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Cat Returns, The
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Animation - 8.3 |
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Sound - 8.0 |
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Story - 7.0 |
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Character - 7.4 |
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Value - 7.3 |
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Enjoyment - 7.9 |
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Average - 7.6 |
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| Average |
7.2 |
| Animation |
7 |
| Sound |
9 |
| Story |
6 |
| Character |
7 |
| Value |
6 |
| Enjoyment |
8 |
| If you're watching this movie in the heat of Ghibli mania, you might be pleased to know that this is yet another "faltering young girl" movie in the vein of two of the most recognizably Miyazaki films, Spirited Away and Kiki's Delivery service. Walking in and expecting Miyazaki-like work though will inevitably leave you disappointed. It will become obvious soon enough that he is most certainly not at the helm of this film. Looking at it simply as a Children's movie, it's a fun enough romp that's a notch below the more well known Ghibli films as well as the ol' staple of animated children's features here in the west: Disney.
The story features Haru, a young girl down on her luck; nothing serious, just typical high school problems. She embarrasses herself at school regularly by being late and she laments the fact that her crush already has a girlfriend. By chance she rescues the crown prince of a cat kingdom, and his subjects ceaselessly try to repay her and offer to whisk her off into the cat kingdom to be a bride. They don't take no for an answer, but a little organization known as the cat bureau offers to help her deal with the cat kingdom.
While Haru doesn't fancy marrying a cat, she's on more than one occasion tempted to resign herself to their way of life, one of eternal R&R. Her struggles with self defeatism, or settling for less is the primary conflict in this film. While the cat world tempts and woos her, the heroes in the cat bureau constantly remind her to believe in herself. It's a fine theme for a Children's movie, but it lacks the insightful resonance of Kiki's struggles, the emotional spectrum in Spirited Away, and also the general liveliness of Disney features.
Though it's certainly not a remarkable children's movie, it's still amusing in its own right. Haru is playful and buoyant throughout. Even when she cries, the film takes care to make light of it. She and the rest of the cast give the movie a happy and fluffy tone. There's no real villainy going on, since the antagonists are breaking out all the stops to please Haru, only in a slightly twisted and insistent way. While a bit one note, it's hard not to be taken by all the fun Haru seems to be having.
The Cat Returns doesn't have a very rich fantasy world. The world of cats can't hold a candle to the novelty and detail of Spirited Away or Princess Mononoke, but it's not completely devoid of creativity. The sense of discovery to be had in this movie is in seeing all the strange anthropomorphic features of the cats. They stand on two legs and talk, yes, but it get whimsical than that. The cat King's personal guard has a coat of fur that resembles a black suit, white shirt, and black tie which conjures up images of the secret service. His soldiers have green camo coats. There's a nice dose of imagination.
The audio is everything you'd expect from a Ghibli feature. The music is a perky orchestral score that compliments and sometimes invokes the sprightliness in this film. Anne Hathaway is cast as Haru in the English dub and plays a more temperate Haru than her Japanese counterpart, which doesn't fit the movie quite as well, but she's a believable teenage girl nonetheless, and there isn't anything amiss so you would probably be none the wiser if you hadn't heard the Japanese version. The localization also takes a few small liberties in translation to make the script sound more naturally English. One nice example is that Haru teases a cat bureau member for wanting to go into her changing room to protect her by playfully saying "ecchi." While you might be able to say "perv" as a joke in English, it's not quite as innocent, and is unnaturally harsh for the situation, so the joke was eliminated altogether, and rightfully so.
The animation is quite a step down from Miyazaki's Ghibli films, and sub par in general for a theatrical feature. There's no sense of inertia or weight in most of the running animations, and the backgrounds feel like they're on a different plane of existence than the animated foreground, the way a mediocre use of a green screen in a live action movie might feel off. To an animated film, the quality of the art has more value than simple aesthetics. The details in the character animations contribute t the illusion of humanity, and the depth in the background makes the world immersive, almost believable. In this respect, The Cat Returns is far inferior to many other Ghibli films.
