It has been a while since I did a review on a very simple anime, and it has been difficult for me to review anime shows with a "slice-of-life" genre because of how purposely shallow and straightforward the storyline and animation can be. But as a reviewer of anything anime, I think it would be fair to just be a bit more open-minded, and to give animes with a "slice-of-life" theme a try.
With school fast approaching, I think it is very timely to review another anime related to school...even if the show itself is barely about school. But for this post, I will be reviewing one of the most popular romantic anime shows, Ore Monogatari!! or also known as, My Love Story!! in English. Based on the romantic comedy manga series of the same name, Ore Monogatari was directed by Morio Asaka (Nana, Cardcaptor Sakura, Chobits, and Gunslinger Girl) and written by Natsuko Takahashi (Boys over Flowers 2, The Count of Monte Cristo the anime, Akatsuki No Yona). The studio for this anime is none other than Madhouse, a very well-known company that has produced a lot of great anime such as Death Note, Hunter x Hunter, One Punch Man, and so much more. If you haven't heard of Madhouse, then you're definitely not watching enough anime or even cartoons. Feel free to click on the highlighted term on Madhouse, and you will be directed to their website and educate yourself just a wee bit. So let's get started with this review, shall we?
Hey guys! I'm pretty delayed but since it's still the last week of February, I can still catch up with this brand new review. Since February is considered the love month, then I have prepared an anime film with an interesting love story, and it is The Last: Naruto the Movie. I know, it is a pretty weird choice but it is essentially a romantic story. It is directed by Tsuneo Kobayashi (The Twelve Kingdoms) and the story is created by none other Masashi Kishimoto. An interesting fact about this movie that it is the first Naruto film that is canon; meaning the events that occurred in this movie took place in between the last two chapters of the manga. So I guess I have a right to correlate the film's story to the manga.
Okay let me break it down for you: The story of Naruto and Hinata takes place two years after the Fourth Shinobi War. Everything was peaceful until a strange shinobi named Toneri appears and decides to use the forces of the moon and the power of the Byakugan to "renew" humanity.
As promised a brand new let's review segment is back and today I am going to review a very classic animated film entitled Perfect Blue and it is directed by Satoshi Kon. I mentioned this movie not too long ago in my last Egg Tray post. This movie still hits me to the core, so I really want to share my thoughts on this. Let's get started. Also, I will maintain my streak of giving spoiler-free reviews, so you don't have to worry about giving away the entire thing. Here we go.
Okay let me break it down for you; Mima leaves her Pop Idol career and takes on a new career path as an actress. As she struggles into this whole image change as a much more mature and provocative icon, Mima gradually grows scared for herself as she gains a stalker and a couple of death threats for transitioning into an actress.
Remember my awful review about Fate/Stay Night? Well I can assure you that you will not be seeing history repeating itself. Here we have another work of Type-Moon, which is Fate/Zero. This is the prequel to Fate/Stay Night and Fate/Stay Night: Unlimited Blade Works.
Okay let me break it down for you; Emiya Kiritsugu only has one mission for the fourth Holy Grail War and that is to end it for good. Together with his wife and other allies, he summons Saber and joins the war to save the world. As a magus killer, he tracks down every master and kills them. However, he doesn't realize how powerful and mischievous his potential enemies could get. At the same time, he fears for the life of his family and questions if it is worth sacrificing them for the success of his mission and radical beliefs.
I just realized I was a bit too harsh whilst critiquing Fate/Stay Night. Apparently, you cannot fully enjoy the anime or grasp the subplots shown there without patiently waiting for the prequel to come out (or to directly read the visual novels). Basically, all the random events occurring in Fate/Stay Night are explained or started to happen in Fate/Zero. This is not a major spoiler, but this anime ends with the beginning of Fate/Stay Night. Interesting right?
