The Girl Who Leapt Through Time 2006 Film Review

There are some films that just capture you right away like films like Your Name and Ghost In The Shell for example and then there are films that despite there best efforts are just forgettable films. Such is the point of the film that i'm going to be reviewing for you all today as despite the film having a great use of time travel it is a bland film that offers nothing new and so then join me as I review the film that is technically a sequel to the book that it's based off of with the film in question being called simply just "The Girl Who Leapt Through Time" enjoy.

The plot of this film is when student Makoto Konno suddenly gains the ability to leap backwards through time she is at first pleased with this idea but she soon realises that with this power does come with great responsibility. Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual plot that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual plot that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film was in all honesty OK at best. With this films plot trying to tell a good story and be this all important film but in doing that it does forget to tell a good story as alot of the time this films plot does feel very much like the original Saved By The Bell with it being far more interested in the characters love lives then it is in anything else and while this fine for the films more dramatic moments as that's when it would make sense to do that here in this film tho they do it all the time. Yet un saying this tho the films plot does have one interesting aspect to it that being it's time travel element which whilst it is as well developed as it was ever going to be in a film like this it is also something that does feel like it got alot less attention from the makers of this film with it feeling like that the makers of this film were alot more interested in the characters relationships then they were anything else as the idea of time travel is one that does feel underbaked in this film this is despite the fact that the film does show both the upsides and downsides to it with both of them effecting the plot of the film in both major and small ways which is something that they didn't have to do and yet they went and they did it anyway with the plot of this film also being really rather entertaining and as well as being really rather engaging as well in my freaking opinions anyways / at least. 

Starring in this film is Emily Hirst as Makoto Konno , Andrew Francis as Chiaki Mamiya and Alex Zahara as Kōsuke Tsuda. Also starring in this film is Kristie Marsden as Yuri Hayakawa , Natalie Walters as Kaho Fujitani , Shannon Chan-Kent as Miyuki Konno , My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic star Cathy Weseluck as The Old Lady , David Hurwitz as Sojiro Takase and Saffron Henderson as Kazuko Yoshiyama.

Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual acting that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual acting that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film was in all honesty average at best. The fact that this films acting is as average as it is is of no fault of the films actors as they are some really good actors and have been good here in other things but whoever was doing the voice directing for this film didn't cast the right people in the right parts as all of this films actors do feel horribly miscast in the film with this resulting in the films despite them doing there best in the film just can't go that extra mile to be as good as we all know that they can be. With the films best actor being Emily Hirst as she does get alot of the films more dramatic moments and she does pull them really well with it being clear that she did have a really bright future as an actor as she is that good in the film with her being able to make you laugh and then make you cry all in the same scene which is something that is hard for alot of good actors to do and yet it is something that she does pull off with relative ease and yet she doesn't go to far over the top with her character as Makoto Konno very easily could have been seen as being a really annoying character in the films second act and yet Emily does always find a way to keep the character not only grounded but also likable which is something that is key in making the films third act work. With the acting that's in this very film really being helped by the fact that this films script is just so good that all this films actors have to do is just say the lines as they are written and a good performance will come out of them naturally which is something that really does help to raise to the overall quality of the acting that's in this very film.

Doing the animation for this film is the legends and the greats that really are currently over at Madhouse. Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual animation that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual animation that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film was in all honesty really good. While yes the films animation isn't as good as that in Summer Wars for example it was still really nice to look at with all of the films backgrounds having so much detail and love put into them that the could be seen as being life like with the thing that does let this films animation down is that even tho the film does mainly use hand drawn 2D animation the film really doesn't have any standout scenes that show off it's animation which granted is a small nitpick at best but at the same time tho it would have shown of just how great that this films animation could have been. With the thing that really did standout by a huge mile in this viewing of the film being just how simple that the films character designs are with all of the films characters not having alot of detail put into things like there faces are clothes for example with this being something that does make it feel like that anyone could draw these characters and that is something that does work for this film as it does show that the makers of this film had a certain style when it came to the design of the characters with it being made clear that they wanted to have characters that the everyday person could draw freely in there spare time and that is something that does work with the films characters designs oddly enough coming of a being all the more memorable because of it.

The rules of time travel in this film are kind of hard to explain as while it does appear as if they are taking The Time Machine and Back To The Future approach where the place you land in time is the exact same place where you departed which is simple and easy to follow. The film would then have Motoko start appearing in different places even tho she had time travelled in other areas with this being something that does make it look like that the makers of this film are trying to have it both ways when it comes to there rules regarding time travel when really what they should have done is stuck to the approach used in both Back To The Future and The Time Machine as Motoko is only able to travel backwards in time she is not able to travel backwards in both time and space with this being something that the film does point out. Yet due to them not really establishing what there rules are in regards to time travel outside of how many times she can travel back in time it does also allow the makers of this film alot more freedom to do whatever they want to in this regard and it's something that would work, however by doing so it does mean that the film can loose all dramatic tension to it as Motoko could and sometimes even does appear out of nowhere to fix the situation which is great for a laugh but at the same time if the makers of this film aren't willing to take there own very limited rules of time travel seriously then why should we the audience do the exact same thing and heck we barely get to understand just how she is able to time travel in the first place as it has something to do with her running and jumping from a high place so maybe it's the fact that she almost dies that triggers it every time but that just makes it far to complicated when having something that's more simple and easy to follow would have worked just as better.

