First thing I wanted to do when I finished both movies is to have a huge ass rant about all my emotions arising during the movie. And just how ridiculous it is.
It ended up being quite the block of text - which I published on my blog, and I am just going to give a quick review here.

Might contain spoilers.

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Story: 7/10
If you're 16 or below, you will live for the drama, romance and twists. But if you are older and have your experiences with these shows - you will understand and see all the bad things, mistakes, and you won't be able to overlook them.

It might be a classic, definitely something that was GENIUS in it's time. I see it, appreciate it and absolutely adore what it represents. I will however be watching the original adaptation - because this one fooled me. xD

Art & Animation: 9/10 You can definitely see that it's 2017. Now is that better or worse than 1970's art style and animation? I cannot compare. I liked how it looked, I liked the animation and it seemed like they really worked on it to make it look crisp & nice. It was really great on eyes, and Benio's clothes especially were beautiful. But maybe if we had the older art style... maybe it would help me get into it more? And maybe I'm just saying nonsense because I am unhappy that I didn't end up enjoying it.

Music: 7/10
Nothing great, nothing bad. It was stitched with the story so much, that I wasn't noticing it - but the emotions were translating. Even if I wasn't feeling them, I could tell what the emotion was supposed to be.
And that's mostly what music is supposed to do.

Characters: 4/10
Ugh.
I liked Benio a lot - during the first half of the first movie. Then she became insufferable.
Second Lieutenant - I hated his guts since I saw him. Talk about unlikable main male character. Insanity.
Tosei Aoe - I liked him. I thought he was insanely fun, good person & good written character. It's so sad that he got stuck with such awful beings. After what Benio did to him, he will definitely stay allergic to women until he dies.
Larisa - a character created specifically

Spoiler, click to view

to die.

Talk about convenient.
Ranmaru - his whole being was there just to be annoying, cry and keep following Benio like a little puppy.

Entertainment value: 5/10
Haikara-san ga Tooru movies are definitely not the worst thing that ever happened nor are they bad.
But I have seen my share of anime and this one just pissed me off with how stupid it is. Had I seen it earlier on, or when I was 16 - I would probably love it much more.

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It is difficult to dislike something so much, especially when you focus so much on details and issues that are on every step. But. I still can tell how good it is, and how it rocked back in the day.
I do recommend it, because it is a good experience...
It just wasn't a good experience for someone who watched it with such critical eye.