Nerawareta Gakuen (Sunrise, movie)

[Kaoru Chujo]

Better something wonderful that is a bit confused than the shallow dreck that most anime give us. This was one of the best watches for me in recent months. Of course, I speak as someone who loves romance and thinks that most shounen is stupid, whereas most shoujo makes sense. The emotions in this show worked, which is more than I can say for a lot of other anime.

Now, I too have some reservations. Exactly how the moon can be more liveable than the Earth, no matter how wrecked, is hard to imagine.

And the attempts to imitate Shinkai's backgrounds, although wonderful to look at, entirely lacked the haiku-like immediate reality that Shinkai somehow manages to convey. But the drawing and animation of the people was excellent. Especially the girls' limbs.

Really, this seems like Sunrise doing Shinkai. And pretty well, although quite different in spirit from the Master himself.

However, the greatest thing about the show was the theme song: Gin-iro Hikousen, by Koeda singing with supercell. I've heard it before, but it fit so beautifully with the show. The director liked it, too, leaking it into the action at the beginning, and then ending the whole show with it at the end. It's official: Koeda is godly.

[Goty]

Originally Posted by Pocari_Sweat

Quite disappointing. Talking about Shinkai... seriously, he somewhat disappointed me with Garden of Words and but this ended up being like 3x worse.

?? I don't get it...Makoto Shinkai has nothing to do with this movie.

[Pocari_Sweat]

Originally Posted by Kaoru Chujo

Better something wonderful that is a bit confused than the shallow dreck that most anime give us. This was one of the best watches for me in recent months. Of course, I speak as someone who loves romance and thinks that most shounen is stupid, whereas most shoujo makes sense. The emotions in this show worked, which is more than I can say for a lot of other anime.

Now, I too have some reservations. Exactly how the moon can be more liveable than the Earth, no matter how wrecked, is hard to imagine.

And the attempts to imitate Shinkai's backgrounds, although wonderful to look at, entirely lacked the haiku-like immediate reality that Shinkai somehow manages to convey. But the drawing and animation of the people was excellent. Especially the girls' limbs.

Really, this seems like Sunrise doing Shinkai. And pretty well, although quite different in spirit from the Master himself.

If the second half of the film wasn't so entrenched into Sci-fi, time-travelling, alternative universe babble I would be more inclined to agree you since myself I do like Shojo more than Shonen (not as much as you though ) but that trainwreck of a premise was just too much. Best is still josei however :3. It was trying way too damn hard by trying to do everything - exaggerate the visuals with sakura and lens flare spam, exaggerate the drama by making it way too theatrical rather than enhanced realism, tackon plot that made as much sense as [insert any trainwreck anime here].

Shinkai in contrast, whilst romanticized, usually poetic, understated and subtle in his direction, which was part of the reason why Garden of Words pissed me off because towards the end it went full out melodrama which is not what he usually does.

However, the greatest thing about the show was the theme song: Gin-iro Hikousen, by Koeda singing with supercell. I've heard it before, but it fit so beautifully with the show. The director liked it, too, leaking it into the action at the beginning, and then ending the whole show with it at the end. It's official: Koeda is godly.

Agreed. When I heard that song at the start of the film I was like "Oooh. Am I going to get a good romance/drama anime for once". Alas that got destroyed quickly in the second half . Koeda is still inferior to Nagi or Choucho though

Originally Posted by Goty

?? I don't get it...Makoto Shinkai has nothing to do with this movie.

He doesn't. But the visuals in this film are very much trying to mimick him. Except it was way too excessive.

[DragoonKain3]

Wadafuq did I just watch? All I know is Mayuyu was adoreable (though her song was underwhelming compared to the main theme), HanaKana was outstanding as always, and that TVTropes is wrong on a certain trope. Definitely need to sleep on it and give it a rewatch.

[Kaoru Chujo]

Originally Posted by Pocari_Sweat

...Best is still josei however :3....

Agreed.

...It was trying way too damn hard by trying to do everything....

Agreed, although for me the emotions and the joy/despair came through despite the ham-handedness.

...Shinkai in contrast, whilst romanticized, usually poetic, understated and subtle in his direction, which was part of the reason why Garden of Words pissed me off because towards the end it went full out melodrama which is not what he usually does....

For me, the story in Shinkai is usually the weaker part, overwhelmed by the glorious combination of surface and depth provided by the visuals and music. I was glad that in Garden of Words he tried to be a bit sharper and clearer, even if it didn't quite work.

