Thoughts: Your Name

Ever since watching Weathering with You a couple of years ago in the cinema, I've been trying to look for the movie that it was linked to, Your Name. It received massive success during its time, three years ago in 2016 before Weathering with You. Alas, I finally found it through streaming service Netflix.

I've not been able to find time to watch it until three hours ago. The anime movie starts off simple enough in a complicated way. The beginning reveals it was built on the body swapping storyline that most of us have come across time and again. It does not attempt to hide the fact that it will eventually build up to a climatic romance but it is interesting to learn that the movie has a really unexpected twist to it.

The animation is top notch Japanese anime and it has great visuals incorporating a suburban town and an apocalyptic event that involves a comet. It is a great two hours spent on watching this movie that is magical in its own way.

#Onward, My #Soul

I rarely miss any Pixar movies but the pandemic left me little choice. Cinemas are closed most of the time, what more with a recent resurgence of the COVID-19 virus with new variants. I have missed Onward, Soul and the recent Luca (for some reason, I have also skipped Inside Out and hope to watch it soon). Fortunately, Disney+ has just become available in my part of the world in the form of Disney+ Hotstar. Since then, I have managed to play catch-up with Onward which stars the voices of Marvel superheroes Tom Holland and Chris Pratt; and Soul voiced by Jamie Fox.

Set in a fantasy world of elves, wizards, manticore, and other mystical sentient beings, Onward explores the tale of two elven brothers’ misadventures in their quest to correct a spell gone wrong so that they can spend the day (or what is left of it) with their deceased father. This world has lost its magic in the name of development and modernisation, something we can all relate to. This is a neat premise that I would love to explore if I ever become a writer.

The younger sibling, Ian (Holland) is obsessed to meet his father because he was too little when his dad passed away. Unfortunately, while casting a spell to bring him back, something went awry - only the legs appeared, so Ian sets off to find a way to bring his father back as a whole. Inadvertently, his bumbling brother, Barley (Pratt) joins the party. Initially more trouble than help, you can expect Barley to play a significant role in the movie.

Meanwhile, Soul brings us back to Earth where a struggling music teacher, Joe (Foxx), lands a gig of a lifetime to play opposite his jazz idol, only to, literally, fall dead moments later. He becomes a spirit who refuses to accept his fate and vows to return to his body. In the afterlife, he impersonates a mentor tasked to prep a soul for life on Earth. The fun part is, this is a pessimistic soul filled with so much negativity about being human that it has overstayed its due. So the two makes a deal - when the soul is ready, it is supposed to switch places with Joe so that he can return to Earth while the soul remains.

So it is going to be a win-win situation right? Of course not. As with everything that happens in our lives, some things go wrong and some things turn out fine. This is the premise of the movie.

Told in true Pixar fashion, both movies make great family entertainment with important life lessons weaved into the storylines. The animation is always top-notch with fabulous palettes and gentle doses of cuteness. On top of that, the voice talents bring the characters to life and then some. Although I have lots of great things to say about these movies, they do tend to fall into typical and predictable territories. Despite that, the movies have enough elements in them to keep the audience rooted in their seats. Highly recommended for the whole family. The adults will find it just as appealing as the kids.

Rise of Anthologies

Do The Twilight Zone, Amazing Stories and Alfred Hitchcock Presents ring any bells? These are some of the anthologies that I can remember watching on television. While compilations of short stories are not uncommon in literature, these collections are rather rare when it comes to television compared to the billions of series out there. I wouldn’t have thought any more of them had it not been for Netflix. I’ve spent half of my recent Netflix moments watching Black Mirror. Just a week ago, I’ve discovered another anthology of (mostly) animated shorts called Love, Death + Robots.

Both Black Mirror and Love, Death + Robots tell stories that are just as unique and artistic as the older anthologies. However, as society becomes more open in this Information Age, the contents are much more mature. The stories can be controversial and taboo in more conservative countries. Even the following trailer for Love, Death + Robots comes with a mature content warning!

For better or worse, new unrelated stories and new actors come with each episode. Sometimes they are great, sometimes mediocre and sometimes downright terrible. Every person’s mileage varies because it comes down to personal preferences but I'm sure everyone will welcome a breath of fresh air from long-running serials that will leave you suffocating with a cliffhanger at the end of a season.

I’ve completed the first series (3 episodes) and the first episode of the fifth series (also 3 episodes) of Black Mirror (you can find the list of the episodes on Wikipedia. The anthology uses mature themes to emphasise the consequences of (misusing) technology. Hence, the title Black Mirror which actually means the blank TV/monitor screen when it’s turned off.

For example, the first episode tells the tale of humanity’s focus on television. The British Prime Minister was to perform sexual intercourse on a pig on live television in exchange for the release of a kidnapped princess. She was already released before the PM was due to start broadcasting but nobody noticed because they were all glued to the television.

Meanwhile, other worthwhile anthologies that are currently on TV are The Twilight Zone reboot which is on CBS All Access and Steven Spielberg’s Amazing Stories is on Apple TV+ streaming service. Enjoy!

Review: Children of the Whales

Starring: Tony Azzolino, Brian Beacock, Johnny Yong Bosch (English)
Director: Various
Maturity Rating: 16+ (Netflix: Violence, nudity)
Studio: J. C. Staff, Bandai Visual
Release: 2017
Runtime: 12 episodes, 20+ minutes each

This is a twelve-episode Japanese anime set in a unique dystopian world where islands float as ships in seas of sand instead of water. The story centres on one such island called the Mud Whale. It is not clear what happened or what caused this and if it is set in the Earth we know or a totally unique universe by itself.

The inhabitants of Mud Whale consist of two castes - one with (Star Wars) Force-like abilities called Thymia and one without. Those able to wield Thymia are called the Marked which will become evident almost immediately because of strange markings that appear on their bodies when they call upon these magical powers. Unfortunately, they have short lifespans. Why? You will have to watch the series to find out. With obvious reasons, the Mud Whale is governed by the Unmarked, the caste without Thymia.

To survive, the people of Mud Whale count on rain, farming, and harvest other islands that they encounter throughout their journey. As strange as the world itself, they have never come across any other islands with people in it. As the story unravels, they will eventually find an island with its first inhabitant. While roaming the island, protagonist Chakuro encounters a girl whom by the label of her clothes she is named Lykos. She appears to be the sole survivor of some battle. She is weak and, as a result, she passes out and is brought to the Mud Whale.

Strange things begin happening and it is revealed later that Lykos’ people label the inhabitants of Mud Whale as criminals and are all out to terminate them. The rest of the story is all about the challenges faced by the Mud Whale and how they try to resolve the conflicts. Each episode is slightly more than twenty minutes. Although short, I did not find it boring. In fact, more often than not, I had to resist from binge-watching the series... and believe it or not, this is my first ever Japanese anime series.

There is not much world-building here but new characters are introduced every now and then. The pace of the story is sometimes uneven and towards the end, it seems a bit hushed - especially the last two episodes. Suddenly, new characters in a new location appear but without much introduction and information.

When I started the series, I expected it will have a clear cut ending (twelve episodes is a good length for a beginner). Although there is a major resolution, the series ended in some sort of an open-ended way. After some sleuthing through the web, it seems the manga which the series is based on still has ways to go. So we can anticipate a second season although, and sadly, as of now, there is no news of one in the near future. For fans of this anime, we will just have to wait.