As you can tell by the recent blogs, that a lot of them have been about animated movies, then you are right! I have been on crazy watch binge when it comes to animated movies. I simply love them, it is also because in real life I do not have the time to go out and watch actual movies. So to supplement that, I watch Anime ones – Today’s movie is Hoshi wo Ou Kodomo.
Story: 8/10
The movie follows Asuna Watase on her journey through a new world, and we get to see all the hardship she faces, as well as those precious happy moments. “Hoshi wo Ou Kodomo” tells a story about love, loneliness, and learning to let go of the past, among other things.
This story is supported by numerous mythical tales, which gives it a nice touch. It does take quite a while before things really kick off, and not as much time is spent in Agartha as could’ve been, but it’s a minor problem.
However, even with this, the story moves at a rather fast pace, leaving little room for any form of additional backstory, whether it’s about Agartha or about the characters pasts. This was really too bad, as there are some pretty obvious questions left unanswered by the end of the movie.
Art: 9/10
The art is absolutely stunning. The backgrounds, the characters, and the various creatures all look simply amazing. From what I can tell, backgrounds like these are sort of a standard thing in Shinkai movies, and there are several moments where the camera will just pan over the landscape, allowing the viewer to really take in the beauty of the world that’s been created.
The characters all look good, and the variety and detail of the creatures are very well done. The animation was very fluid and well done most of the time, however, there were times when it just felt a bit off, or when there would be a bit too many/long scenery shots.
Sound: 8/10
The voice actors did a pretty great job with their respective characters, and the music was very good as well. The music did a good job at “emphasizing” the scenes, whether it be a sad scene or a more action-focused scene. The credits song, “Hello, Goodbye and Hello” by Kumaki Anri, is an amazing song, and really brought back all those feelings from the movie.
However, there is a minor problem here, as well. Some songs, including an orchestral version of the credits theme, will play often, and I mean really often. Of course, if you don’t mind these songs, then this won’t be a problem, but it could reduce the effect they have on scenes later on.
Characters: 7/10
The characters were mostly fine. They weren’t however all too great, to be honest. There is some backstory and development of certain characters, while some characters are barely fleshed out at all, and are only there to serve a very specific purpose in the plot. This was obviously a bit unfortunate, since I feel like there was certainly time for more time to be spent with the characters, and yet we’re left with this.
Luckily, it’s not at the point where you can’t feel or sympathize with the characters; in fact, there are several times when this will happen throughout the movie.
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