Angels_Review
Addictions… they are something that you can put your whole life and wellbeing into, not caring who you harm and sometimes even forgetting why you started it to begin with. No, this is not a two step 'drug addiction' seminar; it's the start of a strange twist of fate for Watanuki and his friends. The movie starts out like any other episode of the anime really, with Watanuki being loaded down with a mass of spirits who all seem to want his attention up till he finally reaches the place that he works at, Yuuko's wish granting house where he works like a slave for her. I can understand why they started it out with this as there is a need to explain who the characters are within the movie, but for people like me who know the story from both the anime and manga, it feels like a cop out. The reason why Watanuki is working at Yuuko's place is so he would not have this trouble with spirits hanging on him all the time, but here we see that even though he has been working there a little while, the spirits do bother him. I can feel a little bit of annoyance when Yuuko talks about how he doesn't see them that much but that's because he is working at her place. Outside of that, nothing has changed at all (At least that's how it feels).Surprisingly, most of my problems with this Movie were only in the first few minutes of it, up till we have them going to a mansion that a woman had asked Yuuko to help get into (besides some animation hiccups I guess). The storyline was very well thought out and the characters were as lovable and funny as in the anime. Some minor problems of the show were pushed off to the side because of the rest of it being rather good. I felt like I was watching part of the anime without the cuts from it having to go into the next episode. I know some people get mad when a movie doesn't feel like a movie but to me, I was happy to see this. Since I loved the anime already so it was nice seeing they had not changed anything.The mansion was pretty creepy and was a lot like the Winchester mansion with doors and staircases leading no where and the 'room within a room' aspect but I had to wonder slightly why it was like that. I felt like we were going threw a ton of dimensions, rooms that felt like the outside, rooms so small you could hardly walk into, and even a really strange tiny tunnel that Watanuki had to crawl through to get to the restroom (and make himself look like a walking stick the whole way with his strange limbs). Then we have a strange feeling of a murder mystery where everyone was given an invitation to be there and then people start disappearing starting with one person and then going on to more. All of them had a common interest; all of them collected things like an addiction. Now you can understand why I brought up the addiction part in the beginning of this review. And even in the end of the movie, I felt that I had still questions that were left unanswered and no closer to them. I'm not against not having all the answers, but there was one that bothered me and sadly, I can't say it or it will be a large spoiler.The artwork is really strange, and sometimes goes overboard compared to the anime. We do have the long limbs and over exaggerated faces that Watanuki is known for, the overly Slenderman look-a-likes of all the characters and the sometimes overly barbaric proportions of head to body ratios everybody whines about. But then we have some creepier looking things in the movie then just how the characters look. There are times when we are given CG rendered rooms that look almost perfect to the cartoon aspects and then they are placed next to rather low detailed objects like the characters for example. Sometimes it didn't work but I found that most of the time it did as it would give you a very chilling feeling and add to what I believe the creators wanted.I was not disappointed in the slightest of the movie and that's surprising as my expectations were pretty high seeing as I liked the anime and manga both. If you are in the same book as me, I think you would really enjoy it as well.
rebirth_2008
Beautiful movie and awesome series.I agree that you need to know the basics of the story to get most of the character interactions.Yuuko San is a powerful sorceress who grants all wishes but for a price equal to that of the wish. She LOVES sake and snacks and sends Watanuki to buy and make them all the time, much to his annoyance. She's quite funny and mysterious. She sometimes sends Watanuki as bait =) for the spirits when she has a job but she always helps him and asks Domeki to help him.Watanuki is a highschooler who sees ghosts and spirits that bother him all the time. Yuuko helped him stop seeing these spirits and helped them to not see him either. His price for this wish is to work for Yuuko San as a butler/cook/housecleaner and she sends him to help her with spirits.Domeki is a fellow highschooler of Watanuki's who is as cool as Watanuki is excitable. Domeki has holy powers that keep ghosts away and his family owns a temple (?). He only likes Hinamori as a friend at most but Watanuki gets jealous whenever then have any interactions.Hinamori is another highschooler (they all go to the same school) and she doesn't seem to favor either boy but Watanumi has an enormous crush on her. Yuuko San seems to think that there is something fishy about her but it hasn't been revealed yet.I would definitely recommend this series. The animation is beautiful and the story is very interesting and dark and funny. If you can find it (it is still available on certain sites) check it out.
dbborroughs
Yuko is hired by the owner of a home who can not get get into the house she owns. So with Watanuki and Doumeki in tow she goes to visit the house where several collectors are staying for their mysterious host to appear so that they can add to their collections. This is a very strange tale that slowly builds as it goes on as things are found not to be the way they appear and it all to be operating with some form of Dream logic.Mixing a variety of styles in animation this is a visually beautiful program that captures the some of the themes nicely while remaining true to the look and feel of the Clamp art work that is its source. The story slowly builds a sense of dread that remains through out even if you can guess some of what is going on. In its way it manages to be creepier than the manga ever was.The only real flaw is that there is no character development. There is an assumption that you'll know who the characters are and what their relationship to each other is. The need to know stuff coming in is especially true with Doumeki, who is a rival for the affections of a young girl with Watanuki, but is also a friend and priest with mystical abilities, something that is not revealed until a good ways into the manga story line.I really liked this movie a great deal. Its probably better as a horror film than as a perfect representation of the manga, but as comic to film transfers go its pretty good. Definitely worth seeing if you're a fan of the manga or Clamp or anime. ALso worth a shot if you like good thrillers of any sort.FYI- This series runs parallel to Clamp's Tsubasa Chronicle, and a cross over to that TV series can be seen towards the close of the film where Yuko is helps someone far away.
