AnoHana The Movie
I never watched the whole TV series, so I thought I should at least watch this, thinking back to the Mari Okada debate from yesterday.
I can't imagine watching this without having seen at least some of the TV series beforehand. While I hadn't seen most of the recap footage (I finished off just after (care if you've not seen the whole show)
when I was watching the series) but I think I'd probably have found it all a bit confusing with no familiarity at all with the show. I assume the point is to go to the cinema and cry at all the bits you cried at before?
It's funny how a couple of years can change your perspective. Three years ago, Poppo was my favourite character; now I find him incredbily irritating, like his voice actor is overcompensating for being the "comedy" character. Menma remains as irritating as ever, though; the cutesy wutesy speech is just too much for me.
IMO, in a debate that was had at length when the show was airing, the storyline would definitely have been vastly improved if (whole show spoilers)
While elements remain mawkish and emotionally manipulative, and the emotional climax teeters precariously on the border between moving and laughable (I did laugh at a couple of bits -
), at its core I actually think there's a fairly unoriginal but well constructed story about the effect that death can have on a group of friends.
I think that's why the "new bits" of the film that the recaps are slotted into work generally quite well for me. With everyone just getting on with life and acting more like human beings and less like histrionic tear factories, the framing story plays out quite nicely.
On a technical level, I do wish I liked Tatsuyuki Nagai's choice of shows more than I actually do. This and AnoNatsu have such beautiful settings (and AnoHana has some really well directed scenes), and I hear such good things about the A Certain... series he's worked on, but the audience most of his shows target just isn't me
I never watched the whole TV series, so I thought I should at least watch this, thinking back to the Mari Okada debate from yesterday.
I can't imagine watching this without having seen at least some of the TV series beforehand. While I hadn't seen most of the recap footage (I finished off just after (care if you've not seen the whole show)
the whole Yukiatsu-dressing-up-as-Menma thing
It's funny how a couple of years can change your perspective. Three years ago, Poppo was my favourite character; now I find him incredbily irritating, like his voice actor is overcompensating for being the "comedy" character. Menma remains as irritating as ever, though; the cutesy wutesy speech is just too much for me.
IMO, in a debate that was had at length when the show was airing, the storyline would definitely have been vastly improved if (whole show spoilers)
Menma hadn't been real at all.
Menma's "conversation" with Yukiatsu in the dress, and everyone screaming "MENMA!!!!!" as they ran off to play hide and seek
With Menma as a purely metaphorical presence, rather than being both metaphor and literal, flitting in and around their lives and overshadowing everything - I think that could have been rather more moving. Instead you're left with the uneasy tension as to whether or not she's real and the resolution being unsatisfactory either way.
I think that's why the "new bits" of the film that the recaps are slotted into work generally quite well for me. With everyone just getting on with life and acting more like human beings and less like histrionic tear factories, the framing story plays out quite nicely.
On a technical level, I do wish I liked Tatsuyuki Nagai's choice of shows more than I actually do. This and AnoNatsu have such beautiful settings (and AnoHana has some really well directed scenes), and I hear such good things about the A Certain... series he's worked on, but the audience most of his shows target just isn't me