Putting that aside, the storytelling in Fate/Zero is much better. The church's involvement was much more established in this anime, and each character had a fair amount of developing. The setting remains the same, and they still fight in the dark. But there were still many subplots that went down in an endless yet senseless spiral or they haven't been fully concluded in Fate/Stay Night. First of all, the affair between Maiya and Kiritsugu was out of the blue and unnecessary. After that scene, it was never tackled again. I guess it's supposed to exhibit Kiritsugu's character, but there are many ways to show how unorthodox he can be. An affair with no conclusion will probably end up making other viewers not give him any sympathy because that scene made Kiritsugu look like an unfaithful douchebag rather than a man with mixed up morals. Also, I had no idea that the Church had this much involvement in a war. Fate/Zero showed how many times they butt in many circumstances. I get that Kotomine Kirei became the priest/judge replacement for the fifth holy grail war in Fate/Stay Night, but it seemed like he no longer mattered and so did the Church itself. It's like the building was there for the sake of being there. Since Kirei is the primary antagonist on the show, it would have been much better if he used the church in a corrupt manner rather than making its involvement in the war completely obsolete. Anyway, Fate/Zero is even more detailed with its plot. I was able to grasp the concept of the Holy Grail War in this anime. It's just so..detailed. And they included other elements that seemed interesting. I like how they mentioned that the war can last much longer, because anyone else can join the war even after a master dies. The Unlimited Blade Works, in my opinion, still showed the most spontaneity in a war story. But the Holy Grail war itself in Fate/Zero is also very creative. The Caster Arc, for once, is very interesting because the priest had to bend the rules just so Caster can be eliminated. However, there were some episodes that were too heavy on the dialogue, to the point that an episode would consist of just the characters talking to each other and that causes the plot to move slower, and it no longer gave room for other subplots that needed more weaving. In spite of that, the anime managed to fit large events in a span of twenty-five episodes. Nothing was rushed, some subplots left unsolved because it assumes that they will be dealt with in Fate/Stay Night. This also effectively handled the tragedy element well. The conclusion to almost every character ended up really sad, and it is able to make you feel defeated deep down. The impact of the ending is just crazy. Even if you know that this isn't the official end to everything, everything that has happened manages to leave you with a heavy heart. I felt bad for almost everyone in the series, including the underwhelming ones.
I am very impressed that Fate/Zero was able to represent seven masters, seven servants, give them all adequate arcs at the same time. Everyone was fleshed out fairly in such a short amount of time. I like the servants even more in Fate/Zero, because I am able to know them. I do not only get to know their names. I get to know who they were in history, and what their motives are for the Holy Grail War. Yes, I get this much character reading in such a short series. I'm impressed with how it tackles more historical figures who are not that famous. They all had an air of mystery to them, and you can see that they're not just servants in a game. They proved that they're still people with free will. Most of the servants abide by a noble code (that they learned from their time, naturally), and they served as the foundation of their personalities. And I like how they stuck to that till the end. Iskandar/Rider is one of my favorite servants by far. He's rambunctious, funny, and very headstrong. His character may be seen as light comedy for the show, and I think he provided just the right amount of it. Saber, on the other hand, had a bit more flare in Fate/Zero. Here, we get to see how she became the stoic and concentrated woman we all came to know in Fate/Stay Night. She had so much breakthrough moments, wherein we seriously get to see her crack. In this story, Saber seemed like the Knight who thought was aware of her actions, but realized that she miscalculated some of them. And this gravely affects her in this series. Gilgamesh's origin was just a shallow icy surface glazed over the deep waters. Most Fate/Stay Night fans and viewers already knew who he was and why he was butting in from time to time. So I guess you could say it is easy to come up with expectations for Gilgamesh's origin subplot because the curiosity of how he wanted to marry Saber so badly is a given. And yes, we get that reason in Fate/Zero. His interest in Kotomine Kirei though was a slightly surprising twist in the show. This was sorta done so we can see a bit more luster in Gilgamesh's character and to prove that he is not just some perv megalomaniac who thinks so highly of himself.