This film despite it borrowing the title of the book is actually a sequel to the 1965 book of the same name. With the main protagonist of the book Kazuko Yoshiyama being the aunt of Motoko this is something that is a good idea as it does mean that now we the audience won't be able to tell just what happens next due to the fact that he film is mostly telling a new story with new and original characters thus keeping us on our toes altho at the same time one does have to wonder why they named it after the book if there not going to be following the premise of the book as while you could argue that that was done for marketing reasons which would make sense you could also argue that that would trick the fans of the book into thinking that there going to be seeing a straight forward adaptation of the book when that is further from  the case. This is a case where you don't need to have read the book to understand the film as outside of the the name this film has nothing to do with the book whatsoever as while there plots are vaguely similar there's nothing that makes this film be a true representation of the book with this being something that could be seen as being a good thing as it does now mean that the makers of this film are now free to tell whatever story that they choose to tell and not be bound by what happens to the characters in the book and while yes it would have been nice to have seen a more book accurate version of the story there's no way that they could have made the fact that in the book Kazuko Yoshiyama is able to time travel because of lavender scented flowers work well for the film as for a film you do want something that's more cinematic and that's what we get in this film with Motoko being able to time travel after finding a mysterious device in the school's science lab.

This film is a romance comedy drama film with the film giving us some sweet comedy moments between Motoko , Chiaki and Kōsuke. Alot of which doo work as we do get to see just how close as friends that these three really are with them practically spending every single day together and when there not with each ither they miss each other with us getting alot of good jokes out of the times when Motoko is typically late for class which yes is an anime trope but it is one that does work and it does allow us to see that both she and Kōsuke have more of a brother and sister type of bond where as Motoko and Chiaki have more of best friends type of bond. Yet even so the film doesn't really focus that much on its comedy outside of a few scenes all throughout the film with the best example being these girls that follow Kōsuke around just because one of them ha a crush on him and the other two are trying to work out if there perfect for each other or not which is a good set up for a joke and to be fair the film does do the best that it can with that idea but there's no pay off to that joke with it being obvious that the makers of this film did put alot more thought into the films romance that they did the comedy aspect of the film as that is where the film does get to shine a little bit better but in saying that tho that's also where the film begins to feel like a teen drama as it's all things that we've seen done before in other shows and movies with the only difference being that one of the characters can time travel and thats it which is a good thing to have in the film but at the at same time outside of quite literally two scenes the film doesn't have the time travel element interact with the romance of the film in any meaningful way, however to be fair the film does give us some genuinely sweet romantic moments with it being clear as day that the people that do get into a relationship do genuinely love each other.

Now then this film has / had an exact gran total running time of exactly one hour and thirty eight minuets and fifty seven seconds. Which to be fair is pretty much the exact same time that you would expect an anime film regardless of its genre to have in the first place with the film really needing that amount of running time in order to tell it's story as there is no way that you could tell this story in anything under that as you do have so much things to set up and you do still need tell a good story and to that in anything under this amount of running time would risk doing alot of harm to the film plot with the film having the right amount of plot to really cover that amount of running time in the first place. Yet even so this film really does use its running time all that wisely as this film doesn't take the time to fully develop its plot something which granted was always going to be hard to do but at the same time it wouldn't have been impossible as all they would have to have to have done is cut out alot of the pointless teen drama stuff in the middle on the film as alot of it doesn't add anything to the plot of the film is purely there just for filler like for example we don't need several scenes with Kōsuke and Kaho talking with each other with Kaho either failing to tell him or getting to shy to tell hm how she feels about him as just the once would have done that but the film devotes a goo chink of its second act to just those two talking and it's not needed in the film as that is time that would have been better spent of developing the films plot. Thus is something that does somewhat effect the films character development as well as while the films main two characters of Motoko and Chiaki do get some character development which is something that dies make sense as they are the films main characters none of the fims other characters get any kind of character development whatso ever but I really will admit that this film really does have some really good pacing to it tho.

So now then as this is a drama that really does mean that I have to actually talk about the actual drama that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual drama that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film was in all honesty really good. With the thing that des make this films drama work as well as it does being the fact that whilst it does very much feel like the kind of drama you'd see on a bad teen drama show it is also very character driven with all of the films going through something that is unique to them and to there character and while all of it does go back to the fact that Motoko has the power to time travel alot of it does come to the characters as people. With the best but of drama in the whole film being when Kaho and Kōsuke take Motoko's bike not realising that the breaks on it don't work and when Motoko realises what's happened and where there going she runs to this steep hill hoping to catch them before they get into a nasty accident and yet when she thinks that there not there she uses her last time travel skill to avoid an awkward call with Chiaki only to then spot the duo riding past her and into the danger that she was trying to get them to avoid with her not able to not only catch up to them and stop them by hand but also able to time travel any more and while there is someone who does the save the day it doesn't change the fact that everything including them being saved and quite literally everything that happens after that works so well and it works because of the fact ta the film has given the chance to get to know these characters with the rest of the films drama being just as good in my freaking opinions anyways / at least.

Overall whilst Summer Wats is easily the better film between the two of them this film still does have alot of things going for it like its animation and its drama both of which do work really well in this film and while yes they were both done better in Summer Wars the bottom line is this film walked so that that film could run in my freaking opinions anyways / at least. Now then i;='ve talked about all of the good and as well a all of the bad things tat are in this very film in this very review and as such that really does mean that this very film really does earn itself a grand old score of exactly a 7 out of 10 from me.

