Audience reviews
20 · Sample from the first available page, separate from the total number of ratings.
tyler_dbz
Arrietty is the most ASMR anime film I think I’ve ever seen.
I’ll get the obvious out of the way: the visuals are outstanding, like always, like every Studio Ghibli film, so I’m not even going to talk about them that much. The main standout point for me this time was the sound design.
It was so immersive compared to the other Studio Ghibli films I’ve watched. Everything sounded incredibly realistic, yet cozy at the same time, as you explore this world—or, I should say, our world—from the perspective of these tiny people.
I call this an ASMR film because, while I was watching it, I had a friend in the room who was just listening to the film. He didn’t watch it whatsoever, and he actually fell asleep to it. When he woke up afterward, he said the film was so nice, despite not even watching…
Read at the sourceJxbinha
The Secret World of Arrietty is one of those movies that completely won me over with its atmosphere. The story itself is simple, but the world feels magical in a very quiet and delicate way. Seeing everyday objects and spaces from the perspective of someone so small makes everything feel surprisingly fascinating.
I especially loved the relationship between Arrietty and Shou. It develops slowly and naturally, without needing overly dramatic moments, and there is something both beautiful and melancholic about their friendship. They come from completely different worlds, yet they manage to find comfort and understanding in each other.
The animation is absolutely gorgeous, especially the environments. The plants, the house, the tiny details of the Borrowers' world—everything feels alive and ma…
Read at the sourcekyoto_citizen
The Secret World of Arrietty /Karigurashi no Arrietty Review:
I rewatched the movie again today, after more than 10 years since I watched it for the first time.
I remembered what it captured me in that time. The beautiful landscapes, the calm and soothing music, and the heartwarming story was the elements that made me love this movie.
After all those years, I could watch it with a new perspective, more rich and detailed. The way that everything is settled in the story made me thought of the other live beings, especially the most small ones, like Arrietty and her family.
I think this could serve as a metaphor to the relationship we, the human beings, have with the other live beings, like animals or even insects.
It made me rethink about the relationship we have with that beings. In general…
Read at the sourceSpider-Mate_MSA
A Really Small Short Person's Life
I don't think anyone believes this movie deserves anything above 4 stars, but I just really loved this movie, I can't help but rate it higher, I'll probably even make it a perfect 5 stars cause it was that entertaining to me.
I'm not that aware of how this movie is viewed among Ghibli fans, but it's probably safe to assume it's not the studio's most loved movie. Regardless of that, the charm had its sway over me and I was into it a lot. The art, the simple slice of life story and the characters had me invested for more time than it had any right to, and I was actually wishing the movie was longer for that reason. The director of this movie also made When Marnie Was There, which was already a movie I loved a lot, so maybe their style of filmmaking is som…
Read at the sourceSonicfan__
That was nice.
It's just a nice, charming film that is just fun to watch.
The voice acting in the dub was pretty good, the writing was phenomenal as always by Miyazaki, the score was pretty nice and calming, and the animation was beautiful as per usual with Ghibli because they are good.
I did feel like the film had some issues with pacing and some parts were a bit roughly voice acted, but it's just a fun film.
I don't know what else to say about this film and I can't write reviews good, so here's something something I guess
Read at the sourcejay_quelin
Such an underrated movie. It may not be on-par with Spirited Away or Grave of the Fireflies, but it's still a very wonderful story. The plot follows this young girl named "Arrietty," who is basically the Ghibli version of Thumbelina. In this world, Arrietty and her parents are called "borrowers," little people who live underneath the homes of humans. They borrow stuff that nobody will find amiss - such as sugar cubes, pins, or buttons. Then they'll use them for their daily needs. One day, Arriety meets Shawn, a human boy who recently moved into his parents old house. This could spell trouble for Arrietty since humans are know for being dangerously curious creatures. Now, Arrietty must figure out how she'll handle this newfound concern. I personally enjoyed the English dub of this movie bec…
Read at the sourceAnime_Enjoyer_69
This movie is pretty good. It's not Ghibli's best work in my opinion, but as always, it's beautiful to watch. There are some sad and heavy moments dealing with the idea of mortality and loneliness, but there are also fun moments full of wonder and adventure. I think my favorite part was looking at all the details of how the tiny people moved around and what little objects they used. Also what was the deal with Haru? What was that old woman's problem? She seemed so mean for no reason. I guess the movie needed a villain, but her motivations didn't make any sense to me. I recommend you watch it. It's a beautiful Ghibli movie, so what's to lose?