The masters, were not so bad either. Kiritsugu as the main character, wasn't so dominant in this series. In the first season, we do not get to see him flesh out that much. He is seen, trying to murder as many masters as possible with Maiya. But in season two, I was able to see that the writers were somehow cramming much more character development in two episodes. They give him a backstory, and then his beliefs were eventually demonstrated. But his idea of saving the world is not so new, but it hasn't been used for every heroic or anti-hero character made in anime. He is willing to put everything in the line, just to save as many people as he can. That's basically his character. Irisviel was a very tolerable character; I liked her but she was kind of underwhelming. For me, she's possibly the only major character, that needed a little more fleshing out. Most of the time, she's there standing around not doing much but there rare moments where she showed her potential. I wish they showed her backstory evenly, like they could've tackled more on the subplot of her being a homunculus and how she was able to become more human-like because of Kiritsugu. She had a very interesting origin that what was worth at least one episode, but then they decided to show that idea in the very end. Kotomine Kirei, was probably the most confusing character I ever came across in an anime, He starts off as this guy with no passion, just this very hollow character. Basically, he starts off as uninteresting, but the other characters force it on you that he isn't someone to be taken lightly. But thanks to Gilgamesh's intervention, we get to finally see a push for Kirei, who slowly turned into the sadistic person. This reminded me of the time when Frollo of The Hunchback of Notre Dame convinced himself that he was a holy man until his fireplace convinced him otherwise. I'm not sure what I really think about this guy, but this is the best analogy I can give you. Then we have Waver. Put him with the King of Conquerors, and you've got your dose of comedy. But I refuse to see Waver as just a touch of shenanigans for this show. For me, his character was able to touch a part of the show that hasn't been seen that much inType-Moon before, which are underrated Magi Families. I had no idea there was such an issue in the Fate series. It was new and alarming. All of the sudden this anime turned into Harry Potter for me, thanks to the value they put on the Magi Families. Even though it was taken lightly, I appreciated how they managed to squeeze it into the show and into Waver's character, since he came from an indistinguishable magi family. And he developed very nicely alongside Rider. Kariya, was also very interesting, and quite sympathetic. His motive was also very fresh and new to the series. Actually, this series was able to show all the motives of the masters. May it be for credibility to a heroic act. Because of those honest (but not always clean) intentions, we get to see the essence of their personalities blossoming throughout the show.
Music
I was honestly not a big fan of the soundtrack and music score for the anime. Luckily the fight scenes and the dialogue were enough to keep me hooked on the show. Unfortunately, I didn't encounter a time, where the music played an essential part in moving my emotions or even my estrogen. But do not get me wrong, I still think Yuki Kajiura is still a great composer, and I think her work and credibility are much more visible in other anime shows, such as Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicles. The videos shown here plays my favorite song in the entire anime, which is Sora Wa Takaku Kaze Wa Utau by Luna Haruna. First is the actual ending theme of the second season, and the second video is the music video for the song itself. So if you want to listen to the full-length song, I suggest clicking the second video.
The art still never ceases to amaze me. It maintains the dark blue hues and the moon highlights in most episodes, showing off its dark element, as well as the orange flames and red hues for the grand finale . You know it's a Fate series when most of the actions occur at a dark blue night. The fight scenes are still superb, and the designs of gore and terror were fantastically drawn. The designs of the Dead Apostles were surprisingly my favorite. For me, it most definitely reminded me of the aswangs in the Philippines and it was captured perfectly for an animation. The character designs were also really good. I love Saber's design here, because I am simply infatuated with her black suit attire. The settings in the show were also beautiful. From the snow storm in Einzbern Manor, to the war between the servants and Caster. I love how most of the characters are very distinct. The servants do not clash colors for once, and they come with very distinguishable features. Most of the masters are very consistent when it comes to stature, to show how proud they are of their magi lineage.
The creation of this anime has certainly improved since Fate/Stay Night. As much as I wish Type-Moon and Ufotable can push through with Fate/Prototype, all I can say is that this anime is tremendously detailed and it was a fairly good tragedy. However there were a few subplots and elements that were not fully resolved and were not kept in consistency with the events of Fate/Stay Night, such as the issues of the Church and the Magi Families. With that, I will give it three eggs. It's a greatly improved anime, and it is very entertaining to watch because you will love and hate the dialogue between such great characters. The action scenes and plot twists are totally to die for, and it has more luster compared to the first adapted Fate series.
