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Nov 5, 2025
Howl’s Moving Castle is a bafflingly miscalculated piece of media that has way more flaws than strengths in my eyes. I’ll start with the positives I have cause there are quite a few. First off, the animation as usual is stunning. In fact, there’s one scene that made me very emotional the last time I watched it. It’s when Sophie is climbing up a hill towards Howl’s Castle at sunset and meets a scarecrow. I don’t know what it is but seeing the sunset in the background with a large European-style town makes me super nostalgic for some reason lol. Another thing I like is
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Calcifer, mainly because he was the only character that didn’t have an awful/annoying attribute. Well, ig the scarecrow was fine too.
Anyways, Howl’s Moving Castle has flaws in nearly every category. First off, the character design is awful beyond belief. Howl in bird form is one of the most hideous creatures I’ve ever seen and it makes me want to throw a rock at my screen. Which of the Waste is also an abomination that reminds me of the SCP-001 entry When Day Breaks. It makes me wish my vision decline can happen faster so I don’t have to see this on my screen anymore. Sophie and the other character designs are fine but not that memorable either. Older Sophie also looks pretty bad but it’s tolerable.
Speaking of Sophie I’m going to talk about the characters now! Sophie is really unlikeable and reminds me of Merida from Brave. She acts alarmingly selfish throughout the entire movie, whether it’s to Howl, to her mother, or Calcifer. Also why does she constantly shift back between being old and young? The movie does not give any reason for that so it just looks like an animation mistake. I also cannot stand Howl. He is the summation of everything I hate about a person put into one character. He’s overly douchey, bipolar, weird, one-dimensional, and he also looks ugly as hell. That’s another thing about these characters, pretty much no one grows or changes substantially throughout the story. There’s not really any chemistry between anyone other than a stupid forced romance that gets undercut anyways by all the stupid weird bs Howl likes to pull.
In addition to this the story makes almost no sense. So supposedly it’s anti-War. However, none of the story actually focuses on the war itself until the last 20 minutes. For the most part, it’s just bs shenanigans that is enough to put me to sleep. And for some reason the way that the war ends is because Suliman saw that Howl was in love??? Stupid ahh ending. Apparently Howl’s Moving Castle is supposed to be an anti-War movie on the invasion of Iraq, but it’s done in such a confusing and poor way that the audience can’t really discern that. Also there are better anti-War Ghibli movies, Grave Of The Fireflies (1988) portrays the horrors of war in such a heartbreaking way that I physically cannot forget it. Some other Ghibli films I think have a better anti-War message are Princess Mononoke (1997), The Wind Rises (2013), and Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (1984). Want a better romance Ghibli Film with actual likable characters, then try Whisper of The Heart (1995) or The Castle in The Sky (1986). Heck, I’d go as far as to say Ponyo (2008) has a stronger romance plotline than Howl’s Moving Castle.
In short, Howl’s Moving Castle is a confusing story that attempts too many different plot-lines and themes that just don’t mesh well together at all. It’s not objectively terrible but it’s easily Miyazaki’s worst work.
Reviewer’s Rating: 5
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Jun 4, 2025
This was one of the most atrocious things I've ever had to watch. Believe it or not, I had really high expectations for this one so I guess that's on me. Holy crap I went to the absolute depth of hell to be able to watch this just for it to be an absolute pile of crap. I guess I'll start off with the positives:
1. The Environments are pretty.
2. The music is nice even though Tenmon is gone.
Yeah, that's about it.
This plot is perhaps one of the most unpleasant I've ever had to witness. So basically, a 15 year old high school
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student falls in love with his 27 year old teacher. More specifically, he enjoys not only drawing pictures of her shoes/feet but also touching them as well and making shoes for her. This is already bad enough on its own but the issue is that there's never a reality check or any person with rational thought who steps in and call out this scummy behavior. In fact, it's encouraged! The excuse this movie has is that she's "lost in this world" and "disatisfied with her job" but that's a common thing pretty much every adult deals with at some point.
The first time there's some drama is when he gets called out for liking her, which he slaps a girl over... The second time when there's drama is when he decides to berate his teacher, but instead of actually calling her out for letting him act innapropriately around her he just throws middle school level insults then they hug it out. Yes, that's the climax. I can't with this film man. How does Shinkai manage to write such an unlikable protagonist? The ONLY saving grace for this film is that the evironments are beautiful and the depiction of rain and clouds really sets up the art direction for Weathering with You.
