Audience reviews
20 · Sample from the first available page, separate from the total number of ratings.
1stDecame4Danime
Lots of parts are very reminiscent of Laputa Castle in the Sky but this is far worse, really wastes 2 hours of screen time on barely anything. It's more like Shuna's Journey or The Boy and the Heron or The Cat Returns, hell even like Paradise Island or Atlantis or any other of a million stories just like it that journey into the mcguffin fantasy land to do the mcguffin thing. The problem is this doesn't do anything with it. It's a generic journey through the Underworld to save the dead lover noncharacter, and even lampshades itself as such.
I'm confused why they decided to do such a 1-note story stretched over so much nothing that it develops neither characters nor much of anything beyond a bunch of pointless wandering, exposition, and chases, while simultaneously having almost nothing to…
Read at the sourcealisairmak
I was very hopeful when I started watching, but after I finished it, I didn't feel satisfied at all. I sensed the mood of Ghibli Studio's, Your Name and Evangelion, but it was not as successful as they were. The plot was good, if it had been handled better, it could have been a great anime movie. The setting and character drawings were beautiful. I didn't like their music at all, I don't even think there's any decent music in it. As a result, I think it is a waste of time and I do not recommend it to anyone.
Read at the sourceloviiidae
While the animation is absolutely gorgeous, Children Who Chase Lost Voices is a movie that lacks story content and character development.
The characters have potential, put they fail to meet even half of that potential; leaving them boring and incomplete. Asuna is, in my opinion, an irritatingly unoriginal character who fails to create any sort of attachment to me, thus leaving me indifferent as to what may befall her.
The story was dry and, while the concept was interesting, the execution was poor. They did not follow up on very important concepts regarding their world, and lacked logic or understanding.
If you are looking for good sound effects and animation, then this movie is perfect for you. However, if you are looking for a deep, well written story then Children Who Chase Lost Voic…
Read at the sourceLord_Lamington
This right here is the definition of mediocre. I came into this movie with good expectations and was severely let down. It took 3 sittings before i could finish it.
Lets start off with this movie's one and only strong point. The art and animation. It's right up there with one of the most beautiful animations, paired with a pleasing art style. I felt myself hooked on the visuals of this movie. But that's where the fun stops.
Most stories follow the same tension over time graph. Starts off slow, the tension gets higher and higher until it reaches the climax. Then it settles down again at the end. However, Hoshi wo Ou Kodomo's tension was all over the place. It felt like it had 3-5 different climaxes, making it a not very enjoyable roller-coaster ride. The story was too fast paced and lef…
Read at the sourcelensaamiranda
One sentence review: A Ghibli-like adventure with a darker undertone.
I was intrigued when I saw this movie as it's directed by Makoto Shinkai, known for his great works that does NOT involve adventure, so I decided to give it a go.
At first, I thought that this movie would have a light adventure-y storyline. Well, not exactly light, but I didn't expect that this movie which seemed like a typical children's adventure fantasy movie to have such a heavy plot.
For me, the storyline is unique, as it incorporates both adventure and mystery elements into the story seamlessly eventhough it's not tagged as a mystery genre show. Since the beginning of the movie, I felt that there was an air of mystery although nothing really mysterious has happened. The early part of the movie almost felt slice-…
Read at the sourceDoublas_Mk-II
So this is what happens when someone with a huge boner for Miyazaki and Takahata , but not half the writing skill, makes a movie. I mean come on, Heidi, Alm-Öhi, and Teto were in the fucking movie, not to mention homages to the God Warriors, Lupin/Laputa robots, and more.
I can't say I didn't enjoy parts of the movie, but it would have been much better had it had a competent writer that didn't depend on tired cliches. It would have also been nice had it tried to be original, instead of just stitching together concepts from Miyazaki and Takahata's work.
For what it's worth, the art was really beautiful.
Read at the sourceCloudsPrince
Is the story unique? Would I recommend it ?
Definitively yes and yes.
In a nutshell, the story of Hoshi o Ou Kodomo, or "Children Who Chase Lost Voices", is about a young girl, called Asuna who is having a quiet common life on the countryside. Her daily activity after school, is to go on a rock to listen to some self-constructed radio and watch the stars, but one day this radio is going to give her a music that she never expected. From here on starts the real story, where she will discover a new world and new people.
