Alice to Therese no Maboroshi Koujou

The trailer for Mari Okada’s latest project implied something amazing. Moody and high concept, with beautifully rendered backgrounds, smooth animation, and a killer soundtrack. It had the makings of a masterpiece, and a great studio to back it up. When it quietly released on Netflix this January, I was excited to watch, though its score caused some trepidation. Indeed, all those elements the trailer promised are here in some form. If this film succeeds in any regard, it is aesthetically. Okada’s direction is sharp as ever here, as is every other aspect of the production. Its soundtrack is consistently strong, though misapplied occasionally. The voiceactors all give good performances, and the sound editing is as good as any other theatrical release. While it doesn’t quite measure up to Ghibli and CoMix Waves’ latest offerings, it's an impressive achievement for a back boiler MAPPA project. Where the film falters is its script. Okada is a fairly consistent scriptwriter, and she’s shown both inventiveness (Maquia) and ability to execute on convention (A Whisker Away). This script is no doubt her most ambitious, and it falls short in a few key ways. The characters aren’t great, particularly the side characters. I couldn’t tell you their names. I’m an advocate for the fat comic relief side character, but this film’s is more annoying than funny. He cracks maybe one funny joke across the whole runtime. One side romance is bizarre and left completely unresolved. The villain is never a legitimate threat, he almost gets beat up by children more times than he thwarts the protagonists. Among our three leads, there’s one uncomfortable spoilery relationship I can’t get into. The female MC’s main character traits are lying all the time and refusing to disclose key information. She's frustrating to watch, though her arc eventually leaves her in a better place. To give credit where it’s due, the character designs are all great. I may not remember their names, but their faces will stick with me. The plot is extremely confusing. As far as I can tell, a town is trapped in a purgatory-like state of stagnation following a disaster at the town’s steel mill. None of the residents age, and time does not pass. That much isn’t hard to understand, but the film insists on burying this information forty minutes into the runtime, well past the time we should be invested in the story. I’m accustomed to strange plot structures, but this one creates a big problem. Rather than building emotional investment in the characters in the first hour, the audience is left grasping at straws trying to piece together what the hell is going on. Once we’re told directly, things only get more confusing. The climax is borderline incoherent, though speaking any further would get into spoiler territory. All of this confusion may work in a more abstract setting, but this film’s otherwise straightforward plot demands the audience understands the specifics. This confusion eventually reaches a breaking point. The audience realizes they’re not going to figure it out, and all emotional investment goes out the window. A particular recurring element unintentionally mirrored my experience. At the very beginning, we hear a radio DJ replying to viewer messages. The characters ignore the broadcast. This plays again at the very end, and the main character yells at the questioners about the joy of living. This was meant to hammer home the film’s themes, but instead served as a powerful moment of catharsis. I was yelling at my TV at this point, frustrated by the unanswered questions and strange writing decisions. Both I and the MC had arrived at the same point, yelling about the absurdity of the media we were consuming. At that point I just laughed. I wanted to like this, but the plot lost me. Even so, I can’t help but respect the attempt. Okada could have pulled back, written a conventional tearjerker script, and I’d have probably loved it. She chose an impossible challenge instead. Though it ended a glorious dumpster fire, I respect the effort. This is worth a watch if you care about Okada, just be prepared for disappointment.

Alice to Therese no Maboroshi Koujou feels like an anomaly in the modern anime world. Despite being produced by arguably the most well-known animation studio currently in the game (MAPPA) and written / directed by one of the greatest living authors in the Slice of Life-genre (Mari Okada), this movie has had almost zero marketing or "hype" behind it. Its theatrical release in Japan came and went without much fanfare, until Netflix eventually bought the rights to it and decided to all but shadow-drop it on their platform. No one I talked to even knew this movie was coming out, which makes its "non-existence" in thepublic eye all the more confusing to me, especially considering how good it actually is. First up, let's touch on the story. The story is... good, but convoluted. If you've read or seen a Mari Okada work before, you'll know more or less what you're in for: sharp dialogue, introspective characters, a mystery element that is somehow both well-defined and not explained much at the same time. The pacing is race-car fast - the movie expects you to pick up on certain concepts very quickly, and does not slow down to re-explain or hammer home things you may have missed. Multiple viewings may be necessary for certain people in order to fully understand what is going on at all times, but that shouldn't be much of a problem when the whole thing looks and sounds THIS GOOD. Because yes, of course the movie looks phenomenal. We're talking Makoto Shinkai "Your Name" levels of animation quality here, but you already knew that, because the movie is made by MAPPA, and if there is one thing MAPPA consistently gets right, it's the visuals. I shudder to think how hard the animators must have worked on some of the segments here, because they're truly spectacular - easily up there with some of the highest-quality and most striking movie animation ever produced in the medium. The music is good, if not a touch unmemorable. The main theme is recognizable but not catchy, and does its job well enough. It immerses you in the scene and elevates the action, which is the most important thing for a soundtrack to do. I'm not likely to listen to it on my own time outside of the movie, but I liked it as a companion piece. I'm hesitant to write much more here out of a fear of spoiling things for any potential viewers - because I genuinely do want you to watch this movie. It's a beautiful piece of artwork full of heart from a studio at the top of its game, likely produced at the cost of its creators' own health (it's no secret that MAPPA treats its employees like shit.) And despite having a story that can, at times, be a little confusing and convoluted, it contains a very human tale of what it means to love something in the face of absolute despair, and the human spirit's ability to persevere against all odds. So do yourself a favor and don't sleep on this like everyone else is doing - I think you'll be pleasantly surprised.

