I don't really plan on seeing Weathering until its out on DVD. I did see Your Name, and I thought it was okay, but two things prevent me from thinking it's an out and out masterpiece.
1. I felt like the storyline got way too melodramatic, convoluted, and bloated near the end. Switching bodies across time? Time travel? A comet threatening to break into pieces and destroy an entire town? Mitsuha's dad running for mayor? I feel like if Shinkai cut one or two of these plotlines and focused more on just one, the movie would feel more organic and streamlined. Like, pick one or the other! Less is more, Shinkai!
2. The constant boob jokes got old really fast. Using them once is fine, but nearly seven or eight times is just...cringe.
But yeah, 2016-2019 have been great years for anime movies. I'm not sure what jump started this onslaught of anime movies (Maybe it was Your Name's success?) and all the limited releases GKids and Eleven Arts have been promoting for them here in the states, but I'm glad it's happening. This would NEVER have happened in, say, the 80s or 90s. My particular favorites are Maquia, Liz and the Blue Bird (And this is coming from someone who hasn't seen both seasons of Sound Euphonium), In This Corner of the World, Okko's Inn, and the two Haikara-san movies (Still waiting on a home video release of the second one, Eleven Arts!!). I'm also definitely looking forward to the ones coming out this year, such as the Ni no Kuni movie coming out on Netflix later and Umibe no Etranger.
Hell, even old movies are getting the royal treatment now, such as Only Yesterday, Millennium Actress, and as of recently, Tokyo Godfathers, which never even got English dubs before. Glad to know they're finally getting the appreciation they've always deserved.
Edited by TwilightPegasus on Jan 10th 2020 at 8:58:42 AM
I watched twice in august when it opened my local theaters. Overall, it wasn't as good as your name. But i still liked it, it was very entertaining IMO. The visual is great as expected from Shinkai. Blu ray will come out on may, with the special edition containing a 4k blu ray, just like your name. Cant wait to watch it in HDR
I just saw Weathering with You myself earlier this evening. I really like it. :)
Come on! Let's bless them all until we get fershnickered!Also saw Weathering With You, and I actually watched all of Shinkai's prior films in the days leading up to it (which I had meant to do before seeing Your Name, but didn't get around to it).
It's fascinating to see his style change and evolve over nearly two decades, and after going through all those films, the distinct urban focus in Weathering was very striking.
Also, as a movie-going experience, the Shinkai interview afterward was extremely well-done and very informative; much better than the one for Promare.
But let's really dig into Weathering With You:
I have a lot of respect for the ending. While it is certainly not the most "likable" ending, it obviously does take a enormous step away from repeating Your Name's climax, despite many of the beats on the way being similar.
I'm impressed by a story following through choosing love over the world, while also driving home that theme of facing the consequences. Quite possibly a deliberate alternative direction from The Place Promised in Our Early Days.
Of course, this tempered by the nature of this fictional universe. Solving climate disaster through the literal Power Of A Forsaken Child is a straightforward Omelas conundrum. But applied through the lens' of Weathering's characters (and oh boy there's a lot to chew on there), I think it was well done.
The only thing of Shinkai's that's even close in that regard is in Children Who Chase Lost Voices, and even there it's a much more conventional resolution, though I think there are some residual ideas from that in Keisuke's actions at the climax.
Obviously the issue of climate change is going to loom extremely large over the film, and no doubt cause tension in using it for framing and inspiration rather than direct commentary (I mean, strictly speaking, Weathering is an inversion of the issue, where "normal" weather was sustained by human action). Though I think the conclusion holds up since, although for very different reasons, we also can't just wish it away.
Ranking: Your Name > Weathering With You > The Place Promised in Our Early Days > Voices of a Distant Star > The Garden of Words > 5 Centimeters per Second Space Dandy did it better > Children Who Chase Lost Voices (Miyazaki-lite)
Edited by Eschaton on Jan 16th 2020 at 1:21:38 AM
Well...at first, the movie was a fairly standard remake of the game until the last third, where it's revealed the movie itself is just a VR game being played by some kid in the real world. The villain at the end of the movie is somehow a game bug built from said character's data, and is about to eject the kid from the virtual world, but is saved by a slime he recruited, which turns out to be an anti-bug program revealed in a Deus ex Machina way. This seemingly random reveal came right out of nowhere, was never foreshadowed or mentioned in any way, and it was apparently shocking enough to Japanese viewers to make them completely hate the movie for just throwing this in, to the point where the movie received a LOT of negative reviews because of said twist. If you look up Dragon Quest Your Story twist on Google, you'll wind up getting a LOT of results. Trust me.