..(re Koeda)...When I heard that song at the start of the film I was like "Oooh. Am I going to get a good romance/drama anime for once". Alas that got destroyed quickly in the second half . Koeda is still inferior to Nagi or Choucho though

At least we are talking the same language. Nagi and ChouCho are both great. But I find Koeda's talent masterful. She's just 16, and does go overboard, zooming around trying every trick in her enormous bag of tricks, but I just love it. Ryo said that she is like a human sound mixer, doing various takes and then able to remember every aspect of them and pick the best features of each when she sings her final version. I adore her own solo stuff (writes and plays guitar), which she publishes on Sound Cloud.

[Lantern]

Originally Posted by iceaco

Anyways, I do have a few questions,

Spoiler:

So Kenji didn't keep Kyogoku in the current era? And Harukawa's pretty much ditched?
How is Kyogoku related to kenji? His alternate future self? His alternate-universe half-brother? If i guess it close.. who's Ken's little sister? Is she a psychic? She was floating - I thought she was gonna be deleted.

Spoilers

Spoiler for approx. plot, at least I think it is

Sorry; dynamic content not loaded. Reload?

That's all the things I remember from spoilers. Hope it helps... maybe

I highly recommend NOT taking the plot seriously though

[Guardian Enzo]

You know, I really wanted to like this. It looked pretty, it had an interesting premise, it seemed ambitious. But boy, there was just no "click" with me.

I have no problem with being influenced by Shinkai - if you're going to copy someone, copy the best. But stop with the damn flower petals already! If Shinkai is Van Gogh, this was dogs playing poker. Simply put, Nerewareta Gakuen was trying way, way too hard - you can't capture what Shinkai does with sheer volume of sakura, birds and trains. It comes off as crass and clumsy rather than an homage.

As for the story, I would say the same thing in some ways - trying too hard. It starts off promisingly but the moment Natsuki walks on screen the long decline begins. Are there still people who find that abusive osananajimi trope funny in this day and age? Everything on the interpersonal side is a cliche, and the sci-fi side of the story is, charitably, a mess. I think there's the core of an interesting idea here but the execution is incredibly uneven.

It's a shame, too, because it's nice to see Honjou Yuutaro - who was so great in Eureka Seven: AO - get a major film role. He's good here but deserved a lot better. KanaHana gives her stock performance and Ono Daisuke sounds quite silly and badly miscast. The performances are mostly in-line with the writing and direction - just too much. I think there was the possibility of something quite interesting here, but way too many missteps in the execution.

[cyth]

I think Sunrise was banking on the possibility that the audience would enjoy it ironically.

[Dop]

I assumed the whole phone thing was that they were causing some kind of psychic interference and banning them made it easier to find potential candidates.

[Aten]

Originally Posted by Lantern

Spoilers

Spoiler for approx. plot, at least I think it is

Sorry; dynamic content not loaded. Reload?

That's all the things I remember from spoilers. Hope it helps... maybe

I highly recommend NOT taking the plot seriously though

nice analysis, however I think Kahori does remember Kyogoku at the end. When he transforms into the hourglass, you can see the look of realization on her face.

Also I think Kenji has loved Natsuki all along, he just never realized it

[mican]

As for the story, I would say the same thing in some ways - trying too hard. It starts off promisingly but the moment Natsuki walks on screen the long decline begins. Are there still people who find that abusive osananajimi trope funny in this day and age? Everything on the interpersonal side is a cliche, and the sci-fi side of the story is, charitably, a mess. I think there's the core of an interesting idea here but the execution is incredibly uneven.

The way I viewed characters was something that was needed to be inherent. Understanding their roles, they were intended to be cliche and honest in that regard as they introduced the different and charismatic transfer student who would inevitably have a crucial part in the story( that is, the idea of a special person affecting the lives of normal people ). I feel many many people misunderstand this movie by criticizing points other than the real story they were tying to portray within the frame of the setting. I am quite a critic myself. Whenever I see any generic character or theme I lose interest. But in this case, the movie was something I could accept. That is because I get the impression the creators intended for these characters. Its different from normal anime where characters are made with the philosophy of distinct and original, but fail.

Judging from the reviews I could tell it was another "Eureka Seven movie(ambiguous and not directly evident)" so I payed close attention. Overall I felt the story flowed well and I understood the love story that was portrayed. The thing about this movie is you shouldn't criticize the foundation of the story(as in, questioning how they could live on the moon ), but accept it as the reality of the world of that specific anime. Looking at it that way and simply viewing the story within, I found it much more enjoyable than I probably would have without that mentality. Personally the execution was fluid imo. Well perhaps im just being lenient because ive been going on a romance anime withdrawal.
-----------------------------------------------------

When he transforms into the hourglass, you can see the look of realization on her face.