Now then as for where I personally got all of the images hat I personally used in this very review well then boys and girls and as well as ladies and gentlemen I personally got all of the images that I personally used in this very review from IMP Awards . Com and Google Images. With my personally preferred website to use to get the images from this very film that I used in this very post being the really great Google Images really simply just due to the fact that really alot of if not really all of the images that are all really from this very film with alot of them really being really better quality then what you'd really think of and all of the images are really of course up and really on Google Images really are also really all fairly high in quality and as well as them all being really fairly freaking high in definition.

Cosmic Princess Kaguya Film Review

Anime films are things that when there done well they can be really good and yet when there done badly they can be bland and forgettable. With the film that i'm going to be reviewing for you all today being somewhere in the middle as while it is a good film it doesn't take all of the risks that films like Akira and Ghost In The Shell took with the film being a very middle in the road type of film and so then join me as I review the film that tackles the world of streaming with the film in question being called simply just "Cosmic Princess Kaguya" enjoy.

The plot of this film when an overworked teenager finds herself looking after an alien being that wants to be a streamer she has to quickly grow up. Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual plot that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual plot that that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film was in all honesty not that bad with the plot of this film being one that can at times be fun but at the same time it also doesn't take enough risks with it's plot with it being very predictable as you can tell where this film is going right from the moment that it starts which is something that does make this films plot feel pointless but at the same time tho this films plot is one that can be seen as being really fun yet it's also not the kind of plot that you'd expect to see in a film rather it's the kind of plot that would work alot more better as the plot of a TV show as the films plot is very thin at best yet it is something that would work a whole more better as the plot of a TV show as then the plot doesn't have to be focused on all that much due to the episodic nature of a TV show and yet here whilst the plot does retain it's episodic nature it's really nothing that works all that well for a film as in a film you expect the plot to get alot more focus then what it really gets in this film with it really feeling like that this films plot is playing an afterthought to it's songs as it really feels like that the makers of the film wrote the songs first and put more effort into them then they did the films plot with the plot of the film not really being really rather entertaining and nor is it really rather engaging either in my freaking opinions anyways / at least.

Starring in this film is Dawn M. Bennett as Iroha Sakayori , Jeannie Tirado as Kaguya and Ryan Bartley as Yachiyo Runami. Also starring in this film is A.J. Beckles as Rai Komazawa , Anairis Quiñones as Mami Isayama and Otako The Loyal Dog , Casey Mongillo as Noi Komazawa , Cassandra Morris as Fushi , Inudoge and Roka Ayatsumugi , Kieran Regan as Koto Okotteru and Max Mittelman as Akira Mikado.

Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual acting that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual acting that that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film was in all honesty alot more better then what it really had any to be. With this films acting being alot more better then what it really should have been as nobody expects good acting in a Netflix anime film and yet that's exactly what we got in this film with it being made clear as day that the makers of this film really did cast the best possible actors for this film and yet at the same time thus films acting oddly feels like it's not as good as it perhaps could have been either as while this films actors aren't phoning in their performance by any means the actors oddly don't feel right for the parts with them all giving there characters the types of voices that you typically see in Netflix dubs which in this case does do alot more harm then good as it just reminds you that your watching a Netflix anime dub and really nothing more then that with the best actor in this film being Dawn M. Bennett as she has to get across the fact tat she's playing a confused character who is somehow emotionless all through her voice and that is something that she does do really well with her performance being a true highlight for the film with the acting that's in this film not really being helped by the fact that the films script is just so bad as it gives none of this films actors absolutely nothing to work with interms of what it is that there actual characters personalities are even meant to be in the first place which is something that really does hurt the overall quality of the acting that's in this very film.

Doing the animation for this film is the legends and the really greats that are currently over at Studio Chromato and Studio Colorido. Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual animation that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual animation that that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film was in all honesty really good with the films animation being really nice to look at which is something that does make alot of sense as alot of anime films do have really nice looking animation to them with the film having the kind of detail that is known in anime as it does look like that you can read all of the signs that we see in the film and yet when the film goes into this virtual world with the characters the animation and the character designs do look a little bit flat when compared to there real world counterparts as there's no imagination in those designs when given that this film does take place in the virtual world which is something that does allow for the film to go wild with it's character designs and yet they play it safe by giving us designs that they know a few people will love and while the films characters do have these really fluid movements to them the characters do look a little bit stilted when it comes to the films musical numbers which is where the films animation does start to look a little bit cheap but at the same time tho you can see that there is a lot of love and effort put into this films animation as you can see all of the sweat and tears from the films animators in each and every frame of the film.

The film does give alot of thought to the world of streaming however it oddly plays it as something that pretty much guarantees fame and makes it look easy when it is anything but. As while the film does highlight alot of the work that goes into creating just one stream what the film doesn't tell you is that if you want to get somewhat well known or even get a regular audience then you have to be streaking for several hours for alot of days of the week and then maybe just maybe if you carry on doing that then you might be able to make it big but you also have to sacrifice alot of time with your friends and family just to make your dreams come true and yet this film really doesn't highlight any of that and to be fair it really doesn't need to as alot of the people who would be watching this film in the first place would know all of that in the first place and given that this is a fantasy film it is also believable that a newby streamer would be able to reach a level of success after barely being a streamer for a long time when it would have been more realistic to show her struggle and to show her question what type of content that she wants to stream in the first place as Kaguya gets all of her fame and success pretty much right after her first stream and while that is something that wouldn't happen in real life it is something that does work for the type of film that this is as it's clear that this film is one that's not bound by what would happen in real life as that would then call into question why the characters are singing songs every five minuets but it is something that should gave been mentioned even if it's just as joke made by one of the characters just to highlight how hard it is to make it as a streamer.