Forget Children Who Chase Lost Voices being bad, that movie is a masterpiece by comparison. The fact that he went from this to Kimi No Na Wa in three years is baffaling to me.
Reviewer’s Rating: 2
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May 31, 2025
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
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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.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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May 28, 2025
I think this is perhaps the lightest, featheriest 5 I've given a film. It's like on the cusp between a 4 and 5. The reasoning for this is that the quality gap between the writing and the art of this film is massive. The OST is georgous, perhaps the best from Tenmon we've ever seen. However, the story is incredibly tedious and monotonous with Shikai attempting to go full Studio Ghibli. On one hand it's a bit nice that each of his earlier films did not turn out to be beta versions of Kimi No Na Wa, on the other hand this seems kinda worse
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in several aspect. This film surprisingly doesn't do that bad at creating a fantasy-type world. The visuals and music especially are phenominal. You can tell here Shinkai not only knows how to draw people finally but the visuals are on par with Kimi No Na Wa and Tenki No Ko with how show-stoppingly beautiful they are. However, the pacing is painfully slow. This is Shinkai's second longest film, only behind Suzume. Yet, at least with Suzume it felt like the plot was progressing naturally throughout its runtime. With this it seems like the plot just mianders around in one of the most boring ways possible. The first 30 minutes or so are quite compelling but once our protagonist enters the "fantasy world" it turns into an absolute snooze fest. I feel like without the stunning visuals or banger music to keep me engaged I would've probably fallen asleep. On the bright side, a lot of the visuals and fantasy-tropes that come from this movie end up serving as the perfect setup for Kimi No Na Wa. In a way, this movie had to flop with its fantasy elements in order for his later works to be as phenominal as they are. I guess other examples of this could be Cherry Bomb for Tyler Okonma or 808s for Kanye West (I can't think of any movie/anime related examples I'm sorry). But those pieces of media had to flop to lead to something much better down the road, and this is just another example. All and all, there are certainly quite a few elements from this film that I enjoy, but I do not have the patience to slog through this one again.
To Any Aspiring Anime Film Directors Out There, please do not try to recreate Spirited Away. You will not be able to surpass it.
Reviewer’s Rating: 5
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May 24, 2025
This is one of those films that attempts to do a lot, but it ends up coming up short on almost everything the director wishes to do. Given that almost everything here was done by Shinkai in seven months, that's what holds this film back. You can tell here that his later films do pick up on a lot of aspects of the story itself. It's his first attempt at writing a romance movie, and he's experimenting with the following format: two lovers get close to one another but are ultimately separated by extraordinary circumstances. I hope Shinkai didn't continue doing that format over and
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over again until Kimi No Na Wa, but we will see. The writing and animation overall are rough, especially the people. However, some scenes are breathtaking and impressive for 2002. As for the story, it's bizarre and not in a good way. It's a weird Evangelion clone but with only two characters. The main girl goes off to fight some aliens while the boy stays behind and doesn't do much. Instead of the movie progressing naturally, Shinkai decides to take the girl further away from Earth so their connection can be as inconvenient and slow as possible. However, towards the end, there's a new "faster than light" method of communication. How convenient! I do find the world itself to be interesting; however, the story focuses on the only two people in the poster and no one else. I see now why Shinkai focuses more on making the normal ethereal cause building an ethereal world just to ignore it does not work. On the birght side, this film is only 25 minutes long so if you're really bored you can give this a short watch to what is Shinkai's first ever movie.
Reviewer’s Rating: 4
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May 23, 2025
This is one of those films that I want to like, but it is underwhelming in a lot of aspects. Since this is my second Satoshi Kon film, watching this after Perfect Blue feels weird. This seems like a complete departure from what he was going for in his previous films, almost as if he's hitting the reset button to try something completely different. The issue with that, however, is that he had a previous directing style unique to him that is now gone. Instead, this seems a lot like a Hayao Miyazaki film for the first hour, and then the climax feels a bit
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more like a Hideaki Anno film but heavily toned down. These aren't bad film directors by any means to get inspiration from, especially for a fantasy film, but I can't understand why he couldn't have just stuck to his style. This film is still a good watch, but if you're expecting the same thrilling highs from Perfect Blue, prepare to be disappointed. Also the ending is really dumb and I do not like it.
