Eiga Daisuki Pompo-san

This is just Hollywood propaganda. This movie most likely came to be because Hollywood felt they were losing the Japanese audience, so they did this movie to make people remember the importance of Hollywood crap. Every character feels like it's specifically written for the purpose of putting Hollywood in a better light. There's no depth to neither the character nor the story, and the whole thing about the brave director who goes his own way is just dumb, it simply doesn't work that way. None of that shit works the way it's being portrayed in the movie. It is as if they took some of the scenes about film making from Bojack Horseman, but removed all the jokes and everything negative about Hollywood. That's how hollow the movie is. Imagine the Hollywood producer who pitched the idea; "We have noticed that Japanese people doesn't like our western propaganda anymore, so we'd like to order an aneemey movie that gives them a positive impression of us. Yes, so remove all people of color and DEI-hires, the Japanese doesn't like that. Also don't mention anything about the religion of the people on top in Hollywood, the Japanese doesn't like that either. And oh, make the main character and his love interest look like Japanese so the audience can self-insert. And we need a lowley, I have understood that they sell well in Japan, yes a genkey lowley, make her the producer or something".

A beautiful ode to filmmaking and all forms of artistic creation out there; it's very rare that I feel so seen by a work of art. Maybe the last time in anime was with Shirobako, a work that is overall superior to this film but I feel like only due to the limitations of Pompo's runtime. Like Shirobako, this story is about the endless potential of art, the connections we make when collaborating on it, and the sacrifices you have to make in order to make art. There are some plot contrivances, and that one scene about a livestream is questionable at best, but I'm glad they didn't mull it over too much. I've seen too many movies where "crowdfunding saves the day!" and at the end of the day it really didn't in this one, it was just the characters showing their passion and begging a really rich guy, which is pretty realistic to how things really are. Visually, it's fun and imaginative, and I really liked the insert songs composed by Kanzaki Iori who is one of my favourite vocaloid producers. The final line is probably the most I've related to anything in a long time, as someone who gruels over song and album lengths and stuff like that, and it gave me a big laugh when I realised this movie is also 90 minutes long lol! Ultimately I love this movie because it says: "You need to be insane to make art. Make no compromises and be crazy." There's a lot of "Follow your dreams!" kind of stories but not enough "be fucking weird" stories. This is that movie. It speaks to me as an autistic weirdo (about music, not cinema) and it's bold enough to say that sometimes you need to risk your own life or health to make those dreams happen.

