The Age of Commercialism

Instant Favorite.

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

Blistering performances.

Asuna Watase lives in a small village with her widower mother and tiny kitten Mimi. There is a warning about a bear in the area. While walking on a railroad bridge, she encounters a giant monster and is rescued by Shun. He's from a foreign land. Substitute teacher Ryuji Morisaki tells her about Agartha, an underground world of the dead. She goes looking for Shun, only to be met by another boy, and attacked by armed men called Archangels. They enter Agartha and one of the Archangels reveals himself to be Morisaki who is on a personal mission.Filmmaker Makoto Shinkai definitely has some Hayao Miyazaki in him. Some of the creature designs are reminiscent of the master's work. This has many of those touches including a magical other world and a little girl protagonist. Morisaki does bug me starting with his exposition overload. Instead of letting the girl discover this world slowly, it comes at the audience like an avalanche. I also don't like him joining the quest. Asuna already has the same ultimate mission with her dead father. He's not necessary and also is a wet blanket to the wonderment of it all. Then the dark creatures come out of the ground. They are a great turn which adds a terrific spice to the story. This is a great world with a compelling lead. I could do without Morisaki and the Archangels but they're not that bad.

Watch more reviews like this at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfNozbWd9SJYYwLK2zYn_AAChildren Who Chase Lost Voices directed by Makoto Shinkai is a coming of age story revolving around a girl and a man, who both have lost someone important and by inhabiting a crystal, it leads them deep into a hidden world in order to resurrect their fallen.A recurring aspect of Shinkai's work is the incredible cinematography, the protagonists and the message.The message is sweet, as it tells us how to let go of the ones we've lost, even though with some comments can feel a bit over the top at times, but Shinkai's art work and cinematography is always almost perfect.The way the clouds move ever so slightly, the sunshine just peeping behind the clouds to kiss the characters on the cheek, the way the tears are created, the gorgeous look of these creatures felt like you could touch them, the colourful world both above and under ground, it's all just breathtaking.The two protagonists work off each other nicely showing the yin and yang. Just like The Garden of Words two characters completely different ages work together and creating a great relationship, even thought he bond between the two here isn't as tight as the one in his other works.But the protagonists and the artwork can't always make a great movie, and there are more flaws to this film than I expected.To explain and explore is an important thing a director needs to do to not confuse the audience, but he forgot to do it!This "amazing crystal" that opens up portals and resurrects the dead, hasn't got a backstory. Where did this crystal come from, how can it resurrect the dead, why is it so scarce? Nothing is explained, just like the ending.In the touching end a loved one says, "find happiness" which was beautiful. But we don't know if the character does find happiness after the credits. There's stuff in between the credits but this character isn't seen again after the character says "I want to die." Did the character find happiness? It shows us people who were already shown fine but not the one who said they were going to kill them self. The characters that Mae it home and their family, don't look any different to ask where they've been. There might be an explanation somewhere that days in the real world don't mean anything to the underground world or something like that, but if it was explained, it was explained clearly. You might say it's thought- evoking, but I just think it's lazy.The pacing is so slow it's tiring, and this movie is almost two hours. But I have watched movies two and a half to three hours long without having a yawn or having to skip scenes! You can tell how much this movie wants to be magical like Spirited Away or My Neighbour Totoro by having long pans of colour landscapes and having the characters tearing up from the beauty. But it's not really that great. They leave a green land and come down to see, guess what. Another green land. They do this twice in the movie, I remember being half asleep when they did showed it a second time and I couldn't help but chuckle.The story is interesting and makes you want to learn more about everything inhabiting this world, because it doesn't show much of anything! It wants to a fantasy with mystic creatures and it shows us it in aspects. This big, huge creature that has charms and rubies on it is amazing to look at. But you only see it, twice. And a deer looking monster is gorgeous, but is only seen once. And the bear- things everyone calls this brown creature is only seen, once! Come on! Where's the fun? Show us more fantasy stuff like what it's trying to be.In a nutshell this movie had its shining moments, like the colourful and sweet cinematography, the characters and the message. But ultimately the lack of screen time for the creatures, the lazy non- explanation of important items and the poor pacing tends to loose its feel of this imaginary and mystical world it desperately wants to be.Overall - CWatch more reviews like this at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfNozbWd9SJYYwLK2zYn_AA

I believe this movie is thought through bit more then most here give it credit for. All the Ghibli references left to themselves make for pretty bold plagiarism if it wasn't for the obvious meta plot. The whole Movie is full of Ghibli elements and characters because (so i assume) it is meant to be a movie about the animators own journey of experiencing the Ghibli universes and having to let go of them each at a time. The first time we see a mythical monster in the movie its a kind of Totoro bear on a bridge, (the scene mirroring spirited away bridge scene) and the first thing that is said is setting the tone for the theme throughout the rest of the movie "its dying". To accept the transitoriness of these blissful experiences one gets from watching a good fantasy movie is the girls message, exemplified when she has to let go of Shun (Haku/Howl) and the yellow cat creature from Nausicaa valley of the wind, while the teacher represents the artists working on this movie. The key scene at the end, where its all about trying to resurrect this whole Ghibli-juiciness into a new movie, being this movie itself: "it needs a living vessel" a body, a new Plot to incarnate itself into. The result is this movie which feels kind of like a living breathing Ghibli Frankenstein. I love that whole surreal scene at the end, with the eyes on the god-ship maybe representing the audience itself watching this movie, and the overtones of madness by the teacher(director/animators) as he has to sacrifice more then intended in order to bring back something lost. At times it also felt as if the movie was a love letter to Myazaki in general. There are tons of ghibli elements and references in this, and its fun to watch the movie just to try and find them all.

Asuna is a school girl who likes to listen to music she picks up on her homemade crystal radio; one day while listening she picks up music of a type she has never heard before. The next day in school they are warned that a bear has been spotted nearby but she still tries to go to the remote spot where she hear the music; on the way she encounters a fearsome creature; a boy named Shun saves her but he is injured in the process. Not long afterwards she learns that he has died but can't quite believe it. She returns to the spot where she last saw him and thinks she sees him again but it is his brother Shin. Surprisingly they are met by a military force that is determined to find its way into Shin's home; the legendary underground world of Agartha. Asuna and Shin manage to flee to Agartha but the leader of the armed force gets in to although he is revealed to be somebody who may not be so bad after all; he is just a man who believes that Agartha holds the secret to bringing his late wife back to life. Once in Agartha they will have to deal with the local people; some are friendly but most are fearful of 'Topsiders'. People aren't the only threat; there are also the cursed Ikozu; creatures who dwell in the shadows and will devour people like Asuna!People who have watched any of Makoto Shinkai's previous works will be expecting stunning visuals… and they won't be disappointed; this looks fantastic. From his trademark shining railway tracks to the luscious scenery everything looks great. We don't get a large cast of characters but the ones we get are interesting and are portrayed in a way that will make most viewers care about them. The story is more fantastical than his previous works; in fact the film it reminded me of most was Hayao Miyazaki's 'Princess Mononoke' as it deals with mythical creatures. The fantasy elements may suggests that this is a film for younger viewers but there are plenty of genuinely creepy moments that could possibly give younger children nightmares; the Ikozu are particularly creepy and we see blood spilt more than once. Overall I'd say that this will is well worth watching; especially if you enjoyed Shinkai's previous works or films like 'Princess Mononoke'.These comments are based on watching the film in Japanese with English subtitles.