The idea of this story is a good one and the imagery is frequently beautiful and obviously the 2011 tsunami influenced this story but....
The characters are just so damn annoying. Kosuke and Natsume are just so freaking obnoxious. The constant bickering gets old. And, the bratty girl is the worst. The only likable character is the bigger boy in the red shirt; he's sweet.
But, worst of all, it's just way too long. This should have been 85 minutes tops. It's just endlessly repetitive and heavy handed with the "lessons" the kids learn.
I think a main problem is, the filmmakers desperately want to be Miyazaki but they don't understand how to do that. Miyazaki is the master of expressing complex ideas but in a very clear, concise way. It's why he's the Master.
The characters are just so damn annoying. Kosuke and Natsume are just so freaking obnoxious. The constant bickering gets old. And, the bratty girl is the worst. The only likable character is the bigger boy in the red shirt; he's sweet.
But, worst of all, it's just way too long. This should have been 85 minutes tops. It's just endlessly repetitive and heavy handed with the "lessons" the kids learn.
I think a main problem is, the filmmakers desperately want to be Miyazaki but they don't understand how to do that. Miyazaki is the master of expressing complex ideas but in a very clear, concise way. It's why he's the Master.