rxdiantfaith

(Not putting a spoiler tag on this only because there's very, very minor spoilers) I just finished watching Run with the Wind, and I'm in complete awe. This show makes you feel so many emotions at once it's insane. Run with the Wind is a lot more than just running. This show's about growth, and it does an incredible job illustrating how much each character develops. By the end of the story, each character's backstory is explained, showing what motivates them to run, and what they've overcome. Even during the final few episodes, the characters continue to grow. Of course, the two main characters have a bit more backstory than the others, which is to be expected, but you really get a feel for why each character continued to run, regardless of how they didn't want to in the beginning. Along with this, they all have realistic goals. Not everyone thinks they can make it to the top, and not everyone does. Even within the epilogue, everyone is still moving forward. They know that their goal might seem unrealistic, but they continue reaching for it anyways. They constantly beat minor goal after minor goal, bringing them further and further towards their main goal. The difference with this show from others is that it lets the main team lose. It lets them learn from their mistakes, and helps them to keep pushing forward. And each character makes mistakes and learns from them- it's not just the main characters. The soundtrack is pretty calm for the most part, letting the animation itself do most of the emphasis on scenes, but there are a few tracks that definitely stand out. The CGI for some of the background runners can be a bit distracting at times, and I've seen a few others complain saying the same thing. Other than that, I really enjoyed the story, and would definitely recommend you watch it!

I just finished watching Divine Gate and I honestly enjoyed it! It definitely starts off better than it ends (considering it ends as if it's getting another season soon), but I still think it has potential! The art style is unique, and really nice to look at. It has a really cool opening and ending (along with a really pretty soundtrack), and the characters all have fun and different personalities. The plot starts off with a good setup, but starts to rush itself halfway through compared to the intro's pacing. This may have been due to the fact that it was only given 12 episodes, which honestly makes sense when you think about it. Some of the characters feel underdeveloped too. Besides the three main characters- Aoto, Akane, and Midori- along with the king, Arthur, and fairy, Santa, many of the fairies, gods, and other humans aren't given much backstory. This is okay, since they are the main characters (not so much Santa), however, the supporting characters (one mainly in particular) have importance to the story towards the ending, but their motives behind that aren't explained. The story has a main theme towards the end, which is basically the balance of hope and despair. We find out that Aoto has a lot of despair (which is shown in episode 1, so it isn't a spoiler), but he never explains what he's been through to any of the other characters (it's only explained to the audience through flashbacks), yet towards the end, the other two seem to completely understand him after seeing him argue with *someone who I probably can't say*. Besides being sometimes under-explained with bits of the character's backgrounds, Divine Gate also tends to over-explain things, rather than showing the audience- with Loki in particular. Due to this, there isn't as much suspense built up with his character as there should be (ESPECIALLY in episode 9...). The ending isn't really explained, and sets up for another season. I don't think it'll end up getting one, as the reviews for this show aren't the greatest, but I would definitely keep watching if a second season did come out. The story would have a much clearer ending if so. Divine Gate is also based on a Japanese mobile game, so the rest of the plot is most likely explained in that (however, I don't speak Japanese, so I wouldn't know 😢). Overall, besides bits here and there that are either over or under-explained, I still did enjoy this show. There are a few things I forgot to mention, like how the main characters powers match their personalities and backgrounds, which is probably overlooked by most people. I thought that was an important touch to their characters! I especially enjoyed Aoto's development throughout the story, which happens to be one of the main focuses of Divine Gate. I just wish this was explained to the other characters as well, and not just through flashbacks, since it seems that the other two main characters start to understand his despair without Aoto even explaining anything to them to begin with. I'm wavering between a 6 and 7/10 for this series, but still decided to give it a 6 because I feel like it has potential, but didn't fully grasp the potential it had. If there were a second season, it would be able to explain so much more, especially with the other three supporting characters, which were glazed over until the ending of the show. It clearly sets itself for a continuing storyline, so I do hope it gets a continuation!

I ended up finding this on a random anime website and thought the art style was pretty so I decided to look it up. I barely read anything about the movie though since I didn't want spoilers, so I went in pretty much blind tonight watching this. Because I don't want to spoil the movie for anyone else looking to watch this, I won't go into too much detail. I just felt the need to review this as soon as I finished watching because I was in tears the entire time!! This movie has such a bittersweet ending, but at the same time closes the story off in such a perfect way (again, don't want to spoil, so I won't say why/how). Please just watch this for yourself! Everything's amazing about this: the plot, the pacing, the artstyle, the music, the character development. I wish this was hyped up just as much as Your Name or A Silent Voice because if I hadn't found this movie on that website, I would've never had the chance to watch this. Again, please watch this if you have the chance. You won't regret it!!!! I'm editing this because I just found out this was Mari Okada's directorial debut??? BLESS THIS WOMAN.