This movie I've wanted to see for a few months and I have mixed feelings. I enjoyed it and it was cute but it dealt with some serious heavy themes with all the grace and nuance of a cinderblock thrown into a wood chipper. One paper it should be an emotionally resonating film but every character, every story beat just fumbled it. I mean by the end of the film everything worked out but it didn't feel very satisfying.

On the surface you have a young character abandoned by her dead beat father and left at her grandfather's house, a man she has literally never met, in a town she is unfamiliar with while still coping with the lost of her mother. Yet the film doesn't handle these ideas with any substance instead having the characters wander around aimlessly without any clear motivation or reason for doing anything. While it's clear Karin is after something, it's only clear what it is halfway through the movie. There should have been more clear understanding for the audience what her goals were beyond simply not wanting to be around anyone and lashing out at everyone. I'm not expecting the emotionally damaged 11-year to be a well-spring of emotional depth but I would have liked it better if she was less of a brat. Communication is lacking in this film.

The pacing of the movie was very rough with scenes and moments that either dragged out too long with awkward character interactions or simply failed to move the plot along. Karin and Anzu did several bad things not only were there zero repercussions but it didn't flesh out their characters in any way that we didn't already know. Anzu is not very bright and Karin is angry at the world.

The real problem with the movie was the scene after Karin and her mom escape the underworld. Not only was that entire sequence terribly paced and awkward but poorly executed. Her mom was taken back as should have been and Karin got some sort of closure. Those things happened and everything was resolved but the entire thing felt unearned. It was too easy and lacked emotional impact. The entire movie lacks emotional impact despite dealing with Karin's emotional growth and coping with her mother's death and her father's reckless behavior.

I did say I enjoyed the movie. Like the cast despite their flaws were entertaining to watch. Anzu was a fun character who was reliable when he wanted to be. The grandfather was a good person and I wish he was more relevant in the movie. The forest yokai characters were fun and i did enjoy them coming the rescue even if their presence was completely pointless against Enma's demons. To put it bluntly, Anzu carried this movie while the human cast hindered it more than anything. Most of the characters just felt like they were just going with the flow of the story instead of taking an active part in the narrative.

The ending especially felt unearned. Karin finally broke down and openly sobbed in front of Anzu after struggling to keep her emotions bottled up throughout the entire film. Even when she told her father that she was staying at the temple with her grandfather, on paper should have been a powerful moment of agency and growth, but the execution of it lacked impact.