Sorry for being late to the party but finally got to re-watch this, think it was my third time, and this movie is another one for my box of flawed yet enjoyable ones.
Previously I'd watched on my phone via screenanime and didn't realise just how good the visuals & animation really are until this viewing of the blu-ray with upscaling. It really is beautiful to behold with very good use of CGI with/in the 2D. The penguins are adorable as well, especially the one having a mini-adventure in the opening credits.
I'd also forgotten how funny it is, having regular chuckles throughout. The characters while underdeveloped are in the end all fairly likeable for me, including the stupid Gorillaz-inspired bullies. On my first watch I instantly found Aoyama insufferable (as well as his dad probably) but his arrogance is almost so factual and lacking in malice that he was thankfully tolerable enough for me to not instantly drop the movie which I was twitching to do! His social obliviousness did help with the comedy and his unflappable nature was amusing and admirable. His babysitter lady was good-natured and likeable (and thankfully did not pull a Misato on the little sod!). Though somewhat incoherent overall, I did find the sci-fi and mystery elements fascinating, enough to want to get the book to read at some point, as chances are a lot of those were eschewed to maybe allow more focus on the main characters and rightly so even if it didn't quite work for character development in the end.
Lastly, the end credits with the beautiful Good Night by the brilliant Hikaru Utada sealed the deal for me (a bit like that great tune from Daoko did for the end credits of Fireworks which again I did like despite its flaws). I can't really decide but it is probable a 7 out of 10 for me, though as per the Pancreas movie, I do like it more than my attempted objective rating.
As it was I think that no lines were crossed, but I wasn't sure it wasn't going to try at some point.
I too was relieved only once the movie ended that they weren't going to go there. It is funny what you say about the gender reversal being viewed as more creepy and I've always found it odd how some find an eighty year-old lady perving on a young man funny and not lecherous.
What part did the obsession with boobs serve with the plot I wonder? I am not against boobs of course, but other than highlighting his love for analytical research, and one of the things he liked about the lady, I don't think it was necessary for the plot. Hell I'd even say it was detrimental given it's PG - children rating on MAL, in an otherwise relatively child-friendly movie.
Everyone loves boobs! But yes, I didn't see the point and with all that was likely cut from the book, this was not something I would have thought needed inclusion in the movie's limited runtime... While it seems odd on the surface, I do wonder how many kids are obsessed with boobs as my 4-year-old daughter most certainly can be with her mum's for no apparent reason, necessitating a possessive dad to shoo her away.
It's kind of hard for me to wrap my head around the fact that it's adapted from a novel by Tomihiko Morimi, author of The Tatami Galaxy.
I wouldn't instantly think they were from the same author either but I think that's down to the directorial differences as they both share elements of comedy and sci-fi cookiness which are maybe more apparent in similarity in the books?
Well, that's 2 hours of my life I won't be getting back.
Oh no, you hated it that much! Oh dear, sorry dude.
I don't know about you guys but I am definitely more of a series watcher than a movie one in general. It's much harder I think to tell a really good story in the runtime of a single movie, unless the movie is a) part of a trilogy or b) tacked onto a series as part of the canon story.
Definitely a lot harder to adapt anything relatively lengthy into a movie as opposed to a series and I do wonder how much was cut out here. Regardless I do generally enjoy good movies as much as series, not forgetting some greats like Akira, Ghost in the Shell, Jin-Roh and (don't shoot me
@JoĆ£o Gomes) A Silent Voice. Heh, just read the rest of your post and am embarrassed I didn't list anything from Kon nor Shinkai, both of those works I love. When it comes to Ghibli, I'm certainly not a Miyazaki Sr fan, though I liked Jr's From Up On Poppy Hill quite a lot and I love Takahata's work. I'm waiting to go on an epic Sound! Euphonium binge to re-watch the two seasons before the imported movies, especially Liz & The Bluebird.
On the other hand, this movie didn't even try. It felt like so much time was spent on meaningless stuff.
It was definitely disjointed but as you can tell I really enjoyed it regardless heh.
On a side note, I actually re-watched A Silent Voice and I've been kinda harsh on it up until now but I grew to enjoy it a lot more.
I think that's maybe not uncommon for A Silent Voice given how understated it is. On my first watch I did like it but thought it was overrated. I did feel compelled to re-watch and have absolutely loved it since especially for its daring to be so subdued, nonjudgmental and sensitive with the subject matter.
For Liz I think I mentioned it to @Geriatric hedgehog but I would recommend not watching it at the same time as the rest of Hibike Euphonium and the other movie, it kind of stands alone and uses a different art style. It's probably best to do the rest and have a gap
Heh thanks for the reminder, plan happily amended to watch as a stand alone before my series re-watch then, and far more likely now that I will actually get to watch it sooner rather than later!
Righty ho, am I the only one who liked Penguin Highway then? Well someone has to put the renegade in the renegade simulwatch heh.
involved, which as we all know are a key ingredient of Guinness.
at the very least, I was almost always amazed at what was going on on screen.