According to Hamlet, brevity is the soul of wit. But the adaptation of Hamlet was four hours long, and the original text was the longest work ever conceived by its author, which raises some questions about just how true that maxim really is. Eiga Daisuki Pompo-san has some remarkable brevity, as well as an impressive level of efficiency, but with its short length comes the added consequence of it being unable to explore as many avenues as the story it’s trying to tell seems intent on, and so in some aspects its brevity ends up damaging the overall experience. When I refer to Pompo-san’s efficiency, it comes almost entirely from the editing process. In particular, the transition between scenes manages to be not only seamless, but visually distinctive just about each and every time. Pompo-san appears to adhere to the editing philosophy of standard continuity editing within the confines of one scene, and to denote that it is over and to move to a new location, they will use a fanciful transition, which can come in any form, a match cut, a three-way cutaway that manages to quickly establish a new setting, or sometimes they’ll merge a transition with a jump cut that already sets the next scene in motion. If there is one reason to watch Pompo-san, it is its editing, which is a cut above the competition, pun intended. It is incredibly efficient, there is montage, but it is quick, purposeful, and efficient, everything that appears is necessary, and this approach makes it simply look better than the competition. At least, all of this is only true for the first hour of the film, after which point it reverts to standard continuity editing, which is certainly disappointing. Even still, the significance and professionalism found within the editing, especially within the opening 10-15 minutes, are enough to make it a major selling point, and the one facet that elevates Pompo-san above being just another character drama. But it is a character drama, and in that regard, it is still effective and engaging. The story mainly focuses on Gene and his struggles with the creative process as he directs his first film, and on one level, Gene’s personal and internal struggles are certainly conducted well. His internal struggles are contrasted with his struggles as they relate to Pompo, and while the two characters certainly have a good deal of chemistry between them, Pompo’s characterisation and motivations do come across as half-baked in some aspects. To start off with, Pompo, the author of the script that Gene is adapting, has at this point only directed B-movies, and despite being prolific in that genre, there’s not any given reason as to why she chose to branch out. One of the particular films that Pompo has directed happens to be Buckaroo Banzai, which is an unexpectedly fitting point of comparison. Buckaroo Banzai is infamous (at least, among the 12 people who know what it is) for a scene in which the main character sees a watermelon placed inside some scientific apparatus, and asks “why is there a watermelon there?”, and is informed that it’ll all be explained to him properly later, but it never is. It is poor writing to create foreshadowing that lacks any further relevance or payoff, and it’s not much better to see characters engaging in actions based upon emotional convictions and developments that feel as though they have nothing behind them, which is what Pompo-san ends up doing in a few sections. Specifically, it is Gene, whose relationship with Pompo goes through changes that do not always feel congruent. In particular, how he weighs up his desire to create something that she would like with his personal ideas of what a film should or should not include is an aspect of his character that does not really feel like it goes through any changes that follow cause and effect. As they relate to Pompo, his most significant changes as a character do not occur as a result of her influence or persuasion, but rather him just deciding to do it – for a character who is persistently shown to be deeply conflicted about deciding which scenes to remove, to have him sometimes do things 'just because' ends up feeling very arbitrary and like an attempt by the writers to suggest a greater connection between him and Pompo than the actual dialogue and screentime between them allowed for. Conversely, the main character in the film that Gene is directing has some parallels to him, which is a point that they pushed too hard, it would have been far more effective to allow the viewers to come to that conclusion on their own, because it is plainly obvious given the fact that ‘struggling with creativity’ makes up the majority of the scenes of Gene's film. Moreover, if they didn’t need to spell it out for the viewer once, then they definitely didn’t need to do it twice, but they did it at least a good few times more than that, and being this forceful with the messaging just diminishes its effectiveness. Even accounting for some moments that don’t hold up to scrutiny, Gene is nonetheless a well-written character, who despite being a somewhat typical otaku, is not a caricature. He might not have the distinction of being the titular character, but he is undoubtedly the real focus of the story. Gene, and his struggles with the creative process, are presented in a way that is captivating, both in regards to the action-like visualisation of the filmmaking process, and how it relates back to him as a character. His domestic life isn’t explored, but it doesn’t need to be, as even within the limited framework that the story provides, Gene manages to be a capable protagonist for the story, and one who both witnesses and instigates plenty of change. Pompo is an equally interesting character, although the rest of the cast is far less notable, the lead actress has a short arc detailing her backstory, after which point she doesn’t ever really say or do anything, save the one or two times wherein she had to interact with Gene because, for all intents and purposes, he only knows two people. When accounting for its short length, Pompo-san is impressively fluent with its ability to create a story with this many layers, and its ability to cover a lot of ground, which is accentuated by a unique and stylised approach to editing. It may not be an original story, and it does follow the standard rises and falls that one can expect, but even so, it manages to convey itself as interesting and uncharted territory, as the specific genre of films about making films is one that’s been mostly unexplored. It is a story that the writers were entirely aware the audience would have seen before, and yet, they managed to create one with just enough elements to prevent Pompo-san from feeling familiar or derivative.

This movie is about Gene, not Pompo, who is a whiny pathetic Shinji-alike who has to find himself. It's also a zany lucid waking dream for movie otaku. It just fell flat in many ways even though it was technically very well produced. The purpose seemed to be to get in film production references. Though it tried, the "heart" of the movie never came through and I never ended up caring about the characters. Otaku send-ups Otaku no Video and Dokuro-chan do this far better. The English dub was mediocre even though it was directed by Stephanie Sheh. Seen in a movie theater.