Moreover, I was strongly surprised to see how the director focused on the landscapes and the discoveries of the new world that Asuna will meet; besides, the duration of the movie is around 2 hours, which could have been shorter.
On the story herself, I would recommend Mr…
Read at the sourcektulu007
Hoshi wo ou Kodomo is a film written and directed by Shinkai Makoto, the same gent behind 5 centimetres per second. Like that film, it was produced by CoMix Wave Films. Is this film as strong as that one was? It has the same writer/director and the same production company so that's probably a good sign. And I only use the qualifier 'probably' because I've been disappointed in the works of people who I had previously known for making quality works before. Let's just hope this isn't one of those times.
Story:
Our narrative opens with our heroine, Asuna, going to her secret base after school to listen to her makeshift radio. She hears a mysterious melody unlike any she's heard before. Not long afterwards, she encounters a strange creature when she's crossing the train tracks to reach her ba…
Read at the sourcequazzymaximus
I can't believe how highly rated this movie is. It was just abysmal. While the backgrounds were beautiful, every visual element and plot device was stolen from a (better) Ghibli movie. The characters' motivations were poorly explained, it was cheesy and melodramatic beyond belief, and the plot was pretty much nonexistent. What little plot existed was ham-handed and and every moment of pathos felt like a parody of the scene it should have been. Let's just say that at the points where I was supposed to cry, I cried laughing. None of the characters were compelling or interesting, except perhaps the teacher, but I'm not really inclined to like him either since every scene between him and Asuna had an unfortunate pedophilic tone. And don't even get me started on Asuna. Possibly the most uninter…
Read at the sourceFel_Temp
I think the best way to describe this movie is Cargo Cult Hayao Miyazaki. The director clearly loved Miyazaki's films and knew that they worked, but had no idea as to why. You'll see character designs, scenes, and shots that you can place to exact moments in Nausicaa, Totoro, and the like, but they're all in a string of events that seem to happen just because. Seriously, the fucking "Nausicaa's fox-squirrel jumps on her shoulder and runs to the other" thing is done at least five fucking times. Shinkai clearly noticed that Miyazaki films often have female protagonists, but he didn't seem to get that they needed character and agency. Seriously, our "protagonist" has no control over anything and virtually never tries to actively do anything, and she always needs to be saved by a man every tim…
Read at the sourceSavepoints
Story: (8 / 10)
The movie follows Asuna Watase on her journey through a new world, and we get to see all the hardship she faces, as well as those precious happy moments. “Hoshi wo Ou Kodomo” tells a story about love, loneliness, and learning to let go of the past, among other things.
This story is supported by numerous mythical tales, which gives it a nice touch. It does take quite a while before things really kick off, and not as much time is spent in Agartha as could’ve been, but it’s a minor problem.
However, even with this the story moves at a rather fast pace, leaving little room for any form of additional backstory, whether it’s about Agartha or about the characters pasts. This was really too bad, as there are some pretty obvious questions left unanswered by the end of the movie.…
Read at the sourceMarow
Imagine someone looking at Studio Ghibli in hope of creating something similar, but end up completely missing the point and delivering a train wreck of a movie. This is how I would describe Children Who Chase Lost Voices.
Although, to be perfectly honest, I do not entirely agree with the Ghibli comparison many have done. The similarities stop after a magical land, equally magical creatures and character designs that, with some small adjustments, could have come from any of Hayao Miyazaki’s flicks. The rest is characteristic Shinkai flair, albeit this time muddled with a severe identity crisis.
On a first glance Children Who Chase Lost Voices does not sound too bad. A girl named Asuna is about to be killed by a magical beast when a mysterious boy pops up and saves her. One thing leads to…
Read at the sourceGabornsmith
This movie is boring, really boring. I actually fell asleep and had to rewind to see it all though, after making it to the end I realized I shouldn't have bothered. Despite being a very pretty anime the story overly complicates a simple concept while pretending to explain what is supposed to be happening and giving you characters that I just didn't care about. I think this movie will only appeal to people who don't mind overly dramatic tragedies.
Read at the sourcePylgrim
Children Who Chase Voices is an undisguised love letter to studio Ghibli and the anime of the early nineties. With a setting and visual elements reminiscent of Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind and character and monster design that you could insert into Princess Mononoke and not notice an intrusion, and a narrative structure and a plot following conventions from fantasy anime from that era (championed by Escaflowne, which the movie references visually at least a couple times,) it is clear for the long-time anime watcher that Makoto Shinkai is crafting a beautiful "thank you" card to the medium that inspired him to become who he is now.
