Kumo no Mukou, Yakusoku no Basho

I usually don't write reviews, however, when it came to this very movie, I had too. The Place Promised in out Early Days had me on the verge of tears when i finished. It's a story about many things. A story that will stay in my memory for a long time to come. I watched so many times already . . . and I still can't seem to get it out of my system.

I will be short simple and to the point Story: Nothing all that original, though it was presented in a nice way. Art: I myself am very concerned about the artwork in anime, it's what makes a good anime great, or in this case a fairly good anime good. Crisp, Clean, and Beautiful. Sound: The sound track was fitting, it wasn't anything special, but for the movie it was perfect. I'd have to lie if i said the music didn't make me want to relate the whole movie to "October Sky". And i will say, I ended up watching the Dub, and it wasn't half bad. Character: It's a movie, and it has three main characters, which means you don't get that much character building. However they were presented well and they felt believable. Enjoyment:I thought it was a good watch, but at times i found myself getting bored.

I feel like this movie gets way too much hate and is oddly charming and heartwarming in its weird little way. Is it poorly written? Maybe. The plot is a bit convoluted and the dialogue is corny, but I just do not understand why this gets as much hate. Watching this right after Shinkai's previous work is like the equivalent of going from getting punched in the face to eating a birthday cake, the improvement is staggering. The environments especially are breath-taking in this one, especially for 2004 standards. The story itself is rather intreguing and kinda heartbreaking. Even if the characters do feel a bit flat the way they interact with eachother feels both very wholesome and heartbreaking at the same time. Yes, this is a Kimi No Na Wa rough draft, so what. A rough sketch of The Great Wave off Kanagawa still looks really good. Obviously this movie is flawed, weirdly paced, and even feels unfinished in some aspects, but I'm able to give it more of a break because it's his first official debut film and a major improvement on his part all around. Weirdly enough the only part of this film I find lack-luster is the music, which is something I've praised other Shinkai films for. It just feels like Tenmon is kinda lacking in this one and there aren't really any memorable songs besides the closing track. Also, the scenes where he tries to animate the Violin playing are the definition of cringe. The animators did not study proper playing and it's extremely easy to tell if you have the most marginal amount of knowledge on string playing. If you wish for a more complete, perfectionistic love story with a captivating love-story, then you will be dissapointed. However, if you're willing to cut Shinkai a break and not be over-critical of some of the story-telling and pacing issues, then I think you'll enjoy this one.

A sometimes tedious exercise in slow drama, Shinkai's only defense is him still exploring the themes of alienation and separation in the early stages of his career. Kumo no Mukou, Yakusoku no Basho happened to be his first feature-length production, and likely the substantial foundation for a lot of the romantic metaphors he currently gravitates toward. The film is simple, everything about it is relatively muted, and content in lingering around alternate-history war politics and monologue-driven intimacy with a yearning for a hopeful future. Shinkai's writing isn't as technically sound as some of his later features, and that's apparent in the deliberate assortment of character interaction and science jargon. It frankly suffers a great deal from inadequately contextualizing seemingly important plot devices that may decide the fate of Japan, although the plot does ultimately suggest we ignore the minor details, and shift our focus to the three protagonists at large. The three middle school friends are pulled apart by circumstance, and the raw ideas of loneliness are combined with his go-to allusions using character versus society literary devices. Shinkai once mentioned in an interview that the beauty of scenery had saved him during his adolescent struggles, and what that may have entailed is of course foreign to others, but there's truth to natural landscapes acting as a deterrent to negative emotion. He constantly emphasizes shot selection, wide settings, and trains, establishing one of his recurring directing traits in applying visual spectacle. Sure it's not his most breathtakingly detailed effort, but the layouts are indeed expansive, as picturesque as rural areas can be. A lot of these shots tend to use a person as the center of symmetry to give depth as the camera leans into aerial tilts, which was utilized well in the closing sequences. Kumo no Mukou, Yakusoku no Basho as a collective production undeniably feels amateurish, more so the storytelling not being able to dictate itself enough, and on occasion, it can also be heavyhanded without necessary exposition. Shinkai experiments with the usual loss and plays with time, yet makes little progress in crucial moments. I'm willing to commend the role of the opening sequence though, setting up a clever implication for what would become the prologue to that scene. At times streaky, an ambitious take on melancholic human connection with the universe as a whole.