One of the key ideas behind this film is the relationship that people might have with their mother be that in a positive or in a negative way. As at the the start of the film it's revealed that Iroha and her mother are estranged due to the fact that her mother would control every single aspect of her life and yet over the course of the film she finds herself both saying and and acting like her mother when she was living with her and yet she still somehow manages to be a really good mother figure to Kaguya in her own right as while she is hard on her be it for spending to much money or for not cleaning up after herself she also goes to great lengths into helping her achieve her dream of becoming a streaming star even it means putting her own dreams of going to a prestigious university on hold with it being obvious that Kaguya really does look up to Iroha as her mother which was something that does make sense as it then allowed for Iroha to show of her more softer and caring side and also to help to show Iroha herself what it means to be a mother and while she might not forgive her mother for how she acted when she was living with her it does give a new understanding on how hard it can be to be a mother with the only thing that lets this down being the fact that the we don't get a scene with Iroha and her mother as then we could see Iroha make it up to her mother as she would have been able to see her in a different light but for one reason or another the makers of this film instead chose to include a scene like that when it would have made alot of sense to include that scene given te fact that one of the key themes of the film is all about motherhood.

This film is a musical with the songs being songs produced by six Vocaloid producers with there not being any list of who wrote what song in the film. With this film feeling like an advertisement for the films soundtrack as they stop the film to have a song every five to ten minuets which is a bit much for a musical as it leaves no time for us the audience to catch out breathes and heck you could even say that the film has music videos in it due to the fact that the film does take alot of breaks just for the songs when there could have been a much more organic way of including the songs in this film with the fact that it has quite alot of sings in it being something that could be seen as being annoying as they don't advance the story or the characters as there just there for the sake of their being a song number there and while the film does try to include some of them in organic ways by having the character of Kaguya putting on a concert in the virtual world where it would make sense for them to have a song the film would nine times out of ten just start a random montage and have a song play over it even tho they've just had a musical number and while fair enough they might have had a soundtrack to sell but that doesn't mean that they have to stop the film in order to tell a song just look at any Disney animated film from the nineties as good examples of how to integrate the songs into the film have them advance the plot and characters of the film as films like The Lion King or Aladdin for example would feel incomplete without there songs and yet here in this film you can cut out alot of the montage sequences and not miss anything that's important to the films plot with none of this films songs being that good as there all just the same type of song where someone sings about being happy which is fine for one song but when there all about that it does start to get a bit boring after a while.

Now then this film has / had an exact grand total running time of exactly two hours and twenty two minuets and three seconds. With this film being alot more longer then what it really should have been as by all rights this film should have been around one hour and thirty minuets and not over two hours long with the film not even having the right amount of plot there to cover that amount of running time as the film only has about as much plot to cover one hour and thirty minuets and that's it heck the film even lasts longer then what it should it have been as when you think that the film is wrapping up it then carries on again for another fifteen minuets with this not being helped by the fact that this film doesn't even use it's running time all that wisely as the film film doesn't even take the time to fully develop it's plot as the film spends alot more time in giving us song after song which takes up screen time that could have been better spent in fully developing it's plot as the plot does feel more like an afterthought to the films songs where as if this was a TV show then the plot would get more of a chance to be more fully developed then what it is in this film and heck the film doesn't take the time to fully develop it's characters as all of the films characters come across as being very dull and boring characters with even main characters like Iroha and Kaguya not getting the character development that they should have gotten and while this might be fine for a TV show as then you could always argue that the characters would get there character development in other episodes given that this is a film then there should have been more of focus o plot and character development and less of a focus on giving us alot of songs but I really will admit that this film really does have some really good pacing to it tho.

So now then as this is a comedy that really does mean that I have to actually talk about the actual comedy that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought  felt that the actual comedy that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film was in all honesty not that bad. With the film telling some decent jokes with Kaguya alot of the time nearly all of which re funny but it's the fact that the film the uses the kind of zany animation that you'd expect to find in Looney Tunes film that oddly holds the comedy back as while yes granted there are times where the animation does enhance the comedy there are also alot of time where the animation feels like it's holding it back and stopping rom being as funny as it could have been in the first place with the best joke in the film being when Kaguya first starts spending time with Iroha and her friends as all Kaguya does is eat pancakes which she says are better then the ones that Iroha makes which is something that does cause Iroha to grab Kaguya and run out of the cafe which was a nice a little joke and given that Kaguya is quite literally from a different planet it does make sense that she would find earth foods all the more tasty to eat and with Iroha it makes sense that she run it out in what can only be described in a way that's Sonic meets Looney Tunes as she is a pretty stuck up character who does have a good heart but really can't afford all that much with Kaguya getting alot of the films best jokes as she does come across as being a really hyperactive character who can make anything in this film be really funny in my freaking opinions anyways / at least.

Overall this is a hard to film as while it's clearly not that good of a film it's also not that bad either as there is alot of love and passion put into this film but if the makers of this film were willing to take alot more risks with the film instead of playing it safe then the film might have ended up being alot more better then what it actually is in my freaking opinions anyways / at least. Now then i've talked about all of the good and as well as all of the bad things that are in this very film in this very film in this very review and a such that really does mean that this very film really does earn itself a grand old score of exactly a 5 out of 10 from me.