If there have been movies that have changed your life, do yourself a favor and watch this movie. I don't usually do reviews but I felt the need to do it for this movie because it has been a 10/10 for me. From minute 1 it is a master class on how stories are created and for whom they are created, and all thanks to a protagonist with whom it is easy to feel identified, since quite a few people use cinema as a comfort zone. And not only that, the animation is incredible with all the details it has, all the characters are charismatic and interesting, a very interesting ost and a direction that many other movies wish they had. And all of that can be seen from the very beginning with the scene where Nathalie jumps into the puddle exchanging Gene's eye for a camera lens and seeing the different ways to get that shot. Obviously it falls into a lot of typical anime clichés and has some things that I didn't like like like that I would have liked to see more of certain characters that seemed more important, but it really is such an enjoyable movie that it can be overlooked. I really don't want to talk much more about the movie because, I think the less you know about it, the more you will enjoy it. But what I will say is that Pompo does what it sets out to do very well, having very memorable moments accompanied by such well directed animation, and will have you remembering the film for a while. A highly recommended movie for everyone even if you don't like anime, as these are themes that happen everyday and anyone can relate to as I said before. A pity I could not go to the cinema to see it, as I would have loved to enjoy it on the big screen, but unfortunately it will not be released here in Spain :c Although really the best thing is that it only lasts 90 minutes.

With the horrific mess of an adaptation that was "The Tunnel to Summer, the Exit of Goodbyes" coming from the same studio, I was quite sceptical about watching this movie. But that was before I learned that Hirao Takayuki was the director. I don't know him for much, but his direction in the 5th Kara no Kyoukai movie in particular was amazing for me, and his work has stayed as some of my favourites ever since. "Pompo: The Cinéphile" is a hidden gem, covering a topic rarely seen in anime: directing. For a movie about directing, I was expecting the direction to be good, and good it was! Camera angles were really unique and well done and even transitions to different scenes were just so cool and impressive. It isn't really something I can put into words, it's something you have to experience. [Story] 9/10 - This isn't the next I Want to Eat Your Pancreas or A Silent Voice. This (most likely) won't make you cry, it just isn't that kind of movie. But will this make you jump and celebrate with the characters? Hell yeah! It's a mash of funny characters, interesting moments and surprisingly a lot of stressful scenes, especially towards the end. The last 10 minutes or so felt just a little rushed but it was more of an afterthought of mine than anything. If there's one thing to take away, I think I was honestly surprised at how I actually felt as if the movie that Gene was directing was actually award-worthy, since you don't see too much of it. The way scenes are slowly brought in along with the actual show's story is excellent and almost tells another side to the characters, especially Gene. [Animation] 8/10 - Really fluid animation, especially at the climax. Again, another note to the director because they are SO many creative cuts in this movie that have incredible animation! Really only brought down a couple points due to the background art. It's good but nothing to be amazing at like The Tunnel to Summer, but I prefer it this way because this was actually an enjoyable watch and not a mess like that movie. [Sound] 8/10 - Soundtrack was great, I especially love the piece that plays about two thirds in (but I can't spoil hehe) [Characters] 9/10 - Loved all the main characters, the balance between comedy and realism was perfect. [Enjoyment] 10/10 - A really fun watch that I think anyone could enjoy. Just watch it already!!!

She accidentally pressed the emote key and did a FORNITE emote. One of the most uniquely creative stylised films. Really hit home for me being that films are something I love so much. Made me fall in love and remind me of just why I love films so much and how much they've impacted my life. It was nice to not have the worst complication to a story imaginable and that it was just a hurdle to overcome. It was nice to actually have lovable and enjoyable characters instead of your normal anime protaganists. The ending shot "that it's only 90 minutes long" and the film only being 90 minutes long both in the film and the film itself is so well done.

This review should be free of spoilers. As a film graduate, and a person who would consider himself a "creative" type of person, this film does a phenomenal job of attacking you at your core, and making you question the reasons you're not chasing down the creative tendencies you have welling within you. It's full of great cinema references, allusions to things I've studied in college, but most importantly it does a powerful job of making you understand that the creative tendencies welling within you, and the artist block you're probably facing is something that you can and should get over, because the things you have to contribute to the world can be so great if you just put the effort into it that you know you can do but you're not doing because of personal reasons. I have to say, I haven't felt more inspired by a single film to chase down my life and take control of it. I feel a personal connection to this film because of its subject matter, but also because at its core, this film was meant to inspire the passion back into your life for your craft, whatever it may be. I can only earnestly hope that you come out of this film experience with the same drive that I did.

