Memorable, crazy movie

It's no definitive masterpiece but it's damn close.

It was OK. I don't see why everyone loves it so much. It wasn't very smart or deep or well-directed.

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

Plot - There is no story. This is just slice-of-life. Its mostly pointless filler with people doing things. The only thing to keep this movie together is the time period. Problem is, they do nothing interesting with it and this movie is just boring. Characters - As long as people think that putting their characters in time periods that the audience knows are sad qualifies character development, I will be annoyed. This movie is over reliant on making sad things happen to the characters to gain the audience's sympathy. If you are the kind of person who sees people in ww2 suffering and automatically feels for them, then you will probably need a box of tissues while watching this movie. However, if you are the kind of person who needs well-developed (or at least semi-interesting) characters to make a movie worth your time, then I'd recommend giving this movie a pass. Translation - I watched this movie with Japanese audio and English subtitles. Its not that great. The voice acting is pretty bad, and what they're saying for the most part isn't very interesting and doesn't feel like real dialogue. Animation - Whoever is staying that this film is unique in its art style clearly doesn't watch a lot of animation. The character designs are so generic that they are hard to tell apart at times. I'm not sure that the artists fully understood how to draw people. The proportions are all wrong, and no-one looks like the age they are supposed to be. The only times the animation is someone good is when it changes to look like the girl's drawings. That only takes up a total of like 30 seconds in this 2hour+ long film, so its not worth watching for that. There are so many other animated films that have more interesting art and stories that this one really isn't worth the watch. Overall, this movie is really boring and I wouldn't recommend it. The only reason it is set during ww2 is so that people will go "oh you don't like it because its sad" or to say that you're insensitive or whatever. Honestly this movie could've been great if they didn't go with the first draft.

I would divide this anime into two parts: the first one was dedicated to the girl's early life, marriage and family. The second, the most emotional one, focuses on how simple citizens were affected by the war. The story itself is simple, with no as much of a surprise as to what will happen. But, because it's humane and simple, it captures the audience's attention. Easy to follow and easy to sympathise with the heroes, the movie doesn't overdo it with the war horrors, though the bombing scenes were too long. But, then again, maybe they had to in order to show what the civilians had to go through. I also enjoyed the fact that it wasn't just a historical film, but it also followed the girl's story and her relationship with her new family and her husband. One thing that didn't work for me, however, was that at some points the movie just rushed things and got a bit confusing, like showing one scene after the other. But, overall, a great movie, so 7 out of 10.

I have previously seen the harrowing Japanese anime Grave of the Fireflies (1988) which depicted the horrors of World War II on Japanese civilians. This brilliant film remains the only Studio Ghibli film to not be distributed by Disney – it was too disturbing for them. With In This Corner Of The World we have a new take on the subject of life in wartime Japan. While this one did not have the impact of the earlier movie for me, it was still a very impressive bit of work. It specifically follows a family in the year leading up to the 6th of August 1945 when the Enola Gay dropped the atomic bomb on the city of Hiroshima. The action, however, takes place in Kure, a city nearby.The war is very much in the periphery of the story. Ominously hovering in the background with battleships silently moving into the harbour, military police active on the ground and air raids occurring regularly by the American military. While the horrors of war do escalate, much of the run-time is devoted to the family drama and this is perhaps the one weakness of the film, as the domestic drama isn't entirely compelling and a bit meandering. It means that we don't get as involved with the characters as much as we should and it could perhaps have been trimmed down a little at the very least. However, this negative has to be offset by the positive in the way that the story does examine the lives of ordinary people during this time. We also have the constant advance of time towards what we know to be that fateful August day and knowing what is to come actually generates even more tension than not knowing. When the moment finally arrives, it is understated in a way that is incredibly sinister. A silent white flash, a tremor and then a huge odd-looking cloud in the distance. It is a far cry from the usual way in which nuclear strikes are depicted in films but its very distance and unspectacular presentation creates a curious melancholic and depressing feeling which was quite powerful I thought. The artwork throughout is beautiful – this is a film which could easily pass itself off as a Ghibli product – and it doesn't pull its punches when it depicts some of the horrors of the aftermath of the 'new bomb'. Overall, this is another powerful and artistically strong bit of animation from Japan.

This is my first anime film and I am glad I chose it. It combined a good (if meandering at times) story, excellent animation, unique art, and appropriate history together to produce a wonderful (if long) film. The characters do not take advantage of the medium except in dream sequences or when something untoward occurs. This keeping the film in reality is one of its strengths. Another strength is what I feel to be the accurate portrayal of Japanese citizens during the war. I have read a great deal and feel this might actually be a very good teaching tool about the hardships and loyalty born by the Japanese people during WW2. And, finally, with my limited knowledge of Japanese culture, I thought this offered a valuable insight into how the culture works and what is important to the people. For all these reasons, plus the beautiful animation and art in the film, I am glad this was my first experience with anime.