Now then as for where I personally got all of the images that I personally used in this very review well then boys and girls ad as well as ladies and gentlemen I personally got all of the images that I personally used in this very review from IMP Awards . Com and Google Images. With my personally preferred website to use to get the images from this very episode that I used in this very review being the really great Google Images really simply just due to the fact that really alot of if not really all of the images that are all really from this very episode with alot of them being really better quality then what you'd really think of and all of the images are really of course up and really on Google Images are also really all fairly high in quality and as well as them all being really fairly freaking high in definition.

The Colors Within Film Review

Anime is a medium that has the power to touch you and to make you feel things that you didn't know you could feel. Such was the case with this films directors previous film and yet it's something that they do try to replicate in the film that i'm going to be talking to you all about today and it's a film that i've personally been excited to watch as I love A Silent Voice and I thought that the director of that film did a great job and so to hear that they had a new film out of course i'm going to be excited about it and so then join me as I review the film that is all about colors with the film in question being called simply just "The Colors Within" enjoy.

The plot of this film Totsuko a girl who can see people as colors finds herself drawn to the mysterious Kimi but when she tells her that she can play piano the two end up forming a band with Rui and find themselves confronting there own drama. Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual plot that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual plot that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film was in all honesty really good with this films plot being as strong as it could have been as the setup for the film doesn't really allow for a strong film plot with this films plot feeling like it would be better suited for the plot of an anime TV series then an anime film as the plot is just so wafer thin at best that it is hard to tell just what the main plot of the film is meant to be at times with this being something that does sadly keep the film from being an enjoyable watch as you do spend half the time wondering what the plot of the film is meant to be and the other half working out ways to make the film better and while this films does focus of it's plot on just the three main characters it doesn't take the time to actually makes us care about them with the same thing even being true for the films plot as the film doesn't end in a natural way it just stops which is something that does do a disservice to it's plot as this is a plot that would have worked so much more better if it was the plot of anime TV series and not an anime film with the plot of this film not really being really rather enjoyable and nor is it really rather engaging either in my freaking opinions anyways / at least.

Starring in this film is Libby Rue as Totsuko Higurashi and Belle star Kylie McNeill as Kimi Sakunaga. Also starring in this film is Eddy Lee as Rui Kagehira , Pokémon Black & White star Eileen Stevens as Sister Hiyoshiko , Hinano Kuzukawa as Saku Momochi , Eden Harker as Shiho Nanakubo , Maxine Wanderer as Sumika Yatsushika and Burn-Up Excess and The Queen's Corgi star Lani Minella as Shino Sakunaga.

Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual acting that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual acting that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film was in all honesty really good. With all of this films actors being really good and even tho this review is being based off of the dubbed version of the film these actors were still really good in the film with them all turning in some fairly solid performances in the film with it being a bold choice to not go with established names for the films cast and instead cast more unknown for little known names for the films lead roles which is something that does pay off as it makes it easier to see the character and not just hear the actor something which the film very easily could have done if it went with bigger named stars for the lead roles with the films best actor being Libby Rue who just brings a certain authenticity to the character of Totsuko and which is something that does help to make this film character unique and stand out on her own and infact this film is perhaps this actors biggest role as her only other big role was the lead role in the Disney Jr show Alice's Wonderland Baker and you can tell that she has a bright future ahead of her as the two characters sound nothing alike and yet she brings the same amount of charm to both of them with the acting that's in this film not really being helped by the fact that the script for this film is just so bad as it gives none of this films actors absolutely nothing to work with interms of what it is that there characters personalities are even meant to be in the first place which is something that really does harm the overall quality of the acting that's in this very film.

Doing the animation for this film is the legends and the really greats that are currently over at Science SARU. Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual animation that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual animation that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film was in all honesty really good with this film going for a picture book type of look to it as the whole film does look like something that you'd see in a book that you'd read to little kids before bedtime which is in no way a bad thing as the film does have this rather relaxing nature to it something which does come through in the films animation as the film makes great use of having these rather simple designs for all of the characters and by having less detail in the films backgrounds which yes granted does have the adverse effect of making the film look more cheap then what it actually is but it is also something that does add alot of charm to the film as well with the characters having alot of really fluid movements to them which is something that does come alive during the films ending musical number which is were we get to see the film at it's most colorful which is the biggest issue with the film as while A Silent Voice played around with it's animation to great effect this film doesn't really take full advantage of the fact that it's leading character sees people as colors which is something that could have led to some really crazy and creative visuals something which the film sadly doesn't do but in all fairness tho this films animation is still solid with or without that little addition.

As was just mentioned A Silent Voice has fun with it's visuals by having the main male character see all of the other characters with X's all over there face. Yet when this film cuts to the POV of Totsuko they don't do anything like that when given the fact that she sees people as colors it would have made for a more visually interesting film if we got to see what things look like from her perspective like for example whenever a character is feeling cool and relaxed they could appear blue and when there feeling angry or upset they appear red just something like that would have made the film a more visual treat to watch and while yes A Silent Voice was based off of a manga something which wasn't the case for the film that means that the makers of this film could have done whatever they wanted to make the film alot more visually interesting instead of just going with more muted colors alot of the time and heck it could even be argued that by now showing us what things look like from Totsuko's point of view that it makes her appear to be a really dull character as she stays the same character all throughout the film where as if we got to see the world how she sees it and see how lying to her teachers affects how she views the world like maybe the colors co8ld become more muted the more lies that she tells instead of having of keeping it all the same and then when she tells the truth to them more colors start to come back into the world thus showing that she's grown as a character when you have a character that sees the world in a way that allows you to have these more visually interesting scenes then why not take as full advantage of that as you can do as that is something that would only make your film be all the more better in the first place.