There may not be many memorable features in The Cat Returns, but it's lightly touching, albeit shallow coming of age story is hard to dislike.
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Cataphract |
(2007-06-17 01:45:41) 2007-06-16 23:02:31 |
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| Average |
7.3 |
| Animation |
8 |
| Sound |
7 |
| Story |
6 |
| Character |
7 |
| Value |
7 |
| Enjoyment |
9 |
| I know it's strange, but despite my extensive anime viewing history, I have only seen two Ghibli movies, with this being the second and Mononoke-hime the first. Ghibli happens to be two for two now, though, in exceeding my expectations. The Cat Returns, at its core, is a children's movie, but don't let that deter you. It has a fabuluous level of production that will appeal to you regardless of age or gender. Definitely a movie you want to save for one of those days when need an extra smile or two to cheer you up -- it won't let you down.
From watching two Ghibli films, I've started to see a trend in animation style. Decent character designs, fairly well designed backgrounds, and very engaging, smooth actual animation. A very childish, upbeat feel pervades the entire series and certainly does not feel out of place; you're visually immersed from start to finish.
The musical score, while certainly nothing spectacular, is above par. Though I've not much to say about the insert music, I particularly liked the Seiyuu here -- Haru and the Baron in particular. I felt both did a spectacular job at bringing their characters alive and giving them strong emotional vibes. In addition, all the side characters are voiced well, which I find to be especially important in such a children's story. Top it all off with a beautiful song that plays over the ending credits (I've been looping it as I write this review) and there's not much room for complaint.
For a children's movie, you certainly shouldn't expect too much depth to the story. If anything, it's merely a cute, enjoyable tale of a young girl experiencing one of her fantasies. Through a series of events, she ends up being swept into a world of talking cats. All in all, something you'd expect to enjoy when you're a young child, but nevertheless strong enough that you'd still enjoy it as an adult.
The characters are the heart of this movie, however. From the first thirty seconds I already took a liking to Haru, and this only grew as the movie progressed. You can't help but like the Baron as well, and all the cats are simply fun to watch.
All in all, The Cat Returns is in outstanding children's film. Regardless of your tastes or preferences, I feel this has pretty universal appeal; definitely won't go wrong in giving it a shot.
Recommended.
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Pantha |
(2006-06-08 04:34:37) 2006-06-08 04:31:45 |
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| Average |
6.7 |
| Animation |
7 |
| Sound |
7 |
| Story |
6 |
| Character |
6 |
| Value |
7 |
| Enjoyment |
7 |
| The Cat Returns have all the makings of a typical Ghibli film: simplistic charm, generic but likable characters, and child-like flights of the imagination that some adults could enjoy. But what The Cat Returns does not have is the plodding sanctimony that a great deal of Ghibli movies are packaged with. It is made for entertainment’s sake and for entertainment alone. Some may find fault in that, but as far I am concerned, there can be no blame in keeping me awake and making me smile. This movie has revealed to me an awkward truth; the best Ghibli films are less than two hours long and NOT helmed by Miyazaki.
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petran79 |
(2006-04-27 14:29:36) 2005-12-01 06:56:17 |
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| Average |
6.0 |
| Animation |
0 |
| Sound |
0 |
| Story |
0 |
| Character |
0 |
| Value |
0 |
| Enjoyment |
6 |
| This is the only Ghibili film where I havent seen the same animated characters appear throughout the movies. Because more or less you'll see the same figures pop up for a few seconds, whether it is the squirrel-fox of Nausicaa or the giant head in Pom Poko appearing in Spirited Away, or the old woman in Howls Moving castle etc.
Sure the cat from Whisper of the Heart appears but here the visual style takes a 180 degree turn and everything feels like watching a movie from another studio. I guess it was time for a change. But unfortunately Howl's Moving Castle returned to the same animation making it monotonous.
