Vashirdfel Simply A Masterpiece

Pacionsbo Absolutely Fantastic

Cleveronix A different way of telling a story

Chirphymium It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional

CinemaClown The third feature film from Makoto Shinkai presents the writer-director blending elements of fantasy, sci-fi & romance into another ambitious coming-of-age tale that astonishes on a technical scale yet is marred in the storytelling department by the same issues that plagued his first film.The story of Children Who Chase Lost Voices (also known as Journey to Agartha) follows a young girl who, accompanied by one of her school teachers, embarks on a life-changing journey to a mythical place called Agartha to find her lost friend, only to encounter cruelty & beauty in the world beneath.Written, produced, directed, photographed & edited by Makoto Shinkai (best known for 5 Centimeters per Second & Your Name), the film begins on an interesting note, hinting a sense of mystery from its opening moments, and Agartha is truly a sight to behold but the longer it goes on, the more tedious the journey becomes.Shinkai's imagination is impressive and he does well to translate the storyboarded images on the film canvas, but the slow narration hurts the overall experience as the story overstays its welcome and feels quite overlong. Characters appeared to be intriguing at first but interest in their journey fizzles out over the course of its runtime.The animation is top-notch as expected and Agartha has that otherworldly feel & vibe to it but its never ending exhibition of set pieces becomes tiring after a while. More often than not, they seem like distraction rather than an integral element of the plot. The inspiration behind Agartha is obvious but the events unfolding there aren't always riveting.On an overall scale, Children Who Chase Lost Voices starts on a promising note but fails to keep the interest alive until the end. Its structure is a mess, characters are one-dimensional, and many moments that should've ended up on the editing room floor make it to the final print, thus slowing down its narrative by an extent. It's an extravagant effort from Shinkai but it just isn't as rewarding or satisfying as expected.

ThatAnimeSnob (ThatAnimeSnob) So this girl sees these monsters and is saved by a boy from the underworld. And she goes there, and she is chased around by some freaks and… What is the point of all this? Disappointed! This is how I felt after I finished this film. Wanna know why?1) The director Makoto Shinkai is quite famous for his tragic romantic tales. Voices of a Distant Star and 5cm per Second are among st the few romances even an uncaring bastard like myself enjoyed. So it was reasonable to expect yet another film regarding a tragic romance. Because, duh, Shinkai never made anything else. And to my amazement he now did. And it wasn't good.2) The studio Studio Comics Wave is new but has made an impressive work so far. The thing is, with this film it feels like it is trying to rip-off Ghibli Studio instead of trying to find an identity or style of its own. I had to check three times to make sure this WASN'T a Ghibli production. I mean, IT IS SO ALIKE! In my mind there can be only one Ghibli and now I see someone trying to become its copycat? This is an outrage! Yes, pretty damn good visuals and soundtrack, but they all look and sound like a damn robbery from one of the most famous studios around. I couldn't enjoy the overall film because of it.3) The story You think the similarities to Ghibli stop only at the visuals? Heck no, the story itself was a mix of various Ghibli works. At the same time it is hardly as captivating as those films, with far less context, complexity, interesting situations, and plot. So not only it is an imitation, it is also a bad one. If you just sit back and think of the plot of the film you will immediately realize how linear, simple, and eventually forgettable it was.4) The characters Not even one of the characters in the film is memorable or interesting. They all play their generic roles to the fullest yet none of them manage to stand out from their counterparts in a myriad other children fantasy stories. To the most part all you see is the heroine being chased around by monsters and being saved by a handsome fighter from a magical land. It couldn't get any cornier. I saw fifty times more in the far similar premise of Escaflowne, where everyone there was far more complicating than he appeared to be at first. And in case you try to excuse it by saying this is a movie and not a series to demand drastic character development, then I will reply that in this case a movie should not be full of useless characters. Yet look at this, there is a whole school filled with children, a whole village filled with people, a whole magical land filled with creatures and you get nothing out of them. They are just standing there, irrelevant to the main plot, and boring since they are not doing anything.5) The motivation There is no clear goal for most of the movie. The characters are running around almost apathetically, without really caring or making us care about whatever they want to accomplish. And even when they accomplish it, it feels hollow and pointless, without nothing interesting for you to remember about. There is absolutely no emotional engagement with whatever is going on in it.6) Plausibility Furthermore, the movie hardly tries to convince you of whatever happens. Monsters attack our world, the army attacks them with helicopters, and nobody in the surrounding areas besides the heroine takes notice of them. And then the movie ends and she returns and her mother has apparently popped in the story, and she keeps living her life like nothing matters. So what was the point of all that?Although most viewers will probably just stare at the cool visuals and vote this a 9 or 10, I am a far harder to please man. I expect emotional engagement, development of the initial concept, some plot twist to be taken back for a few seconds, some characters who manage to escape their stereotype, something that doesn't feel like a lesser rehash of older productions. Well I got none of the above in this one. It was hollow, boring, and made Makoto Shinkai to look like a failed Miyazaki wannabe when he always had his own style and identity. His specialty always was tragic romances, he was so good at it, he had no reason to stray off to something far more childish and stupid like this. Although he tried to pull of something similar here with the myth of Izanami and Izanagi, he failed completely to make it plausible and engaging. His previous works were all quite realistic to the most part, without silly magical powers to offer panacea to any problem encountered. But this? This is a stupid romantic fairy tale for little girls (yes, girls, not even boys) and one so generic that you will forget as soon as you watch the next generic fairy tale that comes along. Heck, watching a low-budget stupid Barbie 3D movie is more than enough to get over it!Completely disappointed! Go back to realistic romances Shinkai! Leave behind there stupid magical lands! And above all don't try to grow a beard and act like Miyazaki. Be yourself.

