This review may contain spoilers
Season 2 went downhill and this movie went off the cliff.
I loved season 1. I managed to get through season 2. I started this hoping it would redeem season 2, but by the end I was watching at 1.5-2x, and I still felt like it was a waste of time.What happened to this series? I noticed there's three screenwriters credited on MDL for season 1, two for season 2, and one for this film. Did they keep firing the best writer each time?
The best part of the movie was seeing the BTS clips in the closing credits.
The moral of the story is basically "AI bad". Everything kicks off the same tired way that we're now used to. Mio inexplicably falls for some guy she barely knows who turns out to be a bad guy.
But this time it's worse. The bad guy was totally pointless. He was all about logic and chasing his vision of the new world right up until the end, but then he conveniently changed his mind at the last minute and completely undid all of season 2 and this movie. Even the youkai he apparently killed are brought back to life.
The writers never explained his powers or how they related to real-world technology like the app, nor how his physical body worked.
Where was the Mio from the end of season 1 that could actually achieve something for herself? Even at the end the guy had to kill himself for her.
The main cast were all good, or as good as the material allowed them to be this time. I didn't really care about the villain at all, whether that's the actor's fault I'm not sure.
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The souls of the deceased return to the world one last time when their families come to say goodbye.
Heartwarming and heart-wrenching.Fittingly, this film is dedicated to the memory of Ryōko Sasa (佐々 涼子), the author of the original novel, who passed way between the release of the series and the film.
If you enjoyed the series, you will love this. If you’ve never seen the series, I highly recommend watching it first, but I think the film stands on its own. Either way, make sure you have a box of tissues nearby.
The stories of the deceased are varied across multiple demographics, so it’s likely that anyone watching will be rocked by at least one of them. The subject matter is heavy and you’ll go on a roller coaster of emotions. Between the sad and uplifting moments there is some light comedy to break everything up.
You won’t notice the 139 mins runtime because the editing is done well and doesn’t linger on any one story for too long.
Yonekura Ryoko leads a great cast. Everyone including the Japanese and international actors did a great job of portraying the emotions of the characters.
Diegetic music is used well to aid in telling the stories and non-diegetic music is beautiful and understated.
I will rewatch this along with the series when I’ve forgotten enough about the stories and I’m in the mood to be punched in the gut again.
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