And that is it for my review. Be sure to check my previous review about Fate/Stay Night, if you want to see a comparison. Till the next post~
Warning: Please read this, I beg of you. This may contain heavy spoilers and also, this review will be focusing on the anime itself and will not be compared to the manga. You've been warned. Now read on and enjoy!
Hello! If you remember my last Egg Tray post, I have been watching this anime called Akame Ga kill, which is based on the manga of the same name. Before I begin, I want to make it seriously clear that I will not be talking about how the show went on a completely different direction from the manga. Actually I will, and I will say it right now. For the people who have seen the anime and read the manga (or have at least done either), I agree with you. I was appalled when they made up that ending on their own, mostly because my heart grew heavy after that ending. Seriously any sane person cannot just watch that show and say it was not sad. Because it was! In this anime they're all dead, but in reality they're kinda not??? I feel very conflicted, you guys. But I do think they might need a remake or just leave it be and let others learn how to read the manga for a change. Anyway, let's get started.
Okay, let me break it down for you; Tatsumi is a highly skilled country boy who aims to earn a lot of money at the Imperial Capital for his home village. But then he learns how corrupt and terrible the place was, after finding his comrades and other innocent people brutally tortured to the death for no good reason. That's when he encounters Night Raid, a sub-group of assassins who each have a super weapon called the Imperial Arms. They explain to Tatsumi that they are part of a Revolutionary Army, fighting for the freedom of the people from the corrupted rule of the minister, who is treating the clueless child emperor like a puppet. They do this by killing every corrupted rich elite or official they intend to target. Tatsumi eventually joins this cause and continuously grows as a warrior and a man...okay, maybe the other members of Night Raid change too.
I really want to say I do not like the plot. Or at least, my feels do not like the plot. But I can't lie...the story was really good. For an adaption (it was barely an adaptation, in my opinion. They managed to follow the manga, but completely improvised at the ending. That's right, fans. Tatsumi, Mine, Kurome, Najenda, Leone, and General Esdeath are still alive. But I think Mine is close to death in the manga, as we speak), it was able to put everything a war story should have. A corruption element? Check. A rebellion? Check. Back stories that made you wish that they had normal lives? Check. Crazy yet scary sociopath villains? Not really necessary but check. Deaths? Double. Triple. Quadruple Check. As much as most of the viewers hated it, but that's how a war story should go. Death is inevitable, especially when a war becomes a main topic. So realistically, one death is not enough to achieve the objective. That is what this anime did and it was performed splendidly. I guess the reason why I had mixed feelings earlier is because I did one thing someone should not do when it comes to war stories; never become emotionally attached to the characters, which I will later explain. As for the setting, I love how it included actual events into the fictitious story. I mean, as a history fan watching an anime about bloodshed, I was able to notice that most of these events actually happened. For example, having a very young emperor happened before and it was actually a good but devious idea to let that stupid young kid to be heavily influenced by some fat guy who is clearly a megalomaniac. Otherwise, none of his subordinates wouldn't be so...intimidating. Even if the politics in this show do not make sense at all, it is very clear that there is no specific law. Only the emperor's words become law. Basically, this show did a good job at making the Imperial Capital look completely hopeless because the way I see it, it is ruled by psychotic people. And I haven't come across any dystopian plot or any plot for that matter, that has any simplistic but insane villainy in them. Plus, the story of each characters are quite adequate. It's already implied that most are already developed, so all there's left is to give them one more push before they meet their deaths. Sounds morbid, but that's how it went.