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
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May 22, 2025
This is perhaps the most realistic depiction of a relationship I've ever seen in all of media. Sometimes you meet someone, grow really close to them, and then you're forcibly seperated due to unfortunate circumstances. Over the years I've had several love interests. Some I initiated myself, others they initiated first. No matter how things went it always ended the same, we grew apart and stopped talking to one another. That's ultimately just life and how relationships work most of the time. The way this film conveys that is absolutely beautiful. Unlike Shinkai's Modern films there isn't any apocolypic event or sense of urgency at
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all. It's merely a collection of stories with our MC and a love interest where things almost work but fail at the last minute. The ending itself is even more disheartening. The MC's original love interest gets engaged while the two forever fall out of contact. Alright, I'd rather not spoil anymore than I have to. Please watch this I am begging you.
Reviewer’s Rating: 10
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May 19, 2025
This is one of those animes where I come out of it questioning everything. What happened to Mima? Did she go insane? Did she almost get killed by Rumi? The amount of times where I'm left questioning if anything I'm witnessing is even real in this universe or not is astounding. There really is no right or wrong answer if I'm being completely honest. Also the first half does a really great job in depicting how often women are mistreated in the entertainment industry. I also like how the entire audience of all of her performances is all male, a really interesting albeit unrealistic stylistic
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choice. I guess my only real issue with this movie is the blatant red hering this film placed on Me-Mania. They tried way too hard to make him as antagonistic and blatantly creepy as possible. Other than that this movie is perhaps one of the most disturbing and mature I've ever watched. It's clearly not for everyone as it as scenes of extreme violence, gore, rape, mental illness, stabbings, and many more NSFW things. It was extremely difficult to watch because of this and I constantly had to pause and take several breaks. Overall, for my first ever rated R anime film this really did not hold back any punches.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Apr 19, 2025
This movie is everything I wanted from a Project Sekai adaptation and more. Everything is perfect from the story, to the characters, the scrip writing, to the environment, EVERYTHING here could not have been executed better. This is more than just fan service to Project Sekai players and Vocaloid Enjoyers; this is a story about confidence, overcoming stigmas against yourself, and learning the true meaning of comradary. With the power of God, Anime, and Friendship, ANYTHING you wish to achieve is possible. Now you might ask, is that an overdone movie trope at this point? Of course! But the way it's executed is done perfectly.
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It's the showing not telling through the power of not just the visuals/writing, but also the MUSIC. OH MY GOSH THIS OST IS SO GOOOD HOLY CRAP!!!!!!!! Gunjou Sanka especially makes me happy in ways I can't describe, it's just perfect. The opening track too is so heavenly and hype that it actually became my Number 1 played track on spotify and hasn't dropped since. Honestly every song, yes even the ones composed by Deco*27, are at least an 80/100 for me. GIVE THIS MOVIE A WATCH IF YOU HAVEN'T! PIRATE IT I DON'T CARE JUST WATCH IT PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This is easily the best movie of the year and potentially the decade. Wow, just wow, everything is amazing. And I haven't even mentioned the fan service. This aint just a movie about Miku, it's a movie with Len, Rin, Megurine, Meiko, and KAITO as well. Also the fact that there are multiple versions of these characters gives me Deja Vu to Spiderverse. And I also love how the different Mikus contrast each other in personality so much. I wish to say more but this review is already long so I'll sum it up to this.
Story: 10/10
Characters: 10/10
OST: 10/10
Everything about this movie: 10/10
It's movies like this that are set up as benchmarks in history and change this industry as a whole. I would LOVE to see more crossovers between vocaloid and anime in the future cause this is AMAZING!
Reviewer’s Rating: 10
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Apr 12, 2025
This is objectively one of the best movies I've watched of all time. From the story, to the world building, to the soundtrack, everything. However, it's a bit harder for me to connect to this story personally. They say that Miyazaki makes the etherial normal and Shikai makes the normal etherial; and watching this right after Kimi No Na Wa proves that statement true. Me personally, I prefer the normal being etherial over the etherial being normal. Movies that stay strongly grounded in reality while having a fantasy aspect to them just hit a lot stronger personally. That being said, this movie is extremely well
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crafted in every single way. My only complaints come down to personal preference and nothing more. It's objectively one of the best anime films I've ever watched, but nowhere near my favorite.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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