In what was a rather odd move for a dubbed anime is that while must anime that gets dubbed and that features the characters singing songs the singing never ever gets dubbed or it very rarely ever gets dubbed. Yet in this film the entire song sequence near the end of the film gets completely dubbed into English which was something that I wasn't expecting to see in the film and while it adds nothing to the film as a whole as the film would have worked just as well in the singing remained in Japanese it is something that does let you know that the makers of this dubbed version of the film were willing to go the extra mile and give us the whole film dubbed where as shows like the entire Love Live franchise for example they never dubbed the songs and singing is a bigger part of that franchise then it is this film with the songs themselves not really being anything special heck it's even quite hard to tell just what it is that the songs are even about in the first place but what did stand out was Kylie McNeill's singing was really good as she does have a great voice and while the lyrics are nothing special the fact that the makers of this film went through the trouble of dubbing the songs in the first place is something truly special to behold but it's let down by the fact that none of the songs are that memorable as they take up a huge portion of the ending of the film with there being three songs sung back to back all just because a character that one member of the band lied to can then come and see them performing together and that's it and that's not really something that requires three songs to do as you could have out the other two songs and just have all three of those characters walk into the concert that the band are having at the same time and it would still play out the exact same way.

The films main friendship between Totsuko and Kimi is one that could be viewed in alot of different ways with some viewers viewing there relationship as that of lovers. Which is a fine and totally valid way to see it as the film does present us with many different ways to view there bond like for example I personally see them as being nothing more then just good friends as all throughout the film we never once get to see them have any kind of romantic scene or a scene that could be viewed as such but what we do get to see is scenes with them becoming good friends and essentially telling each other through there music just how much they mean to each other with Totsuko viewing Kimi as like a cooler older sister type of character but on the other hand there are merits to viewing as something more then friends as well as the characters do get to spend alot of time together and when they are together you do get the feeling that one if not both of them might have romantic feelings for the other but it's the fact that none of them share a romantic scene or even disclose there feelings to each other in that way that does make that something that's hard to buy into especially when there's alot more evidence of them being nothing more then just good friends and heck even when Kimi is about to confess to her Grandma about all the lying that she's done it's Totsuko who asks if she wants her to come with her for emotional support and that doesn't seem like somethin that you'd do if you weren't good friends with someone and given the fact that none of the characters even Rui gets to have any kind of romantic feelings towards the other it does feel like that both Kimi and Totsuko are meant to be nothing more then just good friends and that's really it.

Now then this film has . had an exact grand total running time of exactly one hour and forty one minuets and fourteen seconds. Which to be fair to this film is a perfectly solid running time for this film to have with the film having more then enough there interms of plot to really cover that amount of running time in the first place and while the film doesn't really use it's running time all that wisely in the first place as it doesn't take the time to fully develop it's plot it really doesn't have to as due to the sheer nature of the film feeling like a loose series of scenes just edited together with the film being more focused on showing all three character bond and become friends then it is in giving us a well developed with this even being something that does effect the films character development as none of the films really go through anything to really earn any character development with this main being due to the fact that the film does feel like it would have been better of a being a TV series then a feature length film as then you could have as long as you need to tell your story which would then allow you to have episodes that do further develop the plot and that do make the characters come across as being more three dimensional and yet due to the fact that with a film you can't really be that long that is something that does mean that things like plot and character development can't done in this film and yet if the film was a TV show then it would have worked out alot more better as things would have alot more room to breathe and develop at a more natural pace then what they do in the film and heck even the films characters would have the chance to be more defined something that just isn't the case in the film but I really will admit that this film really does have some really good pacing to it tho.

So now then as this is a drama that really does mean that I have to actually talk about the actual drama that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual drama that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film was in all honesty not that bad. As when it wants to this film can have some really good drama that does feel very true to the characters yet at the same time tho the film really doesn't really build up to anything with anything that you think might make a big dramatic moment in the film being something that gets resolved right away which is something that does make it pointless for this film to be a drama as you could have made it a musical or a comedy and the film would play out the exact same way with there not really being a dramatic moment that stands out in the film as the resolves all drama as soon as it starts it as you'd think that there would be a big dramatic blowup when Totsuko tells Kimi that she can't play piano but no the film treats it as if it's nothing with the same thing being true for when both Rui and Kimi's parents find out that they've both been lying to them but again that gets brushed aside with the same thing kind of being true for when it's discovers that Totsuko has been lying to the teachers at her school as while she does get punished for it it's not treated as anything big for her character whereas as this is a drama film there really should have been that big dramatic moment that forces all of the characters to learn and grow from their mistakes with this again being something that could have worked if this was a show and not a film in my freaking opinions anyways / at least.

Overall it's been said quite a many a time in this review but this film as good as it is is something that would have worked much more better as a TV show then a film as while the film is still good it would have been alot more better if it was a TV show and not a feature length film in my freaking opinions anyways / at least. Now then i've talked about all of the good and as well as all of the bad things that are in this very film in this very review and as such that really does mean that this very fil really does earn itself a grand old score of exactly a 7 out of 10 from me.

Now then as for where I personally got all of the images that I personally used in this very review well then boys an girls and as well as ladies and gentlemen I personally got all of the images that I personally used in this very review from IMP Awards . Com and Google Images. With my personally preferred website to use to get the images from this very film that I used in this very review being the really great Google Images really simply just due to the fact that really alot of if not really all of the images that are all really from this very film with alot of them really being really better quality then what you'd really think of and all of the images are really of course up and really on Google Images really are also really all fairly high in quality and as well as them all being really fairly freaking high in definition.