If I had to nitpick the show in any way, I guess I didn't get enough screen time for some characters. First is Wave. He is supposed to be the equivalent of Tatsumi because he has an imperial arms that's supposed to be an improved version of Tatsumi's. So if I can't really expect a fight between the two, I was hoping for him to go in action??? But no. The anime written him off as some lowly, all-talk, less do kind of guy. All he did was fuss over Kurome's health and complain about not being able to do anything. Kinda pathetic, if you ask me. Definitely not worth be equated to Tatsumi (since the whole point of assembling Jaegers, Wave's team, is to be the complement of Night Raid), who's clearly done many things in the anime. Next is Budou, the commander-in-chief that everyone fears for the past 20 episodes!!! Najenda mentioned that he has been a problem for the Revolutionary Army for years, yet he was easily defeated by a gun shot from Mine? You have got to be kidding me. He was supposed to be in the same level as General Esdeath and he clearly had a lot of man power and an impressive Imperial Arms to prove it, but he was dead after one episode. Really?
What really intrigued me was how the show managed to mislead me. For the past 23 episodes, I've been constantly asking myself why the show was named after Akame, one of the members of Night Raid, when the story revolves around Tatsumi. The whole reason why it was titled, "Akame Ga Kill" (Or Red-Eye Kill) was because Akame becomes the survivor of the war. And again, that's how it should be. Every battle has a survivor and Akame was the survivor. And I was taken by surprise, because I was so used to reading and watching many shows with battles that leave many survivors. And this anime managed to deviate from that perspective and realistically let Akame be the only one who lives. Again, I wanted to hate the idea but I kinda like it. I feel betrayed in some way, but I thought it was very well done. Since it is very similar to Kill La Kill, the show remains very loyal to its morbid themes such killing. Kill the enemies. Kill corruption. Kill the kingdom. Kill everything to make anew. Hence, the epic action scenes. Slay, people, slay.
For me, this was the best part of the series. The characters that made my heart soar. Basically this anime's tactic was, "if you can't develop a character, kill them". Like I said, most of the characters made it clear from the beginning of the show, that they've already been through a lot of things and those hardships already made them who they are. So it's not surprising that most of them were already self-actualized and very prepared to die. Tatsumi, being the only one who needed a lot of building, was such a good character. I can't even explicitly explain why I like Tatsumi. He's not a very fresh idea, since there are many others like him in many anime shows. However, I love how well-grounded he is for a hillbilly. He takes things way too seriously, but it somehow fits in the situations he's been.
As for the members of Night Raid, they were all right I guess. Unfortunately, I can't say much for them because most of their archetypes clearly conform to the anime world. But their back stories are really good. They were done adequately and none of them tried to be more important than the other, which seems very important to me when it comes to books, shows, or even films. I also really like the perception of romance in this anime. It is seen as a reward and not as something that needs to be pursued right away. This immediately affects the relationship between the characters. And I just love how they regard each other. They're like family, which made the anime even more painful to watch.
I am even impressed with how this anime was able to squeeze in new characters and make them impressionable. Chelsea had a similar characteristic to that of Mine but managed to have a bit off development before her demise. Susanoo, in spite of being just a human-based imperial arms, still becomes this memorable, adorable, yet head strong person for the team and a good mentor for Tatsumi. I like how they weren't exactly out of place, but they were just there to replace the ones that fallen and none of them felt like odd pieces to the puzzle. Their stories prove that war stories will be forever tragic. Especially if the death involves an assassin.
I could say the same for the villains. First, we talk about Jaegers, who are supposed to be the copycat version of Night Raid. I hate and love the fact that they treat each other like family. Clearly, most of them are not fully aware by what is going on behind the scenes except Run, surprisingly. What's worse is that the majority of them are people with good intentions. And that hurts. In other words, you can't hate these guys. They treat each other right, too. Esdeath proved herself as actually a great leader by being very fair to her subordinates. I'm not kidding, guys. She's a very good general, even though she's... crazy. The torment I felt in this show was very serious.
