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Children who Chase Lost Voices from Deep Below

This is the latest film by Shinkai Makoto. The subs are finally out recently.

Previews/Trailers for people to check out

Watched this about a week or two ago. Was planning on making a thread myself, but gotten beaten to it again

It was nice to see Shinkai pay homage to Miyazaki by doing a Ghibli-esque adventure type film this time around. The scenery porn wasn't quite as strong as his previous films imo. Must be because the environment in this film isn't as industrial and city like as previous works, not lending itself too well in being hyper glossy and uber photorealistic as before. That's probably one of the main drawing points for me when I watch his works, the insane background visuals on everything so I was a little disappointed when it wasn't as strong as his earlier works. That's not to say it's bad by any means, the damn film still looks gorgeous as hell. It just falls a ltitle short of what I've come to massively expect after seeing 5cm Per Second, Beyond the Clouds and Voices of a Distant Star. You could probably say that I've been rather spoiled by him in this aspect I guess lol

Storywise, while the thematics were still within typical Shinkai territory they weren't as heart-tugging or breaking as before, which while different isn't necessarily poor or inferior per say. Just different, which I think is the main underlining factor of the film for me. It was different from what I've become accustomed to in Shinkai so I guess it caught me a little off guard in that respect.
A very worthwhile investment of 2 hours and I'm rather impressed that he's finally produced a film of such length since funnily enough 5cm per Second had a shorter runtime than than the preceding Place Promised in Our Early Days lol. I can't help but wonder though whether this extra run-time may've played part in better fleshing out the stories pacing as someone mentioned earlier and if it had affected the extreme levels of scenic porn that fell short of my initial expectations, but I digress on that part since said expectations may've been a little unfair to start off with lol
All up I think I still prefer his earlier style of works over this, but this was a nice change of pace too and is not bad by any means

~Hello, Goodbye and Hello

Wow that's your review on MAL? Lol.

Hmmm, tbh this film isn't half as great as I expected after watching 5cm Per Second. 5PS is still my favourite among all his works. Of course, this is like a new territory to him, and it's quite unfair to compare it with his other works.

But still, the problem lies mainly with the plot.

SPOILER

I don't get the logic why you'd wanna go the distance to save someone you barely knew. Asuna is a horrible pseudo-main character without character and Morisaki is the actual main character. The premise was just plain shallow.

The scenery is nice as always. Very vibrant and detailed. But that's about it.

It does invoke that Mononoke Hime feel with all those weird creatures and stuffs, though.

lol nah i don't have a MAL. That's just what i wrote somewhere esle and i just copy pasted it here cause I'm lazy like that lol

I think your main complaint isn't so much to do with the plot as it is with the character but

SPOILER

Yea I have to agree that Asuna was a rather weak protagonist as well. Her motives weren't exactly clear and she was more running away from stuff half the time and getting dragged into things rather than deciding the pace of the story itself (unlike the teacher). I mean why exactly was she so desperate to see Shu again? What did he mean to her exactly? Yea sure, he saved her life but what else was there to that? We find out later on that it was in large, part due to loneliness and not wanting to lose someone else again after her Father. But for the majority of the film before that revelation, there was almost next to no foreshadowing of this so you're left in the dark in regards to her motivation. Because of that you can't really identify with her and so the film loses some of it's impact there. If she'd had gotten some of her relationships fleshed out or developed a little more then I can see it greatly improving movie. Scenes like when she got seperated from her cat only for it die shortly after would've been much more powerful if they've placed a little more importance to it. To me it was a little saddening but no where near as heart-wrenching as Shinkai has made me feel in the past with his previous works. Maybe it wasn't intended to be that powerful of a scene, who knows.

That looked like a MAL review. You should post it there too.

SPOILER

About the motivation, I can get it if she wanted to get her dad. But Shu... they barely knew each other! The only parts I find sad are the teacher's reunion with his wife and his flashbacks.

lol I'll probably just reuse it somewhere else again when and if the time ever comes. Is it plagirism if you copy off of yourself?

But yea that's why I mentioned they should've clarified Asuna's and Shu's relationship a little more to help the film.


But one minor little point that erks me, even though it's not really important with these types of stories is

SPOILER

You have a child who disappears for god knows how long and by the end of the story they're able to just happily go on with their normal lives again like nothing ever happened. I mean shit, wouldn't the parents start to worry their heads off and wouldn't rumours and stuff begin to circulate sooner or later? Not to mention cops would've probably been contacted at one point. How the hell are you gonna explain your little magic trip when you finally get back. "er... yea, i was just sleeping in the woods. For a couple of days... or a week..... or a month. Or however long it was that i was gone. It's cool I'm back now, lets pretend it never happened :3"

Yea it's a nitpicky point at best but it still erks me to this day that you don't ever get to see the aftereffects from such things

This post has been edited by bROCKoLEE on Dec 28 2011, 07:33 PM

Any subs of the movie out yet?