Love Live School Idol Project "First Live" Review

Anime much like music can make you feel different things depending on what it is your listening to or watching at the point in time. With them both also going together really well with a good example of this being the Love Live franchise as even tho it did start life before it became an anime thanks to the anime we now have not only several different series all of which bare the Love Live name but also quite a few different movies as well and well I thought that i'd take a look at one of the episodes from the very first series of the show and so then join me as I review the episode that see the girls realise a hard truth with the episode in question being called simply just "First Live" enjoy.

The plot of this episode is Honoka , Umi and Kotori don't have that long to get ready for their first ever concert however they also have to deal with the fact that Umi suffers from stage fright. Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual plot that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual plot that's actually featured / presented to us in tis very episode was in all honesty not that bad. As while this episodes plot isn't that deep of a plot and is really quite simple that's something that does work well enough to not only this episodes advantage but to the series advantage as well as this is a show that really doesn't require a deep and thought provoking plot as all it needs is the basic set up for the episode and that's it and to be fair to this episode that's where this episode really does excel as it's set up is strong enough to support an entire episode as all it is is the girls not only getting ready for but also performing there first ever concert together and that's it and that's all this episode needed to be from a plot point of view and while yes it would have helped the episode out a little bit if the plot of the episode was a lot more stronger then what it is as it does feel like the main plot of the episode is fighting for screen time with the Umi subplot but in doing that it would rob the characters of the chance to showcase just why there so likable in the first place as every single scene not only wouldn't be that much fun to watch but would also be about advancing the plot of either the episode or the show as a whole with the plot of this episode also being really rather entertaining and as well as being really rather engaging as well in my freaking opinions anyways / at least.

Starring in this episode is Marieve Herington as Honoka Kosaka , Erica Lindbeck as Eli Ayase and Cristina Vee as Kotori Minami. Also starring in this episode is Kira Buckland as Umi Sonoda , Faye Mata as Rin Hoshizora , Caitlin Glass as Maki Nishikino , Laura Post as Nozomi Tojo , Xanthe Huynh as Hanayo Koizumi , Erica Mendez as Nico Yazawa , Mela Lee as Hideko , Natalie Hoover as Fumiko and Ryan Bartley as Mika.

Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual acting that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual acting that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode was in all honesty really good. With all of this episodes actors turning in some really good performances in their own right which is something that does make alot of sense as alot of the actors that are in this episode are a bunch of really good voice actors in their own right many of whom have more then made there mark in the world of anime voice acting an therefor it does make sense that they would turn in some really solid performances in this episode and while some of the voices do sound a little bit weird like for some reason they give Umi this raspy sounding voice which just doesn't suit her character at all the performances on the whole are really good with the best actor in this whole entire episode being Marieve Herington as while she does give Honoka a really generic sounding voice when a character like this does demand one that makes her strand out she does deliver a really solid performance in this episode with her acting in this episode making all of the jokes alot more funnier then what they should have been and the episodes emotional moment coming across as being really devastating and all of that is done just in her performance alone with the acting that's in this episode really being helped by the fact that this episodes script is just so good that all this episodes have to do is just say the lines as they are written and a good performance will come out of them naturally which is something that really does help to raise the overall quality of the acting that's in this very episode.

Doing the animation for this episode really is the legends and the great that are currently over at Sunrise. Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual animation that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode well then in all honesty I im all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual animation that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode was in all honesty not that bad with the animation having alot of nice attention to detail when it comes to the backgrounds as it does feel like that you can read every single sign that we can see in this episode and while the characters do have some stiff looking movements some of the time when it counts the most that's when the animation on the characters gets alot more better with the animation even mixing in 3D CGI animation as well for the episodes big song sequence at the end which does blend it really well with the 2D animation that's used in the rest of the episode as even tho the characters are done in 2D and the backgrounds in 3D or that one song sequence really can't tell that's done in CGI as it doesn't stand out in a bad way all that much and while yes the fact that the episode does have the camera do moves that you could only do in CGI during that sequence it doesn't change the fact that the two elements blend really well as by all rights the two elements should have worked well together at all but because of the fact that the studio that did the animation for this episode also did the animation for alot of the bands IRL songs as well you get the feeling that they really knew what they were doing because of the fact that they've worked with these characters and because of that they were able to pull of some really good looking pieces of animation in this episode.

One of the things that was really shocking to see in this episode weas the fact that they spend quite alot of the episodes running time of showing Umi suffering with stage fright. With this being something that shows like this would usually skip over because of the fact that the main purpose of a show like this is to get you to buy the CD and that's it and yet they full on show how it effects her as a character which was a really great move to make as we then get to see both Honoka and Kotori try to help her out in their own ways which was a great way of showing just how close this friend group really is as the episode very easily could have skipped over that plot line and have her get over it in just one scene but no the makers of this episode actually show her struggling through it all the way until the episodes final musical number which was a great move as it then allows for us the audience to really emphasize with Umi who up until this point in the series really hadn't been given alot of focus as a character with her usually being the very straightlaced one of the group and yet in this episode we get to see a whole over side of her character and while she doesn't quite get over her stage fright in this episode the very fact that the makers of this episodes even dared to show one of the characters struggling with something that alot of people do go through was a great move with it being something that oddly enough makes this show that was made with kids in mind feel more mature and adult then alot of shows that are aimed at an adult audience due to the fat that it was something that was tackled in a really mature way when they very easily could have taken the easy route and have it not really factor into the episode a whole lot then what it does in the final cut of the episode.

