Karry Best movie of this year hands down!

Stevecorp Don't listen to the negative reviews

Plustown A lot of perfectly good film show their cards early, establish a unique premise and let the audience explore a topic at a leisurely pace, without much in terms of surprise. this film is not one of those films.

Raymond Sierra The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

anidanms This movie will show you a totally different perspective that you never imagined. Because of the movie and its characters are so beautifuly balanced its portraits a way of life that was, is and could be. Its shows us or rather teaches us how things can always be worse than they appear and how in the end one can always find the light to any of our actions.Over all this movie is a wonderful piece of art, a piece of history and I for one would not change a single thing about it, I just love it as it is.

LightKola I was expecting something a little different from this film. More accurately, I wasn't expecting something in particular but I was still surprised by the movie.What I liked : the art in general (drawings, colours, music, sound effects, voice acting). I truly found the movie to be visually stunning and I liked the general atmosphere that is very poetic, sometimes melancholic, sometimes light, sometimes vibrant or even tragic. For the most part I also enjoyed the dialogue, there was quite a few funny moments, not necessarily in a pure comedic sense but often more like something between funny and touching. It was also interesting to simply witness what these people's live looked like during that time. I didn't know or had forgotten that Japan had been the prey to this constant bombardment during the war and it was a good reminder that civilians pay a dear cost during a time of war.. There was a few scenes that managed to touch me on a deeper level, those felt strong made me more invested in the story. What didn't work for me : the lack of a strong plot, its development and the shallowness of my emotional involvement in character(s). I get that it's not the kind of work that necessarily needs a thick plot, plot twists and stuff like that. Unfortunately, I didn't relate with the characters enough to overlook that aspect. Actually, the only character that I truly cared about was the main character Suzu, and even then, the feeling was not as consistent as I would have liked. I would have enjoyed seeing more of her childhood friend, Rin I believe, but it didn't happen. I'm not saying that I didn't care about what happened to other characters at all, but I wasn't as invested as I'd wish I was. Thus, at several points I felt that the movie was too long and I got a bit bored. Overall I enjoyed the experience and I do not regret watching it at all. If you like slice of life genre, poetic stories with beautiful visuals carried by an endearing main character, this might very well be the film for you, maybe not, watch it and find out. Verdict: 6.9/10. This rating isn't an attempt to evaluate the actual objective value of the film but merely reflects my own enjoyment of the work.

Red-Barracuda I have previously seen the harrowing Japanese anime Grave of the Fireflies (1988) which depicted the horrors of World War II on Japanese civilians. This brilliant film remains the only Studio Ghibli film to not be distributed by Disney – it was too disturbing for them. With In This Corner Of The World we have a new take on the subject of life in wartime Japan. While this one did not have the impact of the earlier movie for me, it was still a very impressive bit of work. It specifically follows a family in the year leading up to the 6th of August 1945 when the Enola Gay dropped the atomic bomb on the city of Hiroshima. The action, however, takes place in Kure, a city nearby.The war is very much in the periphery of the story. Ominously hovering in the background with battleships silently moving into the harbour, military police active on the ground and air raids occurring regularly by the American military. While the horrors of war do escalate, much of the run-time is devoted to the family drama and this is perhaps the one weakness of the film, as the domestic drama isn't entirely compelling and a bit meandering. It means that we don't get as involved with the characters as much as we should and it could perhaps have been trimmed down a little at the very least. However, this negative has to be offset by the positive in the way that the story does examine the lives of ordinary people during this time. We also have the constant advance of time towards what we know to be that fateful August day and knowing what is to come actually generates even more tension than not knowing. When the moment finally arrives, it is understated in a way that is incredibly sinister. A silent white flash, a tremor and then a huge odd-looking cloud in the distance. It is a far cry from the usual way in which nuclear strikes are depicted in films but its very distance and unspectacular presentation creates a curious melancholic and depressing feeling which was quite powerful I thought. The artwork throughout is beautiful – this is a film which could easily pass itself off as a Ghibli product – and it doesn't pull its punches when it depicts some of the horrors of the aftermath of the 'new bomb'. Overall, this is another powerful and artistically strong bit of animation from Japan.

turregano This is my first anime film and I am glad I chose it. It combined a good (if meandering at times) story, excellent animation, unique art, and appropriate history together to produce a wonderful (if long) film. The characters do not take advantage of the medium except in dream sequences or when something untoward occurs. This keeping the film in reality is one of its strengths. Another strength is what I feel to be the accurate portrayal of Japanese citizens during the war. I have read a great deal and feel this might actually be a very good teaching tool about the hardships and loyalty born by the Japanese people during WW2. And, finally, with my limited knowledge of Japanese culture, I thought this offered a valuable insight into how the culture works and what is important to the people. For all these reasons, plus the beautiful animation and art in the film, I am glad this was my first experience with anime.