Michael's Movie Grade: B-
An intriguing but flawed anime film.
Two teenagers die when they accidentally slip and drown. They are told that they can resume their lives if they travel to the spirit world and discover what their true purpose on Earth is. When they visit the spirit world they find that much of it consists of people's own personal hells.
This movie was made in conjunction with the religious organization Happy Science, which many people refer to as a dangerous cult. I am not knowledgeable enough about this organization to either confirm or deny this assessment but taken on its own merits this movie is actually pretty good. The main characters, while not complex, are easy to like and root for. While the story has its religious message, it takes a while until this message shows its full face, and the story is quite intriguing and absorbing until that time. For an animated movie not made by a major studio, the artwork is often great to look at. The designs and background art give the film a very atmospheric look. The atmosphere is the main reason to watch this movie as the filmmakers are able to do what all fantasy movies should do. This film makes the worlds we see seem completely real to us. Never is this more evident than when we get a glimpse into people's personal hells. These hells create a real sense of unease and often make us feel like we have been transported into a nightmare. Once more the hospital themed hell is legitimately scary and wouldn't feel out of place in a real horror film.
This movie definitely has its flaws though. The pacing is often very poor with some scenes feeling rushed and others going on too long. The few song numbers here are also incredibly poor with some truly embarrassing lyrics. Worst of all is that after avoiding it for the majority of the film, the movie spends most of the last act truly preaching to us. This part almost comes off as one of those cartoons that religious groups and churches would show to the tiniest of kids to teach them the very basics of their faith. Perhaps if this was one of those films this could be overlooked but this movie is too dark and disturbing (as well as featuring swearing and blood) to be appropriate for kids and this last act is too much like a film for preschool age kids for this to work. It is during this last act that the movie feels most at odds with itself.
Even if this film has its flaws and the last act is a mess, there is still enough for animation lovers to make it worth seeing.
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