If I hadn’t gotten so many focused adverts for this movie by way of social media and my on-line good friend circle I don’t suppose I’d have gone to it. I’ve but to leap onto the Chainsaw Man and or Fujimoto Tatsuki hype prepare and personally don’t suppose I can be anytime quickly. Nonetheless advertising and marketing labored, and I did find yourself utilizing it as an excuse to hang around with a good friend so it extra labored out.
I additionally hate beginning out on a low observe however I believe it bears mentioning that I used to be fully unimpressed with Gkids preliminary execution and plan for launch of this movie. It was initially marketed as a two day restricted run, being a Sunday and Monday of all issues. For it being solely a fifty-seven minute movie alone, as not one of the promotions I noticed talked about any interviews being included in order that was a welcome shock, it was virtually fifty {dollars} for 2 tickets.
Let me be clear: I used to be going to see Look Again no matter its preliminary deliberate distribution. I used to be on prime of it, with my plans being made and tickets paid for. With out getting an excessive amount of extra mean-spirited I don’t care for the way Gkids executed this explicit roll-out. I can solely hope that any future screenings of Look Again or in any other case, can be extra by means of and extensively accessible from the precise begin.
Any who, that was a whole lot of bonus info that the majority reader’s don’t care about. So it goes, that is my weblog and I’ll do as I like on it. I’ll begin my precise evaluate with my ordinary synopsis plus actual opinions now.
Fujino Ayumu is a really proud artist – she attracts a 4 panel comedian in her faculty newspaper, and her friends regard her as the very best artist in school. Her trainer reveals that chronically absent Kyomoto would really like a slot to indicate their comics. Kyomoto’s fashion is considerably completely different o Fujino’s and earns her excessive reward, a lot to Fujino’s dismay. Fujino strives to compete with Kyomoto, as they each start their creative journeys as future mangaka and extra extensively as artists.
I’ll admit I went into this film pretty unaware of something relating to the plot, characters, or having learn something by Fujimoto Tatsuki earlier than. I noticed a snippet right here and there, largely of excessive reward and lots of followers saying they had been “able to cry once more”. Having dragged my good friend with an animation diploma with me, I at the very least made the acutely aware resolution to carry us every a hankie in case we teared up. I additionally was a bit nervous as I had learn some worrisome information that Look Again had confronted some vital points relating to manufacturing. Then once more, manufacturing points appear to plague each animated movie lately so… that was a lesser subject then I initially believed.
I might beat across the bush a bit extra, however I believe I ought to simply say it outright: Look Again is a strong film. On a 5 star scale it’s simply a 3.5 possibly even a 4 for me however I don’t suppose it’s notably excellent the best way critics and Fujimoto super-fans are making it out to be.
I do truly just like the premise rather a lot. Very similar to sports activities, there are solely so many youngsters who begin drawing actually younger and have the power and keenness to take that into maturity, not to mention make it a profession. I actually appreciated the movie exhibiting us how laborious it truly is to make the transition from two pals at school making a manga one-shot, to 2 younger adults who now have expertise underneath their belts however need various things out of constructing artwork.
Making artwork by your self is tough. It’s even tougher when there’s a companion concerned, and it will get much more sophisticated the extra assistants, editors, followers, haters, and many others become involved. I believe Look Again did an excellent job exhibiting that with out being overbearing or too melodramatic ‘woe-is-me, all-artists-are-torture-souls’. It briefly wanders into that territory, simply because of the pure course of plot and motion, however I personally discovered even that pretty grounded and comprehensible.
I believe that Studio DURIAN, for being such a small studio, did a improbable job with the general route and execution of the movie. I nonetheless have my gripes about sure selections relating to the animation at occasions. I modified my thoughts considerably on a whole lot of elements as soon as I heard the interview, put up screening, from director Oshiyama Kiyotaka. It’s laborious to animate a narrative that requires a whole lot of repetition and stillness – particularly Look Again the place usually time the characters are stationary and making their very own artwork.