mammal asdf2 I believe this movie is thought through bit more then most here give it credit for. All the Ghibli references left to themselves make for pretty bold plagiarism if it wasn't for the obvious meta plot. The whole Movie is full of Ghibli elements and characters because (so i assume) it is meant to be a movie about the animators own journey of experiencing the Ghibli universes and having to let go of them each at a time. The first time we see a mythical monster in the movie its a kind of Totoro bear on a bridge, (the scene mirroring spirited away bridge scene) and the first thing that is said is setting the tone for the theme throughout the rest of the movie "its dying". To accept the transitoriness of these blissful experiences one gets from watching a good fantasy movie is the girls message, exemplified when she has to let go of Shun (Haku/Howl) and the yellow cat creature from Nausicaa valley of the wind, while the teacher represents the artists working on this movie. The key scene at the end, where its all about trying to resurrect this whole Ghibli-juiciness into a new movie, being this movie itself: "it needs a living vessel" a body, a new Plot to incarnate itself into. The result is this movie which feels kind of like a living breathing Ghibli Frankenstein. I love that whole surreal scene at the end, with the eyes on the god-ship maybe representing the audience itself watching this movie, and the overtones of madness by the teacher(director/animators) as he has to sacrifice more then intended in order to bring back something lost. At times it also felt as if the movie was a love letter to Myazaki in general. There are tons of ghibli elements and references in this, and its fun to watch the movie just to try and find them all.

Salwa Muslimah Solace I have been such a huge fan of Ghibli studio that i was not aware there was anything that could compare to such classic masterpieces the likes of Mononka and spirited away. But Makoto Shinkai, children who chase lost voices was amazing. It is very similar to Ghibli although different at the same time.I love the animation, the storyline is very mature and deals with difficult issues such as, loss of loved ones, independence and making life changing decisions. I can imagine this would perhaps be a little scary for a young child to watch. I am 26 and thought at times it became a little too dark and intense. Such an original story line and original characters.I prefer Japanese animi to Disney and American movies as the content is usually very childish and brain dead. Japanese animi really does deal with issues that some contemplate often. Life, death, love and friendship.I can not wait to watch more from Makoto Shinkai. I rate this in the top 10 best Japanese animi :D