Coming from someone who watched both the sub and the dub when they both coming out what I really hated was the fact that they don't dub the songs in the episode. Which fair enough might have been a rights issue but in which case why go through the bother of getting the rights to the series when your not going to be getting the rights to the songs as all that means is we go from characters like Honoka for example speaking perfect American to her then suddenly perfect Japanese for no reason which makes no sense and while not dubbing songs isn't really an issue in anime where the songs are just playing in the background and therefor aren't meant to the focus of either the episode or the show in this show and in this episode it's the opposite that's true as the whole point of the episode is the girls performing their debut concert together so it would have made more sense for them to dub the all of the songs in the show into English due to the fact that alot of the songs do play a huge part in the show and while this isn't something that takes away from the episode and could be seen as being more of a nitpick then anything else it is something that could also be seen as being distracting as all it does it take you out of the episode when during this moment in the episode your meant to be the most invested in it and while the dubbing on the whole was really good apart from the fact that they tried to give Honoka a catchphrase for some weird reason it feels odd that the makers of this episode would choose not to dub one of the most important aspects of the episode if it turned out that they just couldn't find people who could sing the songs well enough that's another thing all together as it would show that an effort was made to try and dub this shows songs in the first place.

Speaking of the shows songs even tho it does technically have two songs with one song being played over a montage called "Private Wars" it's the episodes second song that's the better one. As the episodes second song is "Start: Dash" only instead of it being sung by all nine of the band it's now sung by just three members of the group with this version of the song being very well done and is oddly catchy and while it's hard to say who sung as there most likely members of the Japanese voice cast the singers for the song did a really good job of singing the song as well with all three of them really bringing the song to life and making it a really fun song in the first place with this being something that works well when you take into account that just before the song starts the episodes has a really good gut punching moment where the girls find out that despite all of the help that they got to promote the concert in the days leading up to the concert no one turned up for various other reasons something which does cause all three of them to start to break down and it's only when one audience member finally turns up that Honoka is finally convinced to carry on with the concert as planned which does result in this song being sung with the song not only being a really good song in it's own right but one that does serve as the perfect counterbalance for what we've just seen as it let's us the audience know that we can smile again something that just wouldn't have been possible if this song wouldn't have been included as the episode would then end on a bit of sour note with it being helped by the fact that the song is also really well written as well altho admittedly it's lyrics could come across as being a bit childish they are something that does work in the context of this episode.

Now then this has / had an exact grand total running time of exactly twenty three minuets and forty one seconds. Which again to be fair to this episode is pretty much the bogstandard running time not only for this show but also for alot of anime as well with this episode really having the right amount of plot thee to really cover that amount of running time but in saying this tho the episode really doesn't use it's running time all that wisely as neither the episodes plot or it's subplot get alot of development as there both fighting for screen time with each other when the subplot with Umi is something that's more then strong enough to support an entire episode in it's own right with the same thing also being true for the episodes main plot as well and yet by having both of them be in the same episode it does mean that both plots could have work well enough on there own are now fighting for screen time with neither one of them getting the development that they really did need in order to make them work all the more better because of it and while the characters don't get that much character development either that's not really a negative thing in this regard as it could very well be argued that the characters get there character development over the course of this first season of the show and with this episode being only the third episode of the show it does somewhat make sense that the characters wouldn't be given any kind of character development but in saying that tho it would have been nice if some of the characters did get some very small amounts of character development tho but I really will admit that this episode really does have some really good pacing to it tho. 

So now then as this is a comedy that really does mean that I have t actually talk about the actual comedy that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual comedy that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode was in all honesty not that bad. With all of this episodes being cure and funny jokes that all work because of the fact that they feel true to who the characters are which does make this episodes jokes feel very character driven and the kind of jokes that friends would genuinely do to each other as well which is something that makes all of the friendships in this show and in this episode in particular feel all the more real and the characters come across as being more like real people as a result of this with the best joke in this whole entire episode being when Umi finds out that the skirt for her outfit is above knee length which then results in her having a flashback to when she told a rather scared Kotori to make sure then the skirt on her outfit was above knee length which does make Umi come across as being quite scary but in context of the episode it is something that does come across as being quite funny and while the episode does have another cute joke with Rin scaring her friend and her locker the Umi joke just works all the more better because of the fact it is something that you could see that character doing this is despite the fact that the episode does have alot of really funny jokes all of which really do work in this episode because of the fact that the characters really are likable characters as well in my freaking opinions anyways / at least.

Overall it's really easy to see why this show lasted two series and a movie as this episode really is a good example of just how good that this show could be as it knows when to balance the comedy with the drama and when to just be flat out adorable to watch all of which are things that work really well in this episode in my freaking opinions anyways / at least. Now then i've talked about all of the good and as well as all of the bad things that are in this very episode in this very revue and as such that really does mean that this very episode really does earn itself a grand old score of exactly a 7.5 out of 10 from me.

Now then as for where I personally got all of the images that I personally used in this very review well then boys and girls and as well as ladies and gentlemen I personally got all of the images that I personally used in this very review from the official Love Live fandom wiki page and Google Images. With my personally preferred website to use to get the images from this very episode that I used in this very review being the really great the official Love Live fandom wiki page really simply just due to the fact that really alot of if not really all of the images that are all really from this very episode with alot of them being better quality then what you'd really think of and all of the images are really of course up and really on the official Love Live fandom wiki page are also really all fairly high in quality and as well as them all being really fairly freaking high in definition.