Based on the similart manga by Aoi Hiiragi
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| Average |
8.7 |
| Animation |
9 |
| Sound |
9 |
| Story |
7 |
| Character |
8 |
| Value |
9 |
| Enjoyment |
10 |
| When you hear Ghibli you think of either imaginative Miyazaki or realistic Takahata. However the Cat Returns is one of the few that are not made by twopillars of Ghibli, but because of that if you lowered your expectation you just might be proved wrong. After watching Whisper of the heart (my personal Ghibli favorite), I had to watch this sequel. I say sequel but you can watch this seperately for these two anime really don't share any common storyline. That said, this is another splendid addition to Ghibli collection.
In any Ghibli flim first thing that everyone notices is the quality of the animation. Ghibli is known for its detailed artwork and it is clearly shown again. Every setting design is exqusite and the colors are vibrant and uplifting. Character designs are slightly different form your normal Ghibli designs, but I took it as a nice change. Music is very appropriate couterpart to excellent animation. Background music provided excellent modd for everytime it is played.
But for any anime to be enjoyable, it must have characters and this anime is packed with fun characters. Haru is fun, clumsy, and oblivious high school girl, and the Baron is downright cool. Muta is fun enough to steal the show everytime he is in action. Being a rather short flim, this anime has its limits on characters. Unlike Whisper of the Heart this anime does not have much of a character development. I believe the reason would be because this anime, in my opinion, targets younger audiences who would rather enjoy fun action more than insightful dialogue.
The story is rather straight forward from the beginning. When the journey unfold I felt everything was happening in auto-fire and the progression was rather obvious. There are some down-right bad parts in this anime as well. I especially hated the domino effect towards the end. I just thought is was way too stupid. but the story as a whole is fun and exciting.
this is a fun anime. If you are expecting epiphany of some kind you ain't getting one. But this anime knows how to entertain its viewers and you will have much fun watching it.
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| Average |
7.7 |
| Animation |
8 |
| Sound |
7 |
| Story |
7 |
| Character |
9 |
| Value |
7 |
| Enjoyment |
8 |
| The Cat Returns is a short but well done story done by one of the greatest anime studios of all time, Studio Ghibli.
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0 of 0 people found this review helpful.
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| Average |
7.2 |
| Animation |
7 |
| Sound |
7 |
| Story |
7 |
| Character |
8 |
| Value |
7 |
| Enjoyment |
7 |
| I actually thought this was a Miyazaki film, and was wondering why he suddenly decided to have a change of style. I mean, where are all the weird and wonderful designs? At the ending credits, every was explained... it was not a Miyazaki film. No wonder lol.
This is a light hearted comedy adventure. It reminds me very much of Alice in Wonderland. Probably even more than Spirited Away actually, because of the light heartedness of the comedy. I found the comedy aspect delightful and the mood of the anime very easy going, and would definitely recommend it to people for a casual watch. However, the trouble is the anime isn't thoroughly engaging. Still, it's a very likeable anime.
The description of this anime says that the characters are actually from Whispers of the Heart, which I didn't realise. I suspect that because I haven't seen the other anime, some of the background to these characters are missing. Will be able to shed more light on the matter after I watch the other anime.
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| Average |
7.8 |
| Animation |
7 |
| Sound |
8 |
| Story |
8 |
| Character |
8 |
| Value |
8 |
| Enjoyment |
8 |
| The Cat Returns is a short but oh so sweet movie with a charming and well connected/developed story, with good character, a great sound score, and overall good animation.
Read my review for more.
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| Average |
8.2 |
| Animation |
8 |
| Sound |
7 |
| Story |
7 |
| Character |
9 |
| Value |
8 |
| Enjoyment |
10 |
| Next stage of my Ghibli marathon, this movie is one of the more enjoyable and characteristic.
It does brake the Ghibli barrier on pulling in, and I found myself in the world where cat can speak and plot intrigues, and the only help You can get if You saved the cat prince is Baron, rebel Muta, and of course those whom You have helped earlier :-).