This movie is what I needed in my life. I want to be an animator but I've been getting a bit discouraged but then I saw this movie. It is the one movie that I resonate with on a different level man. It was like the movie was about me the main character gene is like me, How he just became a director and started to edit the movie, and the way he edits the movie it's just like how I edit my videos. The way he also thinks is just like me. I relate to the charters in this movie so much. Nathalie an actor who tried and tried to get into movies but kept failing, Until Pompo saw her and hired her. I related to Nathalie cause I have had so many projects where I never fished them but I kept going. Pompo is flipping funny man, The way she just beats up on gene was really funny too. I laughed and smiled at this movie so much this movie just reminded me of myself so much. I love this movie so flipping much I may even love it more than A Silent Voice and Toy Story combined and if you know me that's an insane statement. It connected with me in a way that no other movie has ever done...So I must say if you haven't seen this movie yet please do yourself a favor and watch it please. In the end, it was like the movie was saying Jud follow your dream, you can be an animator you just got to do it. For that...Thank you Pompo the Cinéphile for being one of the greatest pieces of media that I have ever seen.

I have watched this movie on a recommendation. I enjoyed this film. The plot is kinda cliché in terms of basing it from Hollywood films, but making it into an anime is a fresh take. It is a good anime to watch with the family or show a friend who isn't that much into anime but are into films. It is a good transition However, I would like to let you know though that I'm not really a plot guy though, so my perspective may differ to many people. I focus on the characters for example. I see the plot mainly as a tool to focus what the film maker do with it with the interesting and unique characters. I also focus enjoyed the philosophy the film maker is trying to convey, that in order to pursue anything you must cut and sacrifice. It is important to do this in order to focus on what matters the most to you, if you try to please everybody and do everything all at ones you will out-stretch yourself and be directionless. It is better to feel out-stretched and tired on the things that matters to you the most, because at the end of the day you'd feel better knowing you did something that has meaning to you to the fullest. A similar kinda feeling of relief a workout would feel at the day. Or the feeling of a nice warm bath at the end of a long 12 hour shift. If you are the kind of person like me, I highly recommend to watch it.

Eiga Daisuki Pompo-san aka "A movie on how to make a movie!". It's a love letter to all the classic filmmakers. At the very end of the year, I got my "Anime Movie of the Year". Its visuals are so beautiful that you just want to stare at them. In this ninety-minute movie, so much energy, so many ideas, so much food for thought, and emotions have been packed in that I was honestly surprised. The characters are as vivid as they are realistic. There are also some great dialogues. The story is about the journey of making a life dream come true. The message of the story is simple, but it touches the heart. The direction is also worth talking about - there are many surprises in the scene sequencing and camera angles. Overall, I had a great time. It's definitely something to watch time and again.

This movie feels like a tribute to those who work behind the scenes of each creative project, as well as to why we value creativity in the first place. It's particularly captivating because of it's loveable characters, relatable themes, gorgeous artistic styles, and brilliant music. The character development of Gene Fini is particularly great to watch, as he goes from a lowly assistant to a passionate filmmaker. There are many ways that this movie could have wasted it's potential, but it does a better job than many films with the same thematic material. A fantastic feel-good anime that I will likely be re-watching over and over again.