It was an intriguing movie, quite old, so you could say I arrived late to the party. It was incredibly touching, there was one line from the movie that I didn't quite understand and made me think. "We've lost the place of our promise in this world, but even so, our lives begin now." The art style and visuals are vivid and stunning, captivating the eyes. The music, too, evokes deep emotions, enhancing the overall experience. Moreover, there was another line that resonated with me on a personal level, as it seemed to reflect my own recent life experiences. "From here, I thought, I wouldn't have to look at the _____ anymore. But I was in for a disappointment. and I'd be overwhelmed by a depression."

On my way to finish all Makoto Shinkai’s featured-lengths. Now the premise of this movie was one that actually fascinated me. The physics of parallel universe and it’s connection with dream is not super new, but it’s a cool and mind-blowing concept. I liked how the movie set up the premise by making the tower a mysterious being. Also I loved the idea of the two characters connecting with each other through dreams. However, I think since this is his earliest feature, Makoto-sama couldn’t fully realize this concept. The movie was more grounded than it should have been, but the most regretful part was the connection between the two main characters were not that well done. It seemed simple and lacked in depth. The ending, a pretty obvious one, didn’t really land with me. Overall, it’s a decent movie with a promising concept and gorgeous animation, but it’s potential wasn’t fully realized. 6.5/10

I don't man, I think I'm just a sucker for Makoto Shinkai's style of storytelling. All of his work is extremely similar tonally and thematically, but so far I've enjoyed pretty much everything that he's made at some level. You can tell that this is a precursor to a lot of his work later on, 5 Centimeters Per Second and Your Name being primary examples. There is a significant jump in quality between this and Voices of a Distant Star on a technical level as well. The plot itself was pretty interesting, keeping me engaged for the entire runtime which I wasn't expecting. Generally with earlier works of a well-known director you expect it to be a little less interesting than their more recent work, but, for me at least, that wasn't the case. Not sure if I'll watch it again, but I honestly wouldn't mind it.

Makoto Shinkai famously first burst onto the scene with Voices of a Distant Star. This short OVA, nearly entirely self-produced, is technically and artistically impressive, which meant the anime world was waiting with bated breath for his first full-length professionally-staffed production. This is that film. Originally released in 2004, The Place Promised in Our Early Days covers some of the same scenes recognizable from Voices: connection and distance, fleeting youth, sci-fi window dressing without fully-examined worldbuilding. Place Promised is set in an alternate timeline where Hokkaido has been separated from Japan. We’re never told how or why, and the when is only vaguely implied. Shinkai’s strength comes from his scene setting. Every moment is incredibly deliberate and evocative; we are enveloped in the summer of youth and the setting leaps from every shot. For as baroque as the setting is, the story is relatively simple: Hiroki and Takuya are two friends working on an airplane (unclear how two middle-schoolers were able to build a functioning airplane) that they would like to fly over the border to Hokkaido (referred to by its archaic name, Ezo). Both of them are interested in their classmate, Sayuri, and they show her the plane and agree to bring her when they eventually make their flight. However, none of this is to be. We see the boys post-time jump in very different circumstances and Sayuri holding the key to to everything. The film is too short to fully explore all the sci-fi plot elements it introduces. A lot of technobabble is spat at us in a classic anime control-room scene. Apparently the mysterious tower has a parallel universe around it but this is not a problem for our heroes later when they enter the area. Sayuri’s grandfather built the tower which seems to be connected to why she’s fallen asleep but it’s never explained. If it weren’t for the fact that this is among the earliest work of an obvious auteur, this would be annoying, but the plot isn’t the point. Shinkai knows his themes and knows how to set a scene and that is enough to make this enjoyable viewing. YMMV if you prefer a more coherent plot and clear story.

I love this work by Makoto Shinkai, which I consider a spiritual prequel of the most popular 5 Centimeters per Second. In the same way of the latter, it's particularly emotional, heart-touching and more oriented in exploring the relationship of the main protagonists, by making use of poetic visual art, great use of warm light throughout the scenes, fascinating soundtrack and soft background voice narration. I found the plot to be on the dystopian sci-fi side and quite interesting on its own, although it never seems to come under reflectors more than the necessary, to ensure somewhat the main emphasis remains on the main protagonists feelings, as well as their emotions and relationships. Compared to Your Name, it might appear as more slow paced and somewhat boring. However, I found this to be just a different approach, which simply tries to put in evidence the pure and genuine poetry of Japanese animation by gently inviting the watcher to sit down, relax and enjoy each single frame of its stunning visual art. In this sense, to me, it works very well, and still today is one of my favourite anime movies ever. Thanks for reading me!