Why should You need help after SAVING A PRINCE was a hillarious twist, and I liked the way it was done - pure magic.
ENJOYMENT 10, cause there was not a single moment I was pulled back, unlike Whisper of the Heart, where the blending of the reality and mystery is done less fluently.
For the rest - read the detailed section.
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| Average |
9.5 |
| Animation |
9 |
| Sound |
9 |
| Story |
9 |
| Character |
10 |
| Value |
10 |
| Enjoyment |
10 |
| In order to enjoy this, you don't need to see Whisper of the Heart (another ghibli movie). Though it will only help as the only same character is "the baron" the cat in the studio.
Its actually quite enjoyable, meant for the whole family. Its something like cinderella running away from mariage kind of story.
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| Average |
4.3 |
| Animation |
7 |
| Sound |
8 |
| Story |
3 |
| Character |
2 |
| Value |
2 |
| Enjoyment |
4 |
| SIMILAR TO: So many other Ghibli films it's hard to list them all.
The visuals of The Cat Returns are not up to scratch for a Ghibli movie. That's a bold statement in itself, since I was shocked to find a Ghibli film that didn't break the mould of the previous. The visuals are certainly not bad tho - the background artwork is, as ever, exquisite, with lovely bits of small details, but the problem lies with the foreground detail (mainly characters) and the animation itself. The characters have a lack of detail, whilst the animation needs many, many more frames. It's simply just not very smooth for the most part. By far the most impressive visuals were seen during the 'falling from the sky' sequence at the end. If the entire movie had the same sort of visual quality as that, it would have been awesome.
The sound is nice, with an excellent children's score running throughout the movie, creating an always positive atmoshphere. This can occasionally be a bad thing, as it remains positive when some of the more negative scenes are occuring. Ghibli knows expertly though about when to use and when NOT to use background music - when it's abscent you really seem to get engrossed with the little things that are occuring in the scene.
The story, unfortunately, is pretty dire in my opinion. I've always accepted the random and bizaare plot lines of Ghibli films, but this particular one was just TOO silly, even for me. Nothing ever really seemed consistent, and began to irritate me considerably. I found the whole cat kingdom idea to be kinda rubbish to be frank, and think it would have been a better film if it had chosen a more mythical kingdom (like in Spirited Away), or a different sort of Human kingdom (like Alice in Wonderland). There was so much emphasis on Cats that I felt it ridiculous to be so obsessed with them.
The characters in this movie are the worst aspect. I never got to like any of them, except the Baron, but even he seemed silly since he was a cat. The wonder of the film always lost itself when I kept realising "i'm watching a bunch of cats strut about". It just didn't work for me. The main girl in the movie, Haru, was pretty generic for a Ghibli movie, and I felt that for 2002's standards, this simply wasn't enough. Ghibli has some loveable recurring details in almost all of their movies, but this cliched character is getting old now.
This film has a low replay value for me, but I enjoyed it enough so that if it was on again at some point, I wouldn't mind sitting down to watch it if I had nothing else to do.
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nauXolo |
(2005-04-24 16:56:38) 2005-03-12 18:44:55 |
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| Average |
6.8 |
| Animation |
8 |
| Sound |
0 |
| Story |
7 |
| Character |
7 |
| Value |
6 |
| Enjoyment |
6 |
| THe baron from WHisper of the Heart comes back once again, and this time with the whole movie devoted to his and Haru's (the girl's) adventures.
I could almost see this as being the story written by the girl in Whisper of the Heart since it brings you into magical Cat Kingdom realm and ignores the normal sense of human reality.
The Cat Returns is a fairy tale. There is a semi-moral message behind it as all fairy tales do, however this one isn't as obvious. Rather, its more based on an adventure of Haru as she is forced to overcome her indecisiveness and find out her 'true nature.' However, the Baron plays a large part in discovering her identity as she is constantly reminded that she must not lose herself. (This theme seems to be important yet not really developed upon).
