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Garasu no hana to kowasu sekai (2015)
Good visuals and a decent soundtrack are not enough to make this film great
Garakowa -Restore the World- is a 60-minute long animated film directed by Masashi Ishihama and produced by A-1 Pictures. Frankly, what made me watch this film was its relatively short length, so I'll describe its positive and negative aspects.
Positive: (+) The art and animation I guess this is the section most of the budget went to. The backgrounds of this anime were simply gorgeous. The colors and details were amazing. The animation was also smooth and high quality. I didn't especially like the character designs, mostly because I dislike anime with little girls, but objectively speaking, there was nothing wrong with that either.
(+) The soundtrack The soundtrack of this anime was comprised mostly of piano pieces, which fit well in most of the scenes. Overall, I liked the soundtrack a lot.
(+) The concept Despite the flawed execution, the concept of this anime was pretty good. The events happen in a virtual world, where the main characters, who are anti-virus programs, delete corrupt files. Basically, imagine if the agents in Matrix were cute magical girls. I have to admit, the idea wasn't bad at all, but it could have been better, for reasons which I am gonna explain below.
Negative: (-) Everything else Apart from the great art and soundtrack, as well as the concept, the movie fails at pretty much every other department. Despite its short 1-hour length, this movie feels like 2 hours due to the slow pacing and constant information dumping. The characters speak endlessly about the details of their world, but without a proper explanation, everything feels like pseudo- scientific mumbo jumbo. The characters remain mostly under-developed, so you don't really care what happens to them. The action scenes were short, and despite the brilliant animation, you don't really know what's happening, apart from the obvious ugly virus monster vs cute anti- virus girl.
Overall, despite the attempt of doing something unique, this movie ends up being pretty much forgettable and with nothing much to offer apart from the good visuals.
Kamisama no iu tôri (2014)
Gory, funny and entertaining - exactly what one might expect from a Takashi Miike film
Before I start my review, I want to say that I have not read the original manga, so I don't know how faithful this adaptation is. I started watching this movie without any knowledge about the plot, and I have to say, I was entertained a lot by it.
The movie has a simple premise: a bunch of Japanese teenage students are forced to play a death game. It kinda reminds you of another Japanese classic: "Battle Royale". However, the execution of "As the Gods Will" is quite different. Apart from the usual gore and exploding heads, Takashi Miike fills the film with a healthy dose of humor and silliness, irony and some social commentary. While the cgi monsters may look a bit out of place in a horror movie, they kinda add something to the overall atmosphere.
The acting in the film is overall fine, although none of the performances is worth mentioning, also due to the nature of the movie.
Overall, this movie is a fast-paced and wild ride from start to finish. It ultimately delivers, as the puzzles are quite entertaining and manage to keep the viewer glued to the screen for the duration of the movie.
Lupin the IIIrd: Jigen Daisuke no Bohyô (2014)
One of the best Lupin III adaptations
"Lupin the IIIrd: Jigen Daisuke no Bohyo" is the next installment in the Lupin III franchise, based on the manga by Monkey Punch, which was first published in 1967. This film is the continuation of the 2012 "Lupin III: The Woman Called Fujiko Mine" television anime series. The plot, like most Lupin III stories, seems simple. Lupin and Jigen plan to steal a diamond from the country of East Doroa, which has a conflict with the neighbouring country of West Doroa. However, what seemed like an easy job for the duo got complicated when they discovered they were the targets of a famous assassin. Directed by Takeshi Koike, the film has a beautiful animation style and fast pacing. It is aimed at a more mature audience and is quite entertaining. A definitive must-see for the fans of Lupin III.