Michael's Movie Grade: B
A well-made movie from the popular anime and manga franchise.
This film does just what a movie that is part of a popular franchise should. It continues the franchises story, yet it can be watched as its own story. Much of what makes this film work is that it focuses mainly on one character and her arc. Neia is a wonderful character and one who is instantly likable. Yet the more we see of her, we learn how complex she really is. Through all this we are able to experience everything through her eyes and understand why she begins to understand the world in the way she does. Though we may not agree with every conclusion she comes to, we respect and admire her through it all. This movie also works very well because of its fantasy elements. While the world has already been established in earlier entries in the franchise, it does feel extremely real to us. Meanwhile the new characters and settings add some well-done world building. As you watch this film you are transported to this world. The action scenes are also very well done here. They feel truly larger than life and the scale makes them look wonderful on the big screen. The designs of the demons, undead and meta-humans are wonderfully creative and help make this world feel all the more real to us.
This film does have its flaws though. There are times when it can delve into large info dumps that go so quickly it is hard to keep track of everything said. Luckily you can still follow the basic story even if you don't get this intricates. The movie also has too many characters and because of this by the end of the film newcomers will not know who some of these characters are. The movie can also feel overlong and even a bit repetitive at times and some of the action scenes end in a deux-ex-machina.
All in all this is a delightful film for anime fans despite its flaws.
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