Subs are definitely out yo. Otherwise we wouldn't even be able to talk it lol

Just saw this film. I have to say that I thoroughly enjoyed it and definitely agree that it appears Shinkai broke out of his traditional mold to follow a Ghibli-type story. There was still a scene with a super-detailed Apache helicopter firing its guns, so I guess he still had his flying-machine quota to fill but for the most part it felt very different from all his previous works.

As for the review, I suppose I have to spoiler tag it?

SPOILER

I for one disagree with the claim that Asuna is a shallow, weak main. I definitely feel that the teacher had a much stronger role, but you have to realize that that's simply how he is. Not that he was created to be a sub-character and you think he's a main, but rather, he's an adult. He's been through a lot more, and his convictions are infinitely stronger. He's spent a good part of his life working towards this day. Now that he's finally here, his doubts are weaker. Asuna, meanwhile, is a kid. Her spirit of adventure and curiosity towards Shin is probably what drove her to follow along. Yes, she has this weak idea that maybe if she can ask for the dead back, she can bring back the boy who looked plenty alive and well last she saw him. He's the guy who saved her life from the big demon thing, and according to the Psychology 101 course I took many years ago that causes a reaction in the brain that can make someone attracted to them. Basically the idea that if you put a woman on the end of a rope bridge and make guys cross it, their fear response creates attraction. Similar theory here. She has this un-named interest in Shun and figures, in her naïve childish way, that he can just come back and everything will be right as rain. Then when she learns about this new world and finally makes it to the end... that childish desire isn't enough to inspire her forward. She falls back instead on the will to live, and gives up on any need to wish the dead back again. The teacher, however, makes it all the way through the will he's developed. It's not a matter of a weak versus a strong character. It's that you're applying the same criteria to a child and an adult. It just doesn't work that way.

So yeah, I loved the film exactly how it is. Well... okay, I'm lying. I do have one nitpicky thing to mention. It has nothing to do with the plot so I'll do it outside the spoiler tag. See while the plot and animation were wonderful and the music was top-notch, it appears that Shinkai's first foray into the fantasy realm was a little rough around the edges. I can't imagine Ghibli or Satoshi Kon making a mistake like the one that ended up in this film. What kind of mistake? Continuity.

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So in this scene, the character here has a rifle under his pack. Cool. No problem.

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Then after walking a little bit into this big lake thing, suddenly the rifle is...gone?

Image size reduced, original size: 960 x 540. Click here to view the image in its original dimension.

Hard to see in this shot, but yep, it's definitely gone. There's nothing but the color of the guy's pants where the rifle would have been. Did he drop it before walking into the water? We didn't hear the sound of a gun clattering against the rocks, so that couldn't have been it...

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They surface from the water and...suddenly it's back, slung over the dude's shoulder! Well I'll be! Where'd you hide that thing, dude?

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Then a few seconds later, it's gone!!! Again, no sound of anything clattering, and when the camera pans around in this scene you don't see any rifle among the body armor he's removed. It was over your shoulder just a second ago! Where'd it go!? Well I guess he left it behind since it doesn't show up anymore...

Image size reduced, original size: 960 x 540. Click here to view the image in its original dimension.

Then, almost an hour further into the movie, it magically reappears right where it was--under his pack. WTF?!

That's all I had a problem with. It really detracts from the film when mistakes like that get made. Satoshi Kon and Ghibli are very careful that small details like this don't get overlooked. For instance, if you guys haven't seen the film Millennium Actress yet, do it. It really is wonderful. There's a scene with a hat that, for me, is one of the pinnacles of continuity in an animated picture. The film doesn't put any special emphasis on the hat, doesn't put the hat into the viewer's mind and scream "LOOK AT THIS, THIS IS IMPORTANT" or anything like that. You just forget about it, because it's just a hat. But then later, when the scene has changed around... the hat is right where it's supposed to be. It wasn't forgotten by the animators. It's a very tiny detail, but that's why Kon is so great. It's all the tiny details that turn a film from 'great' to 'spectacular'.

I hate to say that a little thing like forgetting to draw in a rifle is why I don't put this up with other great films, but... that's just how it is. Unless you nail the continuity, you can't get a perfect score.