AnoHana when it aired I loved it. I recommended it to all my friends and it is actually what initially got me interested in melodrama, which I had mostly avoided until then. But reading other people's reviews and criticisms, especially of the character writing, my opinion eventually shifted to a more toned down fond memory of the series. Five years later, and having watching the movie again, I can confidently say once more that I love this anime.

At that time I was cruising through university (the lazy kind), hadn't met my first girlfriend yet, and didn't have incredibly close friends ... (I still don't). I think what impressed me at the time was AnoHana's ability to jerk tears from someone who hadn't really cried at art up till that point: me. Here was a guy who had fallen off the tracks, lost touch with his friends, and shut his emotions away. The universe presented him with an opportunity, he picks himself up, and he redeems himself. All while experiencing love gained and lost.

The main criticism I have read, specifically of Mari Okada's writing, is the use over-dramatization, love-triangles, and people shouting past each other. However, I think this is what is so good about her work here. It captures so well the frustrations of being young. The things that mean the world to you, others don't understand or even make fun of you. The person you love so whole-heartedly loves someone else. You say hurtful things so that you won't get hurt. You don't know how to communicate your feelings, but you want to get your point across no matter what.

These problems are not unique to young people. It is something many people struggle with their whole lives. Yet we consider it childish when it is children and emotionally deep when it is with adults. I think anime has and continues to do what John Hughes did for American cinema: present the problems of young people as real and serious issues.

As I watched the movie for a second time, the perspective I have has changed quite a bit and my reaction was more visceral. I am out of school and looking for a job and I have been with my first girlfriend for over three years, but I am still pretty much the same person.

Being lost. Apathy. Running away. Shouting. Screaming at the top of my lungs. Depression. Being silent. Keeping secrets. Love. Loving so much it hurts. Hurting the one you love. Being hurt by the one you love. Selfishness. Selflessness. Trauma. Losing friends. Being alone. Frustration with not being understood. Not understanding why they would do that to you. Forgetting something important to you. Breaking up. Getting back together again. Joy.

Many of these I had experienced for the first time. While the first time I had empathized with the characters, this time I empathized with myself. It felt so much more real. When the theme song starts playing as the group sees Menma together for the first time, I started balling my eyes out. I am tearing up just thinking about it.

AnoHana is a character driven story. The plot is secondary to the character growth, interaction, and relationships. The characters may not be perfect, they might be annoying and stupid. But they are real.