Review summary: Fantastic MAPPA art work. The story is difficult to understand. But a story you can't get anywhere else. Who should see it: Interested in story that closed space and feelings. Or People who have seen Mari Okada's past works. (+) Fantastic Art Work Produced by MAPPA. The worldview, the description of the steel mill, the expressions of the characters, everything was wonderful. If you've seen the trailer, Fantastic Art work continues from beginning to end. If you know MAPPA, I would recommend watching the movie. This story is set in January 1991. I'm glad that the scenery from my childhood has been clearly captured in a movie.Example, Beverage vending machines and shopping streets. (+) music In addition to fantastic art work, it was a wonderful music. It expresses a closed space and feelings. It's close to the character. And, Miyuki Nakajima's ending theme song is wonderful as a closing song for the story. Even if it's translated into another language, I hope it reaches as many people as possible. This is a song that hopes to overcome many things and move forward strongly into the future. (-) difficult story It was impossible for me to understand everything about the setting of the story the first time. (I found it cathartic, but my thoughts remained confused). Looking at Japanese reviews, many said that it was difficult to understand. I read guess in many reviews and finally understood the whole story. (+) The actions that result from the feeling of love are strongly expressed After understanding the overall story, I watched the movie again. An atmosphere filled with the feelings of many characters. The actions that result from the feeling of love are strongly expressed. Run through that atmosphere with strong force towards the ending. The second viewing was satisfying. How should I introduce this movie? If I were to compare this movie, I would think of "Kumo no Mukou, Yakusoku no Basho". The reason for this is not only the character, but also the area is closed. However, this movie is more damp, dark, and horror-like. Some Japanese reviewers have tried to understand this work from Mari Okada's past works and her autobiography, "From the time I couldn't go to school until I wrote Anohana and Kokosake". If anyone wants to know more about the work, look for it. You can see that the director's personality is too strong in this work. It's good things that the director's personality is reflected in the works. The problem is that the story and setting are difficult to understand. I wasn't sure whether to Recommended or Mixed Feelings, but I decided to recommend it. I don't think it's a movie at the general public. Is there any value in a movie if you can't understand it in one viewing? However, if you are interested, I recommend watching this movie. It has strong power. I'm sure some MAL members will rate this movie highly. I hope that more people will see it and the discussion on the forum will grow.

What the fuck did I just watch? The Good: The only redeeming qualities from this was the amazing art by MAPPA and the insert songs which is the only reason its not a 1. In my opinion I feel like this movie was just a side project for the animators to flex their skills and they just decided to tack on a story afterwards as a passing thought. The Bad: I think I got an aneurysm trying to understand the plot, this was more confusing then the last season of Attack on titan. The movie just tries to introduce way too many plot points, and there are also gapingplot holes i.e where the town is getting food and gasoline when they are in an isolated bubble which was never explained in the movie mind you. All the relationships feel so forced and go through more fluctuation in the period of 2 hours then the amount of times I said "what the fuck is happening?" while watching this movie (I said it a lot). The characters are so bland and the father of the MC and his brother are basically indistinguishable as characters as well as most of the posse around the MC with the generic comedic relief and the serious guy as well as the annoying girls who hate being with "the boys" but still stick around them? The Ugly: Overall the plot is just so convoluted in a way that it just feels tacked together. The pacing is way off too, it is way too fast in the beginning and doesn't take time to explain anything and the ending feels slow. They try to pass on some generic "life is beautiful because you get hurt" and "our good and bad emotions should be embraced and accepted thing" but the only execution is just so horrible and again feels very forced. I was actually hyped for this when I saw the trailer and the amazing art but boy was this a let down, they managed to fumble such an amazing premise and world building and do absolutely fuck all with it.To preface I love shows where they don't tell you everything and are a little confusing such as Evangelion and Sonny Boy but this show was just on another level of stupidity. Complete waste of 2 hours I'm never getting back do not watch if you value your time!

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