This movie is more childish than Whisper of the Heart. Animation, story, mood, and personality all give a sense of a nice mystic dream of a young girl. Rather than telling a serious story that requires much involvement, The Cat Returns can be enjoyed on a more passive manner.
The ending theme is very suitable for the mood of this piece. Sound effects fit well and voice acting is quite nice.
I felt that a few things in this movie makes it less impressive than many movies of this nature. First of all, Haru seems too superficial. You can't really get involved with her representative character. The same with the Baron as well, he ismore of a moral support. The only real non stereotypical personality in this movie is Muta, the fat cat.
Furthermore, the animation style in this movie is a bit simplistic.
Beautiful in terms of background scenery, but I feel a lot of small details are left out that would give it this movie a stronger sense.. however, it can be argued that this is due to the fairy tale like nature of this movie and therefore too much detail would be bad...
Either way, whether one would enjoy this movie seems to be pretty controversial. It isn't that impressive but it touches upon that idea of childhood purity and naivety which is always good at times.
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lefty |
2005-01-26 16:37:14 |
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| Average |
9.3 |
| Animation |
9 |
| Sound |
9 |
| Story |
10 |
| Character |
9 |
| Value |
9 |
| Enjoyment |
10 |
| What can I say. Ghibli always managed to deliver great heart warming stories, and this one is no exception. Kids and adults alike will love this movie.
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| Average |
8.0 |
| Animation |
8 |
| Sound |
8 |
| Story |
8 |
| Character |
8 |
| Value |
8 |
| Enjoyment |
8 |
| The Cat Returns, as one would suspect is a heart warming story about a girl who somehow managed to venture in to the world of the cat and got into some trouble. As with many of the works from Studio Ghibli, it likes to allude certain social issues and things somehow could be related to how real human behaves. In the enchanted world of the cats, she comes to realised that her mundane life is really -- not as bad as she tought. One could easily notice the rich background, e.g. the flower pots and different sign boards, etc. A pleasant anime for all ages. Both the Director and music producer has not completed any other work, so one might get to see more of their work as they grow. Bottomline -- Check it out, it is wonderful.
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Last Exile |
(2008-04-25 09:11:50) 2004-09-02 01:50:17 |
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| Average |
8.0 |
| Animation |
9 |
| Sound |
7 |
| Story |
8 |
| Character |
8 |
| Value |
8 |
| Enjoyment |
8 |
| A very entertaining movie. One of Tahakata's better woks, who has done well as Miyazaki's one-time protege.
Basic story - Haru, a nice girl, comes across a rather intrguing cat one day. As a result of this, she ends up being turned into a cat and taken to the Cat World. Assemble your somewhat cliched gang of charmer, scoundrel and fighter and get the girl free.
Haru is a fine female protagonist, and the Baron was a really cool hero that maintained class and grace as he went. The story and the idea of a cat world is quite magical, kind of Alice-In-Wonderland-like, and Ghibli's quality abounds in the animation and the solid stoyrline and characters.
However, if there is something to knock this for, it's a lack of originality. For starters, it does feel very much like Alice in Wonderland. Even more, the similarites between this and Howl's Moving Castle, while involving two completely different worlds, follow very similar plot lines. So while the experience is a good one, you just get that nagging feeling of 'Haven't I seen this somewhere before?' And then there's Tahakata. He is a good director but not a great one. His range of story and target audience is quite limited so it's no surprise he didn't end up as Miyazaki's successor.
As always with Ghibli, it was a magical journey that was loads of fun. Not quite the best of Ghibli and Tahakata, but worth watching. But don't be suprised if you get the feeling you've seen this story or something like it before.
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ampersand |
(2004-07-14 02:02:56) 2004-07-13 21:23:16 |
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| Average |
8.7 |
| Animation |
9 |
| Sound |
8 |
| Story |
7 |
| Character |
8 |
| Value |
10 |
| Enjoyment |
10 |
| The tale of The Cat Returns is that of same ilk as Spirited Away without so much of often befuddling Japanese folklore references. It nonetheless makes for an arresting trip to wonderfully executed visuals.