Set within "Nyallywood", Pompo the Cinephile focuses on the titular producer who is the granddaughter of a famous producer yet finds herself enjoying the development of creating trashy B-movies. Wanting to develop an ambitious drama for her next film, Pompo develops a screenplay for it and has her young assistant, Gene Fini, become the director of it. Being an diehard movie buff determined to make a masterpiece out of the film, Gene commits himself to working on the film, coming to learn of the creative and financial challenges involved in it as the film's development presses on. Pompo the Cinephile largely does a solid job exploring the development of Gene's work to attempt making a successful film out of Pompo's screenplay. Within its 90-plus minute runtime, the film has a reasonable amount of time to flesh out Gene and a few other characters either making their debuts for working in film or being established talent within the realm. Pompo dabbles into some of the processes and challenges that go into the development of film that include directing, editing, meeting timelines, and securing funding for development. Gene is depicted is someone with a lot of creativity and enthusiasm to go into his work for the film, but finds himself creatively challenged by trying to edit together a work that he would be satisfied with albeit within the time constraints of the movie format. An effective narrative element with showing off this challenge is having the events play out at the same time as scenes from his film, Meister, play out onscreen as the creative struggles of the orchestra conductor in the film mirror that of what Gene is experiencing. All this said though, Pompo the Cinephile presents a more idealistic slant of film development and doesn't realistically depict it. This is shown through Pompo's rather young-looking appearance in spite of her fame, Gene not getting into any interpersonal conflicts over problems plaguing film development, and the rather convenient developments that come along to push things with the development of Gene's movie. Those looking for a more believable story to tell with exploring film development may be disappointed with this sort of take on the film industry. But anyone going into this not minding this spin will likely enjoy the energy and enthusiasm of the characters as they help work on Pompo or Gene's films, the former getting rather entertaining at the start of the film with Pompo's filming a campy monster movie with camera shots focusing on the boobs and butt of an actress in a bikini while she gets attacked by said monster. In short, Pompo the Cinephile may not be everyone's cup of tea for its idealist spin on film development with exploring Gene's creative developments of Pompo's latest screenplay. Still, it does have fun showing off the joys and challenges of creatively developing a film project shown through Gene's experiences filming and editing it. If you're just looking to be entertained, Pompo should make for a solid time killer with what it has to offer.

This might be one of the best movies I’ve watched in 2026, even though it came out back in 2021. Everything about this movie feels so perfect. The animation, the characters, the story, the atmosphere — I genuinely enjoyed every bit of it. Even the movie-within-the-movie was so good that it actually made me wish I could watch the full story of Meister. 😂 The movie takes place in a fictional city called Nyallywood, a colorful parody of Hollywood, California. With its palm trees, sunny weather, and boulevard of stars, the whole place feels like a love letter to the world of filmmaking. The protagonist was also incredibly relatable to me. I used to edit videos, so a lot of his feelings and struggles really hit close to home. Maybe that’s another reason why I connected with this movie so much. And honestly, I wanted to know more about Pompo. It’s kind of funny that the movie is named after her, yet I still felt like I wanted to see more of her character and her story. I went into this movie without expecting much, and somehow came out feeling genuinely happy. It’s one of those movies that reminds you why you love movies in the first place. What a great film. ❤️

DISCLAIMER: this isn't necessarily a review, but more like a personal essay of how I understood the film. Please take note before reading. Thanks! Pompo: The Cinephile is a reminder of the burden of responsibility that comes with pursuing a dream. Hidden underneath the guise of a cinephile’s growth from a mere observer of film to someone directly involved in making one, Pompo: The Cinephile not only succeeds as a love letter to cinema, but to dreamers as well. Plenty of people glamorize the pursuit of their dreams, but we rarely see stories about the messy journey that comes with actually pursuing them. When you spend your whole life wanting something and finally find yourself standing at the threshold of it, the burden of responsibility falls on you. What began as a passion can suddenly become something you have to carry, and somewhere along the way, you can lose sight of why you pursued that dream in the first place. We see this reflected not only in Gene, but in everyone foolish enough to pursue their dreams anyway. Natalie’s love for acting stems from her desire to prove to her grandmother that her faith in her was never misplaced. Alan never really understood the point of having a dream until he realized that having one was essential to moving forward. And Martin's character Dalbert's pursuit of perfection in music allows him to create his Aria, while simultaneously costing him almost everything along the way. This is probably what makes Pompo: The Cinephile resonate with me so much. I’ve always loved films, and for as long as I can remember, I’ve imagined myself being involved in the film industry in one way or another. Even outside of film itself, I tend to see the world through a cinematic lens. When something beautiful happens around me, I instinctively imagine how it would look if it were a scene in a movie. Honestly, the beauty of cinema stems from its ability to make ordinary moments feel worth looking at twice. And I think that's what Gene is learning throughout the film: loving cinema and making cinema are two very different things. To love a film is to surrender yourself to the experience of it. To make one is to take responsibility for creating that experience for someone else. The latter is exhausting, frightening, and sometimes painful. But that doesn't necessarily make the dream any less worthwhile. Pompo: The Cinephile doesn’t shy away from the reality of pursuing a dream. It acknowledges that you might lose something along the way. You might sacrifice time, relationships, comfort, certainty, or even the version of yourself that first dreamed of it. But perhaps pursuing a dream was never about guaranteeing that you would get everything you wanted. Sometimes, it is simply about becoming the person who was brave enough to try. And despite everything, the film still tells us that it is worth pursuing anyway. Also, on a purely visual level, this film is beautiful. Every second feels deliberately crafted. The colors, creative angles, compositions, and the way the characters blend into their environments make the entire film feel like an extension of the cinema it is celebrating. It’s difficult not to fall in love with it.