He didn't transform into an hourglass, he left the past is probably more accurate. After Seki restored ryouichi to his proper time in the future, ryouichi used a animal as a medium and traveled with seki once more to the past. After seki arrived, ryouichi left again. Also for those playing close attention,ryouichis animal medium had hair that resembled ryouichi's hair in human form, giving an indication it was actually him and not the first animal who had a different animal hairstyle. I guess the fact the crystal was restored was a sign everything went okay. Also I dont think she realized that was ryouichi completely.I dont know much japanese but Seki said "Omai dake" which means only you. He said in full " Huh? Thats weird, this was supposed to make only you remember me ". Well thats a guess.Its also possible that the animal disappearing and leaving the crystal struck a chord of familiarity in her. But judging from the incomplete reaction, she didnt remember him fully

----------------------------

I assumed the whole phone thing was that they were causing some kind of psychic interference and banning them made it easier to find potential candidates.

When the potential psychics had their power awakened, they became pretentious. Believing that the communication with cell phones was unnecessary and simply a tool to lie with ( also a situational reference to the cell phone incident that happened last year at the school in nerawareta gakuen). Their actions became more extreme and they took over the school council to ban cell phones,subjugating the normal students to their personal ideals.

[germanturkey]

The Girl Who Leapt Through Time on steroids. I absolutely loved it. I'll post my thoughts later, as it is 2am here. There were scenes where I laughed out loud, scenes where I cheered, scenes where I clapped, and scenes where I cried. absolutely stellar movie.



that's not too far off from how I felt through the whole thing.

also, you guys may have missed the "reset" they ended up pulling. the talk about the Midsummer's night dream and the spell that was cast. when its over, no one remembers anything. the source of the spell, ryouichi, left, so everyone forgot about everything.

[brocko]

I guess I'm a little bit more forgiving than most since I still enjoyed the film for what it was worth, even despite all its flaws and shortcomings (who people seem so hellbent on pointing out and persecuting it on that i might add lol).

I can relate to a lot of the criticism in regards to the plot and sci-fi elements though. The sci-fi aspects I felt to be slightly underwritten and came off as a way to conveniently orchestra events as desired. But I guess it's a little bit of a double edged sword here since they probably didn't want to devote extra time for out-of-place and ill-fitting expositions (especially with an already above average run time).

This is what I think hurts the film most, a confusing and ill-explained narrative (for first time viewers anyway) that draws attention away from the films overall strong point, the romance and love story between its characters. The sci-fi aspects were more second fiddle than anything imo, the main focus and attraction was always going to be love story, I feel. That's not to say they completed shafted the narrative and sci-fi portion of the film though, since there's certainly enough clue-dropping to try and read between the lines and put things together by oneself, although having prior knowledge about the world and its setting would've definitely helped. I can perhaps venture that because it was a sequel it was intended that the audience should've already had knowledge of all this stuff in the first place. It was just unfortunate that most didn't lol (props to Lantern for laying everything out to enlighten us all btw )

On the rather slap-stick like nature of the film at times. I'm actually glad that the film embraces this aspect of the animation medium and doesn't try to pretend that it's something that it's not. Things such as that trial scene would've been downright absurd when translated to live action so I'm glad that the film was able to recognise and take advantage of it's medium to the fullest. I mean it's stuff like this that makes anime unique after all

[cyth]

Stuff like this makes anime look downright silly, but to each his/her own.

[Triple_R]

Holy cow man... Watching this was certainly an experience!

This is like Makoto Shinkai got together one evening with Hiroyuki Yoshino, and the two bounced narrative ideas off of each other while doing some of the strongest drugs known to man, all as part of the procedure of coming up with the trippiest anime romance/sci-fi movie of all time!

And it was like endless sunshiney rainbows in this movie. Just a fantastically fabulous feast for the eyes. The visual philosophy for this movie is like the complete and total opposite of that for modern FPS games.

Even as somebody who tends to like bright, shiny, bold visuals, I felt my senses were getting constantly assaulted (although pleasingly so) by the gorgeous glare! It was gloriously beautiful, but so much so that it actually distracted from the plot and made the setting hard to buy into - And boy, given how baffling and jarring the plot was in general, that distraction meant I was almost totally lost during the 2nd half of the anime.


I will say this - The 1st half was reasonably solid. It had good narrative buildup, and it did a nice job of introducing its key characters. It was boundlessly lively, but also flowed smoothly enough that I could follow it all. So the first half was largely great. My only criticism of the first half is that Natsuki's violent tendencies were so over-the-top that it made it hard for me to feel for her - If they had turned the tsun-tsun down just a notch or two on her, I probably would have felt a lot more for her. As is, though, I couldn't help but think that Seki is crazy for putting up with this girl.