As for the major villains. Okay, they're really crazy. What's worse, they run the world like The Plastics run North Shore High. They only have two objectives: Get everything and Kill everything. I'm not saying that it's the most violent show I've seen (because I've seen worse), but these people have no reasonable or any particular agenda at all. For example, General Esdeath--as much as I lover her--tortures an entire town because she's into it. She enjoys that kind of thing, that's all. Now imagine ten more copies of her running a kingdom. That's the Imperial Capital. Boom. The anime didn't really want to complicate things, so they just stuck the masses with really messed-up leaders. Which only makes sense for assassins to murder each one of them.
Music
The music is great. It's a mixture of metal, rock, and opera. So it makes everything sound grave, dangerous, dramatic, and thrilling all at once. My favorite was the second opening of the show, where it reveals Night Raid facing Jaegers, and the beginning of the Revolutionary War. Unfortunately, I cannot share that because it reveals too much of the story. No worries, I shall tease by showing the first opening of this show with the song entitled, "Skyreach", so you will know what I am talking about.
Aside from the weird parts where they cut each other's arms, the art is really good. The violence animation is not too violent and not too bloody. The art appears innocent, but sadly these characters do not wear positive faces all the time. If they did, they simply put on a game face, or a look of determination. They are designed to look grim, dangerous, angry, fierce, and power-hungry. But no worries, even the villains can still pull a soft or comedic face, once in a while. The best for me are the costumes. It was a mixture of eastern and western, both contemporary, and ancient. If I had to pick a favorite, it would be General Esdeath's because I find military uniforms really sexy and Esdeath's looked really great. Move over, Elsa. But the cold definitely never bothered her.
I'd like to eliminate this anime for hurting my feelings. But putting that aside, it gave me the most realistic yet most entertaining war story I've ever seen. I love the characters, both bad and good. So I'm gonna give Akame Ga Kill, Four eggs! Soft-boiled!!!
Okay let me break it down for you; Fate/Stay Night is based on the Japanese visual novel of the same title. Originally, it is a video game with three separate story lines, and this anime tells us the first storyline entitled "Fate". This orphan guy named Shiro joins the Holy Grail War, which is a competition for the Holy Grail and this cup has the ability to grant any wish. Why did he join this war? Well, he has no idea, either. In order to participate, you need to summon a servant that are categorized in seven classes: saber, lancer, assassin, caster, rider, berserker, and archer. After summoning them, these servants will not only put their lives on the life to protect their masters, but they have to at least kill each other off like the Hunger Games. Yes, they can kill the masters but if they can't do that, they might as well settle for each other. And the interesting is that these servants are actually notable historical figures. Shiro, for instance, summoned Saber who is actually a female King Arthur. However, in the long run, Shiro decides he does not like violence and aims to destroy the cup himself. And of course, he falls for Saber in the process regretting not being able to see her after she disappears. Because ending the Holy Grail war means your servants will have to leave.
When I first heard of the plot, wow I said to myself, "I'm all for it. Let's go." It had a really good concept and the action scenes were surprisingly good. Unfortunately, the comedy parts were leaning more to the corny side. The drama was not so sympathetic, either. I didn't have much feels for this anime, and the only time my heart tug was at the end when Saber was slowly dying in peace. I guess the reason why I couldn't appreciate the heartwarming moments too much is because plot twists would just come out of nowhere, completely looking out of place and nonsensical. Like the Sakura arc did not make a lot of sense to me. That moment between Rin and Sakura seemed not only off but it was too sudden and irrelevant to the main story, but then again this was only a filler arc. And as much as I hate to admit it, the romance between Shiro and Saber was so out of the blue. If it wasn't out of the blue, then the development between could use a little more work. Basically the story of Fate/Stay Night is like a game of Uno. You get a consistent round of cards until all of the sudden a wild card suddenly changes everything with no question. It will leave you flabbergasted, you will try to keep up with the current events until bam! Another inconsistency gives you another reason to adjust to the changes.
