SPOILERS TAGGED

I wasn’t planning on writing a review, but when I noticed nobody else had, I figured I might as well. So, here we go. This review should still make sense even if you don’t read the spoilers.

I rewatched this movie recently on impulse and let me tell you. It does not get any less confusing the second time through. Well, ok, it might actually have made a little bit more sense if I’d rewatched the entire series and not just this movie, but I was still pretty confused.

This movie had a lot of potential. Three masterminds as the antagonists with an interesting direct conflict meant there were a lot of good places this movie could go, but I feel like there were some issues with execution.

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First off, this movie was more confusing to me than Howl’s Moving Castle. That was the first ghibli movie I watched and I was quite lost, so for Dead Apple to confuse me more—that’s a real accomplishment. I think after watching the first time I was able to piece together more of what happened through reading several different summaries, but I can’t say I feel like doing that again (I have a very poor memory), so I guess I’ll just forever remain confused. I mean, I understand that there were three masterminds coming together to outwit each other, but still! If the story isn’t written and explained in a way for the audience to understand what's going on, then what’s the point? To me, it seemed like they tried to explain some things, but there wasn’t enough context or information given for it all to click. Plus, they didn’t even try to explain everything (at least not that I caught). There were just too many missing pieces to make this movie enjoyable for me. A complicated plot with complex characters is no reason not to explain crucial elements of the story.

Another issue for me was the animation. In some parts it was great, but in others, it definitely seemed like they were working on a low budget. I know Bungou Stray Dogs isn’t known for its outstanding animation, but a lot of moments were lacking where that’s concerned. I did appreciate, however, their use of Deadly Drive, Reason Living, and Bokura during various scenes.

Now, although a lot of the philosophy and motivations went over my head, there were still a lot of beautiful parts of this story that I was able to catch.

Spoiler, click to view

I loved Fyodor’s bit about why he wasn’t having any problems with his gift. I’ve read ~~the sparknotes of~~ Crime and Punishment, and so his line about how intertwined crime and punishment are really stuck out to me.

Spoiler, click to view

I also loved how Atsushi came to accept his gift. Throughout the series he’s struggled to come to terms with the tiger, and then, once he’s separated from it, he realizes how much he needs it. Even though it’s done a lot of harm to those around him, it’s still saved him and he uses it to save others as well.

Spoiler, click to view

I’m also just a huge sucker for how well Dazai and Chuuya complement each other. I know they’re literally designed to be yin and yang but the way Dazai anticipated that Chuuya would punch him in the mouth and break the antidote capsule so that Dazai could nullify Chuuya’s corruption—my heart cannot handle this pls

Spoiler, click to view

not beautiful exactly, but while I'm listing things I liked, I thought it was so funny how Ranpo appeared at the end of the movie on the desk with his safe of snacks. He's always one step ahead of the game lol

Also, the second time around, I noticed a lot more of how different colors were used. I loved some of the contrasts created using color ~~and who doesn’t love Dazai in white.~~ ___ TL;DR: there were problems at the base of this movie. The premise, though interesting, did not get enough justice in its execution; it was a hard story to follow in some places since many aspects were left poorly explained or unexplained altogether. The animation was poor in many places as well. Some parts of the movie were beautiful, but were they good enough to overshadow the ugly? Not for me. Still, despite numerous execution issues, I have to applaud the thought that went into crafting this story and plot. 8/10 overall.

*an 8/10 on my rating scale is “amazing but less enjoyable”