Maboroshi

MAPPA, one of the well-known and recently founded Japanese animation studios, has produced a number of popular anime such as Jujutsu Kaisen, Attack on Titan, Vinland Saga and more. They are known for detailed 2D animation along with a moderate usage of high-quality CGI created by talents from all over the world.

This film exceeds in every aspect whether it is a beautiful landscape in Japan or engaging characters interacting physically and sharing emotions as if they are in a live-action movie. The painstaking work and creativity are there, except the story is quite complex that some of those superb elements get overshadowed. It is just hard to grasp what is going on in the beginning that it is too late to catch up at the climax. And even if you manage to follow along the plot, there is still a number of nuances and puzzles you have to put together to fully understand the theme of the movie.

I wish they had simplified the setting and the shattering sky that separates them from the real world through clarity in dialogues. It is worth watching as the quality and striking animation lives up to the industry standard.

In my own interpretation, the movie aims to show that life is not essentially a search for happiness or control; life is a search for meaning. When we give ourselves a cause to serve or another person to love, we become more human, and we love ourselves more. The movie represents love as a power that offers the experience of dreaming and helps you escape loneliness. The world needs love. The power of love is what can help you survive. Love is about wisdom. Love is what makes our hearts live and beat. The movie succeeded in addressing the theme of love and showing its importance and how it gives meaning to our lives. While it is true that love has a bright side, on the other hand, it also has a dark side that can break your heart and destroy your own life.

This movie has nice animation, interesting characters (if somewhat two-dimensional) and an interesting story all the way through until the very end, where we find yet another film that leaves the audience trying to guess what actually happened and what point the director was trying to get across.

There are several good aspects to this film. The story is decent most of the way through. The animation is fine. But the plot and story line are flawed, presenting bits and pieces but never succeeding in telling the entire story. The steel factory is central to the story but never explained. Why the town decided to follow a guy who was without doubt a loon is beyond understanding. And justifying locking a little girl inside a factory for years is simply insane. So much of the film makes no sense.

Some may feel they understand what happened, but in reality they'd be adding their own 'truth' to an incomplete plot. And while two or three different "theories" are presented throughout, it's difficult to understand the reasoning behind much of what goes on.

All in all it was an interesting but unsatisfying film. The writers and directors leave it to the audience to figure out what story they're trying to get across; that's a stunt that very seldom works. The overall low rating here (as of this posting) would indicate the majority of the viewers feel similarly.

ADDENDUM: When I first posted this review I found many other reviewers agreeing with these observations (in their own reviews). Shortly after this review suddenly-- within a very few days-- we see several negative ratings on any critical post. So one might suspect significant crew and family response rather than legitimate viewers. If a film requires such manipulation-- it really doesn't stand on its own merit.

To my surprise this was better than its current 6.3 average would suggest. The animation is well done and the first half is quite interesting, but the ending felt a bit rushed and underdeveloped. I like that they didn't go out of their way to spell out everything leaving a few mysteries unsolved, but the final buildup just wasn't paced that well causing the narrative to miss a few important opportunities to develop the plot further and charge the twists with the necessary weight.

If you like stuff like Steins;Gate, Your Name, The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, I want to Eat Your Pancreas, 5cm Per Second, etc. Chances are that you'll enjoy this one too to some extent. There are a few unnecessary anime tropes, the characters are a bit flat and the story is more cliché than it should/could have been, but all in all this is a good one.

Pretty good movie as expected from mari okada. The visual were great and the drama and writing was really good too. The character design were clean and very well animated as aspected from Mappa and the music was very heartfelting . Overall 8.25/10. Would've gave this show higher if they explained things better. It felt like there too many things left unsaid. I also felt like they should've made the movie longer, because for me personally it felt kinda rushed. They had so many cool idea but explain only 75% of it.

The end, I hope you enjoy this review, this first time writing a movie review.

Add ons.... I also might try rewatch this movie again to try to understand it better.

Additionally, If like this movie then check out Maquia: When the Promised Flower Bloom(Mari okada best work in opinion)if you haven't already watch it.