Goodness, where do I even begin with these characters. I can only point out one good thing about these characters and it is their design. I like Shiro's "Trace-on" ability, and Saber's excalibur. I also love Rin's enigmatic aura as well as her knowledge about the Holy Grail War. The servants were pretty cool too. I love the ferocity of Heracles the Berserker and Gilgamesh's villainous cockblocking moments. Caster was deviously interesting too. Unfortunately, the time duration of this anime was not enough for everyone to get a full story on. There were so many characters that didn't get to have their own time to shine or a moment to prove that they do have a meaningful story to tell. And even if they were giving some minor characters a moment in the sun, it didn't work and Sakura's arc is a perfect example. After watching that part, I still couldn't comprehend her character and there was barely any development, assuming that was the goal in the first place. Rider and Lancer, looked so small in this show. They only appear for a short time and I didn't get to see them grow in the story. Same goes for others such as Assassin. Not only that, everyone was so freakin' flat. Especially, the main characters. For me, it felt like this show is avoiding to be complicated by not including much character development. It's like they're saying,
"Here's Shiro. He's naturally selfless and heroic, in spite of the fact that he's been so alone and mundane for such a long time. And he is going to be like this until the very end. And this is Saber, she's just going to be emotionless and headstrong until bam! We reveal that she loves Shiro this whole time." ...are you kidding me?
Saber, on the other hand, is basically the same. She is almost flat, but she only showed a few wavelengths that displayed acts to prove that she's certainly not just a serious dedicated warrior. She's actually a mixture of sensitive, sweet, seriousness, and toughness. What really annoyed me was that there wasn't much solid interactions between her and Shiro for me to even comprehend whether or not what they had was romantic or not. I get that they got each other's back most of the time in this film, but realistically, they had a "partners-in-crime" kind of chemistry rather than a genuine romantic one.
And the mysterious characters remained way too mysterious. I wish we had a much bigger hint on who Archer really is. Because wow, he is such a good character and he had so much potential. Why do you think there's a movie that focuses on him? I get that mysterious characters are cool. But the main reason why they're so cool is that when they slowly reveal themselves, their secrets will shock us. Their back stories will blow our minds out from our butts! But no, this anime barely didn't do any of that. There were so many strings in this story that were either untied, or tied loosely at the end. There wasn't much conclusions. I get that there are probably multi-time frames and that there is more than just one show for this, but please tie what needs to be tied down.
And here's the best part. Guilty, I got attracted by this anime because of the art. The characters look so simple but detailed at the same time. And the details from the blood to the trace lines of Shiro's powers are pure genius. The details on Saber's uniform was absolutely gorgeous. Rin looked almost outlandish in her clothes, but her costume is absolutely eye-catching. It didn't have much of the typical anime comical things like the huge sweatdrop and the rage vein on the forehead, which I didn't mind. The anime's art was just really good, okay? I would like to give this anime kudo points on that.
The anime had so much potential but it ended on many loose ends. This was supposed to be a completely independent alternate story line, which differs from the other two in the visual novel. But in my opinion, it didn't live up to that. Don't get me wrong, though. But in spite of the messy gaps of plot confusion, I appreciated many other things in this anime. I consider myself a shipper of Shiro and Saber. The fighting scenes were super epic, and the art is great. I love how it is portrayed as something grave and very serious. I'm going to have to give it a hard-boiled.
Okay let me break it down for you; based on a very old folklore, a bamboo cutter encounters a glowing bamboo stalk and out came a tiny little girl in princess clothes. He brought her home to his wife and it strangely turned into a human child. They decided to raise her as their own and she was initially nicknamed as "Little Bamboo" by other children, in spite of her odd and quick growth spurt. However, the old couple still saw her as a princess and thought that it was her destiny to become one. So they left their old home and trained her in the ways of a princess. Eventually, she received the princess title named, "Princess Kaguya". Growing up, she slowly becomes disconnected from who she was, pressured to follow the princess path her adoptive father chose for her. She then gets consumed by overwhelming sadness, desperately wanting to go back to her old life where she had free will and did not have to think about pleasing others.