To all the dreamers and artists out there, to all the people crushed under the weight of reality and live out the most hopeless, miserable of lives, Rejoice! This movie is dedicated to you. To first understand Pompo: The Cinéphile you must discard its literal sayings. It has a few examples of nonsensical and unhealthy ideas like Pompo (the character) hating long movies and demands that fat be trimmed always. Or the perfectionism at all cost displayed by the main character and the belief that the movie belongs to him. The movie never rebukes any of these ideas but they lead to a the central theme of Pompo: The Cinéphile: Pompo: The Cinéphile is dedicated to artists. There is a reason why all the minor crew staff have unique character designs, why a banker crushed by reality is part of the main cast, and why the MC is clinging onto his movie and aims to perfect it. It's a movie dedicated to dreaming and creating something you can call your own. That inspires the downtrodden. Even if this movie isn't promoting the perfect mindsets, it still manages to weave together a beautiful message. As for the rest of the storytelling in this movie, it's wonderful. The actual main narrative happening in Pompo: The Cinéphile blends together the main story of the MC editing the fictional movie and sort of discovering himself while doing that, and the movie that he edits reflects his actual thoughts and emotions. This is a mere fragment of the truly awesome direction Pompo: The Cinéphile had throughout its entire 90 minute run. That includes cinematography and pacing. So should you watch Pompo: The Cinéphile? Of course. And on that note, this review is dedicated to the brave Mujahedeen fighters of Afgha-

Golden 90 Minute Cut Pompo: The Cinéphile is a movie about a cinephile, who has to run out of the shadows, and try to make his own movie, and while balance a lollies expectations. It really feels like it's made by a movie lover, in how it's clipped, in how the references are made, and how self aware it is about movie making. And how the old people are there, to support the young generation in they pursue of cinema. How the meta narrative and narrative slowly begins to combine into a story, that really works and is 90 minutes, which the movie will not stop talking about. And it doesn't go to cheap round with drama, which I deeply respect. The animation and cinematography is great. It uses a lot of different directions style, and does it well with use of colors and cuts, all to give an impression of cinema. And it doesn't forget that B movies are built on bobby and perversion, and it does perverted with self awareness, which I cannot be sad about. It becomes better moment to moment, because you realize that the b movie is a facade, and it actually has a deep soul to it.

Pompo is a well-animated film about... making films. It's really more of a roller coaster ride than a realistic portrayal. The first thing Pompo gets right into is... making an ecchi beach scene where a giant octopus molests beachgoers. If you survive this early scene, then you're probably fit to watch the rest of the movie. (Otherwise sorry the fanservice got you and RIP.) There's generally really good flow. The characters are likable, including the little protagonist guy, the girl actor, Pompo, and... J.D. Peterzen, an old man who sounds like a parody of someone else lol. A lot of the emotion in the later scenes is the film building off itself. If you detest "fake sad music to a non-sad scene to make it sad" and tricks like that, then you might not like this film. But I think I listed all the bad points. Overall it's a pleasure to watch, and you are really rooting for them to get the perfect take or edit.