Lonely Castle in the Mirror (2022) User Reviews

A castle of solace

[Rectangular_businessman · 6/10 · 8 January 2024]

While it got a very positive reception, I must confess I did not enjoy Colorful very much. I personally found the main character to be very unlikeable and I didn't like its artstyle.

I did enjoy Summer Days with Coo, which had a certain Ghibli feel, but it was different enough to be its own thing.

Lonely Castle in the Mirror is the third movie by Keiichi Hara I have seen: My main interest to see this film was due its whimsical premise, reminiscent of many classic fairy tales and fantasy books for children (Such Alice Through the Looking Glass)

While I haven't read the book which served as inspiration for this movie, I must say I got mixed feelings about it: I can't deny it has its share of beautiful and genuinely emotional moments (Particularly during the last half-hour, which in my opinion completely saves the movie, unleashing all the contained emotion from all what was previously seen) but, at the same time, I found it a bit dull at moments, to the point I almost wanted to stop watching it after the first hour. Fortunately I didn't, but really, the first half of the movie hardly shows the real heart and potential from the story.

Against what I was expecting, this is not an adventure film. I mean, there is some adventure on its climatic act, but for most part, this is an slice of life anime with a small fantasy element: There is a magic mirror taking to another dimension and a magic castle, but for most part, the story focuses in the everyday lives of a group of troubled teens which had to deal with bullying and difficulties for socializing.

Anyone expecting a high fantasy adventure, or even something like Alice in Wonderland will be bitterly disappointed: The castle itself serves (for most part) as a shelter for the main characters, a place which helps them to connect with other people, not to live adventures.

Unfortunately, not much is done with the setting. Is just a generic castle. True, there is a magic room, and a search for a key, but said search doesn't take much importance until the final half hour.

Visually speaking, the movie is a bit disappointing, without any remarkable aspect in that regard. I understand creating a big spectacle is not the main intention here, but I cannot help but think the premise had enough potential for a more creative use of imagery.

Still, the emotional conclusion was more than enough to made this a worth-watching experience.

6.5/10.

A Touching Story

[lovelyneko · 8/10 · 4 May 2023]

I watched this movie last January. I didn't have much expectations about it, since I wasn't familiar with the director Keiichi Hara. However, the movie turned out to be so good that I enjoyed it very much. Although it was a fantasy, it represented the "real world" well.

The main character is Kokoro, a teenage girl who is being bullied at school. One day, she finds a mirror that, upon touching it, drags her into another world. She finds herself inside a castle with six other teenagers. Then the master of the castle appears before them and announces that whoever finds a hidden key somewhere in the castle will be granted one wish.

The movie reflects real life problems, such as bullying, child abuse, and other issues that can ruin a child's life. It pains me, but because of the character of Ms. Kitajima, I can say that the movie is also touching. There are people like her who care about the youth, which gives me hope. She is not a mother. She is not even a school teacher. Yet, she is much more than just a counselor for young people like Kokoro. Aoi Miyazaki is the actress who voices the character of Ms. Kitajima. I've always been a fan of hers, and I think she did a great job in this movie, as always.

Breath-taking final act

[talking_about_movies · 9/10 · 15 June 2023]

When I reviewed "Drifting Home" last year, I said that when it comes to the fantasy genre, anime movies have a lot to offer. Unfortunately, that movie didn't showcase that potential.

But this movie certainly did.

I had such a magical experience with this movie. This is one of those mysteries where the movie is pretty simple in the first 90 minutes. It builds its plot points but it keeps it pretty slow and simple. It does this in a way that it keeps you interested in the story, but just barely. And then the last 30 minutes of the movie COMPLETELY change it. A lot of information is thrown at you until the entire puzzle is completed in your brain. And it's a lot of fun. Remember Astra: Lost in Space? Yup just like that. It's been such a long time since I've seen a mystery like that.

This type of structure is risky though. Because if you stretch out the movie too much, the final act can be a bit too late. This movie though, I thought handled it pretty well. I believe the first 90 minutes, while being slow, were important for that final payoff and for the overall mystery.

And the final act doesn't just provide answers. It really makes you care about these characters and because of that, you walk out completely satisfied. I just LOVED the final act of this movie. The animation by A1 Pictures is nice but towards the end, it's actually quite brilliant. Similarly, the soundtrack in that final sequence was outstanding.

I do think that not all the characters were necessary. They could have merged a few of them into one. But overall though, that final act really blew away all those thoughts. But I'm still confused about just 1 or 2 things, I think I might catch them on a re-watch.

In the end, I just adored this movie. "When Marnie Was There" is my personal favourite mystery movie in anime. But this movie was pretty damn good. If it comes to theatres in your region, please go and watch it. It'll be a beautiful experience.

Enthralled

[eves_r · 10/10 · 7 March 2024]

As I write, I can't believe this film has an average rating of less than seven. The animation was excellent. It's billed as fantasy but in the end addresses real school issues. Perhaps because of the lack of loud, cheap tension and a Cul-de-sac plot; this anime did not appeal to some. The question I wanted to ask at the end was 'Did this world and the castle through the mirror exist only in the head of the dying sister.' Perhaps not, but I need to read the book on which the movie is based.

It starts with Kokoro, who is bullied at school (and as a result her attendance quickly falls to zero percent.) In her bedroom on school days, Kokoro finds that her mirror transports her to a castle surrounded by water. Here Kokoro discovers that she is the last of seven children to arrive. They are given the task of finding a hidden key by the Wolf Queen that greets them. After explaining the rules to the seven middle schoolers, the Wolf Queen tells them that whoever finds the key will be granted one wish. And so the story begins, interwoven with details of their lives at home and school.