As for the 2nd half... Well, let's just say it makes Red Data Girl look like a totally simple and easy-to-grasp story by comparison. And it makes Valvrave look as safe and sensible as a well-dressed but balding middle aged banker. I think this movie's plot got lost somewhere in an acid trip somewhere on a moon in the tears of time of the original Mobile Suit Gundam.


But hey - It's a great experience! Beautiful to look at, mesmerizing to the senses, ridiculously hard to understand, and truly unforgettable.

If you ever want to blow your mind with sparkling shimmering spectacle sprinkled over a syrupy slash-dash melodramatic romance cake with ridiculous sci-fi icing, then this is the movie for you!


Now, this post is made less than one hour after I finished watching the movie, and before I read any other post on it. It should be interesting to see what other viewers thought of it.

[andy]

Thought it was okay to tell the truth but might be confusing to some .
Would rate 7 out of 10 .

[GundamZZ]

The show has very nice animation. The music sounds relaxing.

It's interesting to see the modern re-interpretaion of an old work. The shortcoming is the show expects audience to have the pre-existing knowledge. It's as watching certain movies with Shakespeare quotes and not getting the joke.

It seems manga and anime was not only thing into telepathic power...during 1970 and 1980. Japan's novels and movies also had many supernatural element.

[Solace]

I'm eagerly awaiting the day someone parodies the massively abused petal falling scenes by having them simulate a snowstorm effect while the cast is attempting to remain serious and in the moment. I think it's bad enough in a lot of anime, but this was borderline ridiculous.

That said, the animation was gorgeous. It's saddening to see animators rush into full blown CGI, because in my opinion nothing comes close to the wonderful layered effects and painted, lived in world that works like these have.

As for the plot itself, yeah it was a mess. I didn't mind the sci-fi stuff except that it was very underplayed, and really served no purpose to the plot. It could have just as easily been something, anything else. That's unfortunate, because I think the underlying concept could have been something amazing.

But that's not what this movie is. It's romance. Don't let the title and a few plot elements fool you, this is straight up "springtime of youth" stuff, complete with dunderhead male lead, rough childhood friend with crush on said lead, etc. You've seen this cast in a bajillion anime by now, to varying degrees of better and worse. Unfortunately you won't remember the vast majority of the cast, they're as forgettable as the plot.

On that note, enough with these vague bittersweet endings. If I hadn't seen the scene at the end of the credits I would have been incredibly pissed, like I nearly was at the end of Girl Who Leapt Through Time.

Anyway, it's not a bad movie by any stretch, but it doesn't leave much of an impression either. It's a perfect example of "mono no aware" taken way too far though.

[cyth]

Perhaps relevant, a translation of an essay by director Nakamura Ryousuke, published at Comic Market 85. Here's a snippet:

The Tohoku Earthquake happened two years ago. My thoughts continue to go out to those who have perished and those who continue to suffer as a result of this great calamity. People working in my field, as well as actors, musicians and athletes, were all re-thinking our careers. In the face of such tragedy, what purpose does the work we do actually have? After the earthquake, a lot of us looked at each other and said, ‘Should we really be doing this?’ I went through a long period of self-reflection. At the time, I was working on the script for Nerawareta Gakuen. I couldn’t focus on my work at all. I was wracked by an irrational sense of guilt. I could barely sit down at my desk. If I have the time to sit here and do this, I should really just go to the disaster areas and volunteer, I thought. Guilt and ennui surrounded me.

But after a while, disaster victims wanted a return to normalcy. They didn’t want to see reports of calamity and tragedy. They wanted comedy shows. TV dramas. Baseball games. That was a huge wake-up call for me. Even if I became a volunteer, I’d be useless compared to the JSDF personnel working there. Instead of accepting my own inadequacy, I should do something only I could do: give laughter and cheer back to these people. That was how I could help. I think a lot of us felt the same way.

You guys should definitely read the whole thing. It's an entertaining read. At the beginning I thought he was being sarcastic, then I realized this is how his mind actually works. I can't believe they let such shallow-thinking people work in the industry, and I'm not at all surprised anymore why this movie ended up being the way it is. So glad I have decided against Aiura too.

[Haak]

I don't see what's so bad about that. If a devastating earthquake hit my country as well then I'd probably feel compelled to help in someway (and Japan is very collectivist too). It's not like he made the film specifically because he felt it would help. He was already making the film anyway and knew it was probably the best way to help even if it is a a small way of doing so. Admittedly though, that last paragraph does strike me as a little..."chuunibyou". Plus he seems to admire Steve Jobs which is another issue entirely...