Ulibyeol Ilhowa Eollugso

I saw this one at a local indie theater in Korean so I have not seen the dub (or even know if there is one). Overall, I wanted to enjoy this film but the art was poor at best and the story was all over the place. It seems this is what happens when a studio tries to emulate Ghibli without any of the charm or talent. There wasn't ever a 'wow' moment to really capture my imagination. There were aspects that I found interesting but on the whole, the story felt as if it was written for the sake of being as weird aspossible. The character development felt forced and there was so much about the film that wasn't explained. I just couldn't get over the art. Most times, it's rather fine but the backgrounds are often poorly drawn or look like a pixelated JPEG. This is most noticeable toward the end of the film. There are a handful of scenes where the audio isn't synced with the animation and characters mouths continue to move after they'd finished speaking. I get that this isn't a huge production, but any self respecting studio would have cleaned this up.

Few anime are able to touch upon one's heart and soul like Satellite Girl and Milk Cow. In a world of mediocre and ridiculous storytelling, something so refreshing and heartwarming is nothing short of a treasured gift for animation, much less anime. This film has everything, from a speaking roll of cursed anthropomorphic toilet tissue, to a satellite whose struggle with her death and lack of purpose in an ever-evolving technological society, to a broken hearted male whose male cow body can still somehow lactate, it a treat for all. This anime asks the bigger questions in life that no one has an answer to, suchas how a powerful wizard was defeated by a walking incinerator. This anime's animation is also exquisite, from the bug eyed character models and the lack of animation between frames. It's beautiful, almost Ghibli-esque. The homages to the masterpiece Neon Genesis Evangelion were also a fantastic edition to an already dense film full of symbolism and metaphor. This was enhanced by the fantastical music which accompanied each and every scene, especially the one where our brave heroine confronts her own mortality. It was a beautiful eye opener into the struggles of love, and how the bonds of fate tie us together though the beauty of music and male cows who can lactate. This film I cannot recommend to many as it is so complex. Only a few can see it. Primarily those who have no major biases of the world we live in, this typically denotes children. The other audience I would recommend this to are those who appreciate the higher things in life through drink and pill. Even then, this film may be beyond even those.

Overall, this is an interesting venture into the world of anime by a Korean studio. It's not spectacular, but rather just slightly above average. It's got moments of light odd comedy - after all, it is a film where the protagonists are a cow, a satellite, and toilet paper. It is an easy to follow film, and has a happy yet somewhat lazy ending. If it weren't for the lazy resolution, I'd give this film a solid 7 instead of 6. The story is a short, sweet, and simple love story. Love can find strange forms, even between an inanimate object like a satellite and atransmogrified cow human. There is also some deeper messaging about being true to yourself, and how bottled and mixed up emotions are the source of ailments.

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