[REVIEW] Sayonara no Asa ni Yakusoku no Hana wo Kazarou
VERDICT: PERFECT 10/10
I will try not to include spoilers in most of the review, but there will be quite a lot that I have to talk about which impacted me very emotionally.
Visuals - 10/10
No words can describe how fluid and beautiful the animation for this movie was. In the beginning of the film, I thought there were going to be stutters here and there because no animator can keep up this consistency of charm and elegance. Boy was I wrong. Every single frame was drawn to perfection, colors bursting out the seams ready to embrace me in their warmth and allure, yet it was never too much in one scene. Small details like the reflections of buildings in the water and the yellow incandescent lighting in the taverns and Maquia's house perfectly captured the feel of a medieval environment. I would say one of the most notable things in the artstyle was that sometimes I couldn't see the character's noses, but that's quite a minute detail that I feel anybody would ignore from an otherwise amazing movie.
Story/Plot - 7/10
Not to say that the movie isn't worth watching, but most of the story was quite all over the place in my opinion as the movie didn't quite have enough time to focus on every 'arc' in the story. The writers resolved that with mighty time skips which I thought were appropriately placed, but there were still times that I had to pause the film to be able to make sense of what was happening. Overall though, the central theme of motherly love and finding one's true 'hibiol' by experiencing the pain of parting is kept consistently throughout the movie which is mainly the reason why I'm not giving the story anything lower than a 7.
Sound/Music - 9.8/10
These adjectives are only a fraction of how I feel about this movie's soundtrack; refined, dazzling, delicate, exqiusite, and pleasing. I can't even begin to describe how good of a job the composer did with the music in this film as it captured so many emotions that were a big part in the perfect 10 I gave this movie. Music during tense moments between Maquia and Ariel were masterfully placed, making the audience feel that everything was about to shatter right then and there. Softer and more lighthearted moments were accompanied by medieval instruments that sparked ecstasy in my heart comparable to that in Disney's Tangled. At the top of it all however, were moments of pure, raw emotion that I cannot express with words. Crescendos that make you feel nothing but a tightening in your chest and the pulling of your heartstrings, bombastic orchestral arrangements that completely and indefinitely engulf you in all the fervor of a child who loves his mother very dearly, and soft, sweet violins that compliment the insanity of it all perfectly. The only reason I didn't give this section a perfect was the fact that some sound effects felt out of place during scenes.
Characters - 10/10
It is clear that the characters in this movie were very well thought out by the writers as everyone had a logical way of going their own path and making their own decisions. As the movie is about Maquia and Ariel, some side characters did feel a bit underdeveloped, yet were written well enough with their own personalities that they weren't bland pieces of cardboard moving across the screen with the main character. Ariel's character development was superb and Maquia's was even better.
Personal Enjoyment + Conclusion
This movie blew me away. I had never felt this intensely about a film ever in my life and that is something to write home about. Never had I ever imagined that a movie about legendary race of immortals being destroyed and one of the survivors saving a child in the outside world would impact me to this extent.
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