Every once in a while, I like to pop in an animation to watch and this time, it was an effort by Studio Ghibli, most well known for its works that are written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki. This particular film was only adapted from a Japanese comic book series by Miyazaki, but the Studio Ghibli animation style is clearly seen over the course of the film.
Unlike the other Miyazaki films I've seen, this one is not a fantasy, set in some far off world. Rather, it's a young romance story set in modern Tokyo. The basic plot is that our active bookworm hero Shizuku Tsukishima is living out her daily life in the last year of middle school. She starts noticing that all the books she's reading have been previously checked out by a Seiji Amasawa and becomes curious to know who he is. Along the way, she pursues mysterious cats, discovers herself and tries to find her way through the complicated relationships of middle school.
For the most part, it works. We walk with her through her teenage self-discovery. The bad part is that it's sunk by a wandering, sometimes directionless, story. Her "relationship" with Amasawa is the link of the story, but the point is her self-discovery, at least that's how the story's set up, but it seems to keep switching gears and at the end, we have an abrupt conclusion that doesn't fully resolve or even allow us to fully grasp her situation. I feel like the story was crammed with too many ideas and this anime would've been better set up as a miniseries or a short series. It might be the limitations of a serialized source material, but it just wasn't focused and coherent enough for a film.
That said, the moments that happen in the film are very memorable and surprisingly full of coherent emotion and insight. And I like that--it kept me interested in the film, despite the fact that I often felt that I was watching the story in fast forward or the highlight reel.
I liked it, although I wish it either took its time or dropped out some elements. 7/10.
Unlike the other Miyazaki films I've seen, this one is not a fantasy, set in some far off world. Rather, it's a young romance story set in modern Tokyo. The basic plot is that our active bookworm hero Shizuku Tsukishima is living out her daily life in the last year of middle school. She starts noticing that all the books she's reading have been previously checked out by a Seiji Amasawa and becomes curious to know who he is. Along the way, she pursues mysterious cats, discovers herself and tries to find her way through the complicated relationships of middle school.
For the most part, it works. We walk with her through her teenage self-discovery. The bad part is that it's sunk by a wandering, sometimes directionless, story. Her "relationship" with Amasawa is the link of the story, but the point is her self-discovery, at least that's how the story's set up, but it seems to keep switching gears and at the end, we have an abrupt conclusion that doesn't fully resolve or even allow us to fully grasp her situation. I feel like the story was crammed with too many ideas and this anime would've been better set up as a miniseries or a short series. It might be the limitations of a serialized source material, but it just wasn't focused and coherent enough for a film.
That said, the moments that happen in the film are very memorable and surprisingly full of coherent emotion and insight. And I like that--it kept me interested in the film, despite the fact that I often felt that I was watching the story in fast forward or the highlight reel.
I liked it, although I wish it either took its time or dropped out some elements. 7/10.