Edited by TwilightPegasus on Jan 17th 2020 at 9:06:54 AM
Huh… #subvertingexpectations, I guess?
Yeah, I can see why fans were pissed.
So I went to see WWY a second time today, this time in French. The dub's pretty hit-or-miss. While the VAs for the main characters and the one for the pompadour cop do a pretty good job, some of the supporting actors are clearly just reading their text… and it annoys me that it's only in anime dubs that I can hear comedians get away with not even trying to act.
But outside of that… I'd say I enjoyed the movie slightly more on second viewing? It didn't feel as similar to YN as it first did and I managed to catch Mitsuha's cameo this time.
…Now on the really obscure side, has anyone heard of Cocolors?
I had learn of this film's existence in a preview of "anticipated anime of 2018" and it seems pretty experimental visually… but I haven't heard or read a word about it since. I can barely find any info on it, let alone reviews. And yet the trailer really intrigues me…
Childen of the Sea won’t be released theatrically in the West
… except it already was, but sure.
It's a company that promotes one- or two-night only movies, usually rare ones or anniversary showings of more well-known movies, and anime movies.
Come on! Let's bless them all until we get fershnickered!Huh an anime movie thread this is nice....
Anyway, I rewatched the 1995 Ghost in the Shell and I still love it like it was the first time I watched. It was this anime and Full Metal Alchemist Brotherhood that really got me into anime though I still don't know why I didn't like the series (Stand alone complex)
I am currently watching Wicked City (last major Yoshiaki Kawajiri I haven't seen) and some Shin Chan movies (because a 5 year old toilet humour + very nice animation gets to me
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I can still remember the cycle it went through. Some odd years ago, Fathom Events promoted cool anime movies all the time. :) Then every other time. Then for a long time, I was lucky if it mentioned one. :( Then, I don't know which movie caused it, but it definitely made Fathom Events get its mojo back. ![]()
Both good movies.
Finished watching Angel's Egg, a film which I can only give the approximate reaction of "ah.... huh." Alternatively that Pop Team Epic panel of getting and not getting it.
It's worth watching at least once for the sheer imagery, a lot of which is memorable IMO.
I just watched the children of the sea (kaijuu no kodomo) movie. Just like the manga it felt like a fever dream wherein I was just following the vibes of all the shenanigans that was happening, which must be what the adults in this movie felt because HOLY SHIT, all the grown ups are more irresponsible regarding all the shit that happens to Ruka than I remember (except her mum), the father especially. "What my daughter went out during a typhoon? Why did she do that, weird."
The movie is more condensed than the manga, cutting out all the side stories, some of Ruka's bonding with the boys, and almost all the science side exposition (which resulted in some of the side characters mostly losing their purpose, similar to Mashiba from a silent voice), which hurts the pacing and makes it more confusing. But the animation was gorgeous, I've never quite seen anything like it and it really brought Igarashi's odd artstyle to life in a way a series adaptation wouldn't have been a able to. Music was also nice.
I absolutely cannot help but adore handsome 2D boys

I wanted to discuss a certain film that didn't have its own thread, but then I thought that there wasn't much point in making separate threads for every anime movie if they're gonna have like 4 or 5 comments each.
Thus this thread will be for discussing feature-length anime movies in general, old or recent, famous or obscure. From Akira to Perfect Blue to Spirited Away to Maquia, all is fair game.
So to get back to Weathering with You (the film I just saw)… I left the theater slightly disappointed? While I think the plot is stronger than in Shinkai's previous film, it didn't really hit me as hard as Your Name emotionally. For mostly two reasons − the first is that I didn't really feel like I knew much about Hina by the end of the film, unlike Mitsuha in YN (I mean, Hina disappears for basically the entire third act, that doesn't help). The second is that… the main beats of the story are so similar to YN that I almost felt like Shinkai was rehashing his own formula at times. Maybe all his movies are like that, but that made this one too predictable for me.
Though admittedly Tokyo being flooded at the end of the movie genuinely caught me off-guard. I was pretty sure that the sacrifice was considered already done and the rain was gonna stop for good but nope, screw you.
And I must say the guy still has one hell of a knack for dynamic montages.