The story was very simple compared to most stories Studio Ghibli has shown so far. It was basically about a girl, growing up and learning the ways of becoming a princess. And it had the similar elements that you normally find in a princess story such as this; missing her old life, not wanting to marry others. But what made this story so different from the rest is that Princess Kaguya had no complaints. She may have disagreed on a few things, but in the end she still chose to become a princess just for her adoptive parents even if it has taken a toll on her. I've never encountered a plot that was so focused on just one person. Not once did the scenes ever strayed from her. Even if there are scenes that contained different characters, the subject in all of their conversations and actions are still about her. There wasn't a particular kind of war, no other problems, or event. The story was really about a tale of Princess Kaguya. It's that simple. Aside from that, the entire movie was another new learning experience for me and it made me appreciate Japanese culture and history even more, because it was another dominant thing I saw in the entire film. From their way of life, to the way princesses actually wore their make-up is so interesting. I also enjoyed the subtle theme of nature in this movie. Studio Ghibli had a lot of films with nature as one of their central themes. This time, it seemed like a supporting detail, but it still had a huge presence in the film and I appreciated how it is seen as something homey for Kaguya; something she had to return to in times of dark moments of the film.
The characters are also very simple, including Kaguya herself. Aside from the fact that she was born out of a bamboo stalk, she's actually very ordinary. Actually, it was her goal in the first place. She wanted to be ordinary and she was pretty good at it. She loved to play with the other kids, immerse herself in nature, and she was a mixture of gentle, kind, and good. Kaguya is a very enchanting person and she taught me that simplicity can still create a big impact. As for the other characters, I just appreciated how they were just there and all of them have their own way of connecting to the main character, including the weird suitors. There was not one character who wouldn't know who Princess Kaguya was. Also, they all didn't have their own scene to shine; everyone equally had their own parts, so the princess could really take up the entire film and it works--at least for me.
Surprisingly, there was not much music for this film, and scenes without music usually wouldn't be effective. But in this case, it works because everything about the film is so quaint and tranquil. But when there is music it is still quaint and tranquil, and sometimes almost quiet. But the music I enjoyed the most was Kaguya's koto. It is some sort of Japanese guitar-like instrument and it is played like a harp. I fell in love with the koto, because the sound of it is so soothing. It is something I would listen to when I'm stressed and I need to relax. And the music of the koto describes one of the many positive qualities Kaguya as a character.
I could go on and on with many pictures, because the art is my favorite part of the entire movie. Everything is depicted in a water color style of art and everything suddenly felt like I was reading from a storybook with moving pictures. It may not appeal to many viewers, since 3D art is the one in the mainstream nowadays. Nonetheless, everything was so beautiful thanks to the art. It was not just pleasant to look at, but it was also very nostalgic because it has been a very long time since I've seen a film who would go for this kind of art style. It is even soothing to look at since not much is going on, even if there is a conflict going on.
Takahata has certainly done a remarkable job in putting the story of Kaguya together. It started out beautifully and it ended beautifully. Just like the princess. I love the minimalism and the consistency in the setting, characters, plot, and everything else. There were parts that may be dragging for some, but also tolerant and meaningful for others. After all, absorbing a masterpiece into your heart and soul can be a very challenging thing and can be truly accepted with open-mindedness. So I shall give this film a beautiful sunny side up.
For those who haven't seen the film, then I urge you to give it a shot. It may not be your cup of tea, but I hope you would give it a chance. It may not have the thrilling music for battling dragons like in How To Train Your Dragon 2 did, or the colorfulness of Book of Life, or maybe a cute mascot like Baymax in Big Hero 6, but this movie is so rich in many things. I don't know exactly why I'm saying this but for some reason, I find it heart wrenching when people have very particular tastes in certain things. Personally, I love opening up to many new ideas, stories, and adventure and watching films like this is definitely one of them. I definitely didn't have anything to lose, but I gained a lot of new stuff that I can appreciate and that, for me is living. So if you don't really want to see this film, that's cool. But don't be ignorant; read a book that's written by an author you haven't heard of, watch a foreign film, eat something you'd never thought you would put in your mouth. Experience, and learn. Believe me, there are many ways to explore aside from leaving the comforts of your home. Start simple, just like this film.
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