When showcasing the subtilties of Fujino’s posture and habits, verses Kyomoto makes it all of the extra necessary. There’s a whole lot of consideration to element that I’ll readily admit, I didn’t discover nor recognize when watching. I considered many sequences had been efficient, however price slicing in a way. My opinion fully modified as soon as I acknowledged that Kyomoto was enthusiastic about pursuing background artwork as a specialty. These ‘nonetheless’ sequences turned all of the extra vital in understanding her motivations and passions. To not point out that there’s nonetheless magnificence, and worth within the mundane and unmoving – even in anime.
I do 100% agree that Look Again is the kind of movie that’s genuinely rewatchable, and needs to be revisited as soon as extra time has handed. How I really feel about it as an older twenty one thing, and the way I’ll really feel about it 5, ten, or extra years later can be fully completely different. I’ve a suspicion that the animation strategies used within the movie will maintain up simply as nicely, however the story itself genuinely influence me otherwise afterward in life.
I do need to briefly contact upon a couple of different elements that I’ll admit now – I’m fairly lukewarm about total. Relating to the soundtrack, I appreciated the reason within the post-viewing interview. That being stated, I didn’t actually discover or take care of it total. I truly discovered a number of the selections a bit overbearing at occasions. I don’t suppose Look Again would have labored as a ambient noise anime, nor do prime 20 tracks swimsuit it. I believe it made the suitable selection for it’s soundtrack, it’s only a little bit of a disgrace I didn’t take care of it as an entire.
I’m truly extra acquainted with each Kawai Yuumi, the voice actress for Fujino, and Yoshino Mizuki the the voice actress for Kyomoto as live-action actresses. It was fascinating to listen to them discuss concerning the challenges of being first time VA’s, within the post-film interview. I believe their performances had been fairly sturdy. There’s no vital scenes that come to thoughts, as notably excellent to me. Nonetheless, they each have their very own charms as voice actresses, and selecting new-to-voice-acting skills was actually the suitable selection for this challenge.
There’s not a greater place to place this so it’s going right here. I couldn’t comprehend why fellow viewers members had some completely roaring laughter in theater. I get that comedy is subjective, this movie has nods and references to different Fujimoto titles, however nothing that was laugh-out loud hilarious. Like yeah, a few of Fujino and Kyomoto’s actions acquired a comfortable chuckle from me, or possibly a secondhand embarrassment groan however laughter?… I used to be somewhat bit extra then perplexed by that response so I’d love to listen to from somebody who did discover the movie humorous to fill me in.
I’m now going to get a contact private right here within the detrimental means. I each actually linked to, and hated Fujino as a personality. I noticed items of my former self in Fujino rather a lot. A few of these items had been reasonably nostalgic and truthfully, made me really feel a bit vindicated that a few of my experiences rising up had been extra common than I assumed. Nonetheless, the overwhelming majority of them, whereas necessary to acknowledge post-watch, are a whole lot of the items that I did NOT like about my youthful self and I made a whole lot of energetic selections to vary.
Which made watching Fujino make selections at sure factors of the movie weren’t touching for me, it felt like she was stagnating and that irritated me. Rather a lot. I had the same however much less visceral response to Kyomoto as nicely. I believe that is largely as a result of Kyomoto’s characterization being higher arrange and executed then Fujino’s for my part.
I’m additionally only a bit baffled by the present viewers reception. Like I’ve stated earlier than Look Again is a superb movie, but it surely’s not almost as groundbreaking as the overall reception is saying. I imply manga turned anime, about characters changing into mangaka exist – Bakuman, Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun come to thoughts for me. Not as higher titles than Look Again, however are in related veins of story sort, character age, and many others.
I’ve gone on lengthy sufficient about Look Again. Even longer then I truly meant to write down. My total impression is that Look Again a strong movie, even one the place I’d argue the theater expertise makes it higher. Nonetheless, it’s not almost as ‘must-see’ or ‘groundbreaking’ as normal dialog would have you ever imagine. It’s one I believe Fujimoto Tatsuki followers will actually get rather a lot out of, and followers of actually technical animation movies will too. Truthfully, that’s extra then sufficient actually.
