What an amazing film, I think it was honestly the shortest two and a half hours of my life. I blinked and it suddenly became 4:39 in the morning. I knew this was going to be pretty good going into it since this is widely regarded as the biggest point in the series, and it definitely didn't disappoint.

Being sent to another "alternate" timeline has always been a sort of irrational fear for me, and the beginning of this movie did such a great job at putting that fear on full display. Being sent to a world where everything appears to be the status quo, but you know that things are not exactly the way that they should be. The most obvious comparison I can make to this plot is Steins;Gate, with the very similar idea of being in a world you don't truly belong in. The scene from that series that will always stick with me the most is when Okabe is doing circles in place, simply looking at all of the shops in Akiba that have seemingly changed as he realizes that he is in a different timeline. The beginning of this movie is that scene, stretched beautifully into around an hour. This time is even worse than in Steins;Gate though, as Kyon has even lost his dearest SOS Brigade friends with the change in timeline. With no one to ask for help, the feeling of hopelessness that one would have in this situation is something that should get anyone scared. We've had all of these characters with us for the whole series, and taking them out of it and only leaving Kyon alone gives such a unique feeling of unease that I've rarely felt in other media.

Once we finally assemble all of the missing pieces, we come to find that it really isn't the same after all. While the pieces may all look the same, it's just impossible for them to fit the exact same way they did before. The movie picks up again once Kyon finds himself at the crossroads of staying in this boring yet peaceful life, or choosing to go back to the life he had that was chaotic yet fun. It seems like a no-brainer during the scene when he initially presses the enter key, but the explanation of what this choice meant that was explained later in the movie was something that was extremely well done. Nagato is a character that I was not expecting to be fleshed out this much in this movie, but I couldn't be happier that she was a focal point. As AI is getting more advanced, I think the predicament that Nagato found herself in is one that, scarily, might become more relevant in the near future. The choice between simply following orders or choosing independence with the acceptance of emotions. I feel that with free will, emotions are an inevitable add-on, and it was heartbreaking to realize that Nagato was bottling it all up inside for so long that it resulted in such an impactful event happening.

The fact that Nagato chose Kyon as the one to make the final decision on which life to live was extremely touching, and I think the theme that this is trying to get at is that it's okay to continue pursuing what you love, even if it's dumb. The scene of Kyon interrogating his inner self and stomping him onto the desk made me tear up, and it was easily the highest point in the movie for me. Even if Kyon is tied up in a hectic club made up of an alien, a time traveler, an esper, and god, it's okay to want to go back to it. Even if others don't think so, it's okay to be honest with yourself and like the things that you truly enjoy. No matter how stupid it is, of course you'd be drawn to the option that's full of fun. After 28 episodes of odd happenings with these characters, the way this film flipped all of that on its head in order to emphasize the strength and importance of their bond was nothing short of a masterpiece.

"Of course it was fun, and I loved every minute of it!"