The story seems to follow the same arc focusing on the importance of self-discovery of a young girl and realization of self through a sweet journey filled with tribulations but never at serious peril. This film is another testament of Studio Ghibli conceving animation to be medium enjoyed by all, not just children.
The animation is full of subtle touches, which Ghibli is well renown for. The dialogues are sharp and very well articulated. The music fits the theme of the story well being dynamic and part of the environment itself. The style of the anime is consistent throughout and avails itself enough freedom to convey the wonderful visuals and vibrant, warm colors.
All in all, The Cat Returns is a very pleasant anime that is not too overwrought with heady themes. I would rate this a bit higher than Spirited Away, since this is a more of a good jaunt through fairy-tale like fluff than a hodgy-podgy of emotions that range from pure awe to fear that was Spirited Away.
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OberonBob |
(2004-07-10 22:14:41) 2004-05-31 16:28:10 |
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| Average |
6.7 |
| Animation |
9 |
| Sound |
9 |
| Story |
5 |
| Character |
6 |
| Value |
5 |
| Enjoyment |
6 |
| wither the Ghibli magic?
This is no Miyazaki, so naturally, once cannot expect the movie to be on the same level. but I found it didn't quite live up to even the non-Miyazaki Ghibli movies.
It starts out quite slow, but once it gets going, it is enjoyable enough, but never really takes off. there is a lack of the subtle details, and the characteration that make most ghibli moves so good. The heroine and hero here are not great characters. Other than the whole idea of a cat kingdom, I found nohting new or interesting here.
Still, this is better than most movies out there and is worth a look see, esp. if you like cats. though cats walking on thier hind legs just seems stupid to me.
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De Baer |
(2005-02-01 18:21:53) 2004-01-05 13:45:29 |
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| Average |
8.8 |
| Animation |
10 |
| Sound |
9 |
| Story |
8 |
| Character |
9 |
| Value |
8 |
| Enjoyment |
9 |
| Neko no Ongaeshi ist mal wieder typisch Ghibli. Ein toller Film der einmal mehr etwas absolut märchenhaftes an sich hat, den Zuschauer total in seinen Bann schlägt und komplett in die Geschichte eintauchen lässt. Der Film ist zwar etwas kurz und fällt gerade mal etwas mehr als eine Stunde doch diese Zeit verbringt man gediegenst im Sessel zurückgelehnt mit einem leichten dauerhaften Lächeln auf den Lippen. Filme die eine solche Magie ausstrahlen sind nun mal Markenzeichen des Studio Ghibli und machen auch Neko no Ongaeshi zu einem Abendfüllenden Erlebnis für die ganze Familie.
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| Average |
9.2 |
| Animation |
10 |
| Sound |
9 |
| Story |
8 |
| Character |
9 |
| Value |
10 |
| Enjoyment |
9 |
| What can I say? It's a typical Ghibli movie. Sweet, cute, lovely... It's a wonderful piece of art, yes, but it lacks originality. Why? Read on... *points*
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| Average |
5.3 |
| Animation |
9 |
| Sound |
7 |
| Story |
4 |
| Character |
3 |
| Value |
3 |
| Enjoyment |
6 |
| Overall a disappointing movie. The first half hour is rather good with some cute sight gags and a nice atmosphere, but the second half is like the worst Disney movie you've seen. Shame on Ghibli for making something SO generic. I challenge anyone to count how many stories this one stole from, especially Labyrinth and Robin Hood.And yes, they were stolen, not borrowed; they were done too poorly to be considered tips of the hat. The second half is a mess of poor references, motiveless plot twists and slapstick comedy that only 3 Stooges fans would adore. It's not a horrible movie, but the best part of this movie is honestly seeing how many times the Baron can pretend he's Errol Flynn. Go watch Whisper of the Heart; it's simply better and more imaginative.
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