Should have been a TV series

[simbiat · 4/10 · 12 January 2024]

It was relatively good until the movie reached its pre-climax, where it broke most of its own rules, which were established before that point. Can't say it was "amazing" by any stretch, it was slow, there was very little progression, and most of it was predictable. Being predictable is not necessarily a bad thing: I've personally seen more than enough stories, that are predictable, but are still told in such a way, that keep you glued to the screen. It seemed to be one of those, as we were slowly learning more about Kokoro's trauma, and as she the kids in general were getting closer to each other, but they ruined it. Sadly, to explain how exactly the movie was ruined, I need to get into heavy spoilers.

One of the complaints can be that it was still too slow, but it may have been part of the story: (almost) all of the kids seem to have some level of social anxiety, so it would be understandable that they would need time to open up to each other. Even Wolf Queen mentioned several times, how they were slow at everything. On the other hand the story was focusing on Kokoro, so it was not clear how the other kids play into all this besides introducing a sense of belonging to Kokoro.

That is until the pre-climax, when they dumped histories of all other kids into Kokoro's mind and onto our screens. This felt weak, as if the authors were making up this story, focused on Kokoro, and then suddenly realized: "Oh, we have like 15 minutes left, and we did not cover any other characters, we need to deal with this ASAP". The kids already felt mostly unnecessary, but this did not elevate them in any way, but rather made things worse. With 1 character in particular.

During most of the movie we had a relatively calm and light atmosphere. We did not feel any danger or any darkness even. And then suddenly we see a father (I assume, it was not really clear) to sexually abuse Aki, one of the kids. This is a serious topic, like really serious, and the way it was added felt extremely superficial. Yes, there was a prior moment, that kind of hinted that there may be some abuse involved, but that was it. It felt like the topic was downplayed, that it was there just for the sake of adding "an edge". Which is even more of a problem considering next point.

Aki turned out to be a very important character for, at least, 3 of the kids (including Kokoro). She is their teacher from the "alt school". There is the time travel kind of nonsense involved here, which does make some sense compared to other stuff. "Hiding" a crucial character like that is nothing new, of course, but usually when it's done the past version of the character has at least some elements, that could link one to their future self. Aki the teacher seemed caring and compassionate, but her past self did not look like that at all. If anything, I would say she was a bit standoffish. If you think her experience of abuse changed her - no, it does not make sense, and I will get to this, too.

The castle was created by dying sister of one of the kids (Rion), and she is also the Wolf Queen. From what I understood she was 7, and seemingly that is the reason why she "summoned" 7 other people, from different years with 7 years difference between each year for each person. Well, almost: it established the rule and broke it right away, because the year of the sister died is included in calculations, so there is already, technically, a gap, and then Rion and Aki are from same year, meaning 1 year is repeated. It's next to random now. All the kids are also summoned from Japan, but... Rion is not in Japan, he is in Hawaii. They are not going to school, except Rion does go to school. They seem to start to establish rules behind the castle, and they flush them the next moment.

Speaking of rules: the main rule of the castle is that you need to get out before certain time, so that a wolf does not eat you. If you don't - wolf will also eat those who visited the castle that day. That already does not make sense, because why would others be punished as well? Makes even less sense, if we assume that the castle was supposed to become a place of healing and a refuge. But then the creator of the castle essentially forces this rule into play.

Aki's grandma died. I guess she was mother of her father, and her father was grieving. He comes up to Aki's room with a face that screams at us "I want to have fun with my daughter". You know the kind of fun, which is not really fun. It did not feel like there was any build-up to it, but ok. Aki escapes, and trying to get out, when she sees a random mirror (and mirrors are portals here), which suck her into the castle. It was the Wolf Queen, who saved her. Knowing that she would die because she would not go back home, unless someone made a wish.

So, everyone besides Kokoro ends up eaten by the wolf. D. E. A. D. The only solution is for Kokoro to make a wish, but for that she needs to find the key. Which is a huge "if". Which also makes you wonder if Wolf Queen really "saved" Aki, since she did admit earlier that she is not in control (which was proven wrong, and I will get to that, too) and does not know what will happen.

Kokoro needs to solve a puzzle, which... Does not make much sense. Like, ok, she accidentally found a painting in her friend's house, that looked similar to the interior of he castle and was depiction of "Seven Little Goats" or whatever, which made sense of the weird "X" marks the kids found all over. Ok, I'll buy that, but how did she figure out what she needed to do (specifically, to say) near each of those crosses? And why were they there in the first place? Wolf Queen said they were grave markings of the other kids, but the marks were there before the wolf ate them all. But, ok, this is a fairy tale, so let it be.

Kokoro makes a wish: "Make it so Aki does not stay after allowed time". Great. So what exactly changed in the timeline? Did Aki not go into the mirror, and was caught by her father? Does not sound like a happy ending, even if she became a councilor of sorts. Or did her grandma not die? Or her father changed somehow? How exactly was she saved? And why was it ok to break the rule of "everyone will forget the castle" for Rion? The rule that the Wolf Queen herself implemented? Aaaaaaa!

It could have been so much better. It could have been a TV series, where we would have at least 1 episode to cover real life of each character, and what troubles them, or what is supposed to start troubling them at some point. Well, whatever happens that made them eligible to be summoned into the castle. Make the castle a place of healing, if possible, but at least make the rules stick and generally make mor sense. Add a clear connection between the characters in real life.

As is, in the end it felt like wasted time. It has so much potential to be a beautiful fairy tale with a strong message (or maybe a couple of those even), but ended up being a total mess, that lands nowhere. To me it caused more frustration than some bad movies I've seen in recent years. I would not recommend it.