Read at the sourcemaya_kotori
This movie has such an amazing idea behind it! Every time I think about it, I end up repeating myself, but it really is that beautifully thought out and wonderfully executed. The world of the Borrowers feels magical and intimate, and the way the film brings their tiny perspective to life is nothing short of brilliant. I genuinely applaud the creativity and originality behind it, because it takes a simple concept and turns it into something heartfelt, charming, and visually stunning. The atmosphere is gentle and warm, the characters are easy to love, and the animation is absolutely gorgeous. It’s one of those films where you can feel the care put into every detail, from the sound design to the smallest movements. The only thing that bothered me was the ending. It didn’t go exactly the way I…
Read at the source1stDecame4Danime
The plot is an adaptation of the first book, The Borrowers by Mary Norton, in a 5 book series. If one wanted to see where the plot goes from where they leave at the end you could read the series to find out. Since the movie screenplay is by Miyazaki I would expect a lot of differences with the book being much more unfocused, boring, and lacking in thematic depth (the differences in the synopsis suggest as much).
The art/animation quality is top-notch and the movie has a decent amount of effort to give life to the world of the little people with plenty of charm and attention to detail with fun things like water physics at small scales and repurposing human items into their own scavenger culture and such. However, the mundane Earth setting does lack a certain charm in the absence of fantast…
Read at the sourceelumizu
The Secret World of Arrietty is a gentle fantasy story that transforms an ordinary house into a hidden world filled with quiet wonder. Inspired by the novel The Borrowers, the movie tells the story of Arrietty, a tiny girl who lives with her parents beneath the floorboards of a human home. Her family survives by “borrowing” small items from humans such things like sugar cubes, pins, and scraps of food while remaining completely unseen. Their existence depends on secrecy, because being discovered by humans could mean the end of their fragile way of life. The story begins when a sickly boy named Shō arrives at the countryside house to rest before an upcoming surgery. Unlike most humans, Shō soon notices Arrietty during one of her borrowing trips. Rather than fear, he feels curiosity and fasc…
Read at the sourceonespankman
Arrietty may be Ghibli’s most England-coded effort to date. It is (like Howl’s Moving Castle) based on a series of English children’s novels (in this case The Borrowers). Say what you want about the British, they're good at writing quaint little tales, and on the plot front, that’s what Arrietty is.
We follow a sickly boy (Shou) who’s sent to his grandmother's house to relax before heart surgery. This borrows somewhat from the original novels, but changes the setting from mid-century England to current(ish) Japan (in the process sanitizing the narrative of colonialism). A family of borrowers also lives in the house, the youngest of whom is Arrietty. On top of that there’s a maid (Haru) who serves as a sort of casual antagonist.
The plot is low-stakes, and focuses mostly on fleshing out t…
Read at the sourceOhsnapitsDavid
Movie production is amazing, but its not enough to grant a passable reception when film also requires a good story + story telling. And yet, this movie exceeds at doing nothing special, even as an adaptation.
If you want a great fantasy story, look elsewhere. If you want an average story about fantasy, this is the plain film to watch. An 8 score is what this movie can receive as proof that if you take away the nice art, you are left with a boring story.
There were so many ways of making a fantasy story about small people interesting, but this isn't one of them. The magical appearance of a woman in tall grass gives off a "fairy world" vibe, but the film as a whole is only somewhat of a fantasy.
Nothing more boring than watching a plain 2 hour story that's carried slowly on a modern gr…
Read at the sourceHalcyon13
It's hard to shake the feeling that Karigurashi no Arrietty feels like the premise of a Western feature, probably a CG abomination if that were the case. The idea has already existed within many different renditions, each attempting a unique approach to the power dynamic of little people (Borrowers) living in a huge world, well larger than human perception at least. Director Hiromasa Yonebayashi's spin on the family genre has charm, but most importantly, he avoids the weight of sappiness. Uncontrolled sentimentality can easily spiral throughout a screenplay, and the guilt of needing to pity melodramatic situations negatively influences the viewer's impression when films themselves don't necessarily justify such emotions. Karigurashi no Arrietty's narrative angle is fully immersed in a sens…
Read at the sourcePeach_Main
Arrietty the Borrower, known as The Secret World of Arrietty in North America, is a movie based on a book titled The Borrowers. In this world, borrowers are miniature sized people who make a living by secretly taking small amounts of food and other household items from regular human beings. By small amounts, they have to take things minimally so the regular humans don't notice. That also means that when they are collecting things they need to survive, they have to remain undetected.