It is also -as we all have learned to love and expect- breathtakingly beautiful in its large panoramic vistas of long-grassed fields and cloud-layered, co…
Read at the sourceKingdomOfCows
Okay before I start, I just want to say that this is my first review, since this is the first anime I've ever really felt the need to write a review about. So I hope you will find this review helpful and enjoyable. Alright, here goes.
This is truly one of the best animes I have ever watched - hand down.
The intensity and emotion behind each of the characters and their actions is overwhelming at times and these emotions certainly won't fail to move any person who has had any relation to love, loss of someone important or simply just a person who has the felt the warmth of motherly love.
Story: 9
The story of this movie could - to some people - seem a bit rushed and somewhat not thought through completely. But I beg to differ as I don't think the story is what's most important to this mo…
Read at the sourceArchaeon
Stories about the dead coming back to life are a dime a dozen these days, mainly because of the current fascination with zombies and vampires, but rarely do we see a tale that's more akin to the legends of old, where mighty heroes brave the perils of the underworld to be reunited with their lost love.
Sorry, that should be a 12 year old girl. Let's try this again ...
Stories about children having adventures in other worlds are a dime a dozen these days, but rarely do we see a tale that's more akin to the stories of old, where brave youths traversed other realms on a journey that would teach them ... lots of stuff.
Nope, that's not going to work either. Let's try putting the two together ...
Hoshi wo Ou Kodomo, which apparently means "Children Who Chase Stars" but for some reason is cal…
Read at the sourcePsychotik
Every year or so, there is usually an epic movie that comes out on the silver screen. A story of a kid sucked into a fantasy world of some kind, willingly or not, and embark on an adventure of a lifetime. These films have almost become a dime a dozen these days, so they really need to be excellent and memorable to become a classic. Sadly, I don't really feel like this one treads new ground.
In this tale, we follow Asuna, a regular, independent teenage girl. We also meet a substitute teacher (Morisaki) and follow them through an underground world to play God and revive the dead. Ambitious, you can call them, though it is an understatement. The concept of resurrection is certainly very interesting to explore, though this movie doesn't really do that, even if it is a main focus. It lead to a…
Read at the source5camp
The story is about Asuna, basically the female lead from every single Ghibli movie ever, a bit of a loner girl who spends her time sitting on rocky outcrops listening to her makeshift crystal radio. One day she is attacked by a monster, who got lost on his way to a Princess Mononoke audition, but is saved by Shun, who is basically the pretty boy male lead from half of every single Ghibli movie ever (don't worry, the other half of the pretty boy male lead is role is taken up by Shun's younger brother). But then Stuff Happens that I don't want to spoil, so Asuna has to travel to the magical land of Agartha with her mysterious substitute teacher, who is basically the villain from every single Ghibli movie...wait, actually he's not. He's more nuanced than that, and was far and away my favourit…
Read at the sourceDracus
NB: I'll try to avoid the spoilers as much as possible, but if you're not sure, don't read it before watching the movie.
In the cinema theme of overcoming the most severe loss in the lives of everyone is one of the most difficult to implement. Too easy to drop down to the banal repetition of precepts of the ancient sages or even go away from believable emotions, depriving the viewer of not just the answers, but even a simple empathy to heroes. No wonder that both in live-action and animation few authors dare to even approach it. In Makoto Shinkai's "Hoshi wo Ou Kodomo" this topic continues theme of parting loving hearts of his previous works, but it does so in an unexpected setting, clearly reminiscent of "adult fairy tales" of Hayao Miyazaki.
The first thing one can say about the film -…
Read at the sourceTyblazitar
Disclaimer: As this obviously hasn't been subbed yet, and my Japanese is nowhere near fluent, it's possible that certain minor details in the plot might have escaped me. Please keep this in mind while reading the review.
Makoto Shinkai's most recent work is something quite new for him. The main criticisms of his works has as far as I can tell been the character designs being to simplistic and rough, as well as all his three longer works being quite similar. Though I would contend the latter point, it's certain that Hoshi wo Ou Kodomo is different, in both aspects. It would seem that Shinkai has moved away from his tragic love stories with sci-fi elements and to something more Miyazaki-inspired. But does he succeed? (OK, I guess this isn't much of a cliffhanger considering my scores.)
Sto…
Read at the source