The story begins with a young boy named Sho staying at his mother's home during the summer being under the care of his aunt Sadako and the housemaid Haru. There, he spots the borrower Arrietty and immediately developes the urge to protect her. On the first night, while Arrietty and her father are on a mission…
Read at the sourceErxie
If you want a beautiful, soothing story to watch on a rainy day with a bittersweet ending then this is the movie. Arietty does not have major plot twists, does not explore big themes but it still manages to give you something very unique and lovely. This is a movie you watch when you are tired of everything and you need something peaceful. The ending is not idealistic but rather bittersweet and fitting to the overall theme and message that it wanted to send.
The arts style is very Ghibli. I especially liked the voice acting especially for shou. Though he did not have many dialogues he still managed to make the character memorable. The music was amazing. Probably one of the best music score i have heard in a Ghibli movie except for spirited away.
Read at the sourceCyanCheetah
Secret Life of Arrietty Review
*Spoiler free*
Ahh Arrietty. Supernatural movie from Studio Ghibli. You know it'll be a banger when you see that blue Studio Ghibli movie pop up. Most of the time.
I liked Arrietty. But at the same time I hold Studio Ghibli movies at a higher standard. This one was good compared to other movies, but compared to other Studio
Ghibli movies it was eh. Bottom 50%. I mean it was alright but not "oh wow my life is changed" I guess its unfair after watching From up on Poppy Hill which was an amazing movie.
The Story: About tiny people living in a sick boy's house. Arrietty and her family are called "Borrowers" in which they borrow items that they think humans will not miss
But then a conondrum! Arrietty was seen by humans! Oh no! Also the house taker, Naru, cl…
Read at the sourcearriettyspin
A beautiful adaptation of Mary Norton's beloved classic The Borrowers. The movie carefully reframes the source material, quietly disposing of the less politically correct moments (namely, the unfortunate Indian bilingual sideplot) whilst retaining the whimsical essence that made the book so beloved.
The story is essentially the same as the book with minor changes. Don't expect a groundbreaking plot or any jaw-dropping twists. The movie is very much a slice-of-life, as small-scaled as its tiny characters.
The animation is gorgeous, though that is to be expected from any Ghibli movie at this point. The attention to detail is immaculate; you really believe that the Borrowers are living in a tiny world through the portrayal of surface tension with every interaction with liquid, as well as t…
Read at the sourceSpirit-NoVa
Ghiibli Ghibli Ghibliiii, another great movie and I would accept no less than this.
The first few minutes reminded me of spirited away, the family drives to a new place etc..., this movie is fairy simple and can be summed up in few words, (Human beings, Little beings and Ghibli ), mix these together and you get this great movie, as usual ghibli never failed to mesmerize us with their arstyle which we all love, the amount of details, the way they draw nature in it's best form.
Sounds: The movie started off with an amazing song, throughout the movie ghibli makes the forest, the house, the animals, the plants, the humans and the objects all come to life with their realistic, calm and awesome sounds, the ost fit so well with the background and sets the mood, even the characters voices were s…
Read at the sourceFirechick12012
If you can believe it, while I did watch a Ghibli movie when I was younger (My parents said I saw My Neighbor Totoro but I don't have many memories of it), I didn't start watching Ghibli's filmography until I was in...maybe late high school or college. I remember asking my dad to take me to see Ponyo in theaters when it first came out in the US, and not long after that, me and one of my friends went to see The Secret World of Arrietty. I had already seen it before I saw it in the theater, but in Japanese, and both times I remember liking it, to the point where I bought the DVD that Disney put out afterward. But on a whim, I decided to rewatch the movie and see if it still holds up, especially now that I've seen more Ghibli movies since then. I'm glad to see that Arrietty knocked it out of…
Read at the sourceNah_Avl
Beautifully done in terms of art and music (just a bit forgettable), some characters are nice but most are kinda forgettable.
The biggest mistake of this Ghibli was its envy to be both light-hearted and complicated without proper execution.
First the story felt very long and even agonising at times and too fast/rushed in other (especially thhe end), the pacing felt off.
I'm always mesmerized and very much emotionnal when it comes to the world building and its structures in Ghibli : I loved their little house and the intricate pathways they use. Nevertheless : appart from that the rest is pretty bland, which is not necesserily bad in most cases but in this movie it made everything outside just non-interesting.
The story was clearly the weakest point of the movie, the theme was simple bu…
Read at the source
