CHARACTERS
And then you have Kaguya, who came out of space and recovered from being a baby (which is like never explained, I think, but whatever), and then ultimately ends up as this girl who might aswell be the opposite of Iroha. She's way too carefree, with 0 worries, she spends Iroha's money and dirties the place, which is the center of a lot of comedic moments in the film (which made me laugh plenty). But people like this are exactly what people like Iroha need; she serves as a ray of sunshine (in a narrative sense), literally having a smile on her face for the entirety of the movie. Through constant screentime and just a really positive attitude that was contagious to both characters in the film and viewers through the screen, she quickly becomes a character you become attached to, just because of her ability to change the tone to a really happy one at any time, and a lot of this credit also goes to her voice actor whom also sang a lot of songs, so credit to her. Her becoming so likable and then Iroha being so relatable is exactly what makes that quick connection, so by about the 1 hr mark, you're already attracted to both the characters, which is exactly what makes all the moments after that point hit so hard.
Yachiyo. I gave the spoiler warning, so if you're reading this, you know who Yachiyo is. The movie teases at the truth a lot, and when you look over the film a second time, it all clicks together. I don't have too much to say about her; she was kind of just there, and then she replaces Kaguya at the end (since she's also Kaguya). She does have a really strong on-screen presence. I will say, it was obvious early on that Yachiyo was more than an AI digital artist or whatever, which was obviously intentional, but yeah.
The side characters were alright, I'd say they're kind of a weak link in the story. None of them has their own drama going on or anything. Iroha's brother was just an out-of-nowhere pull, but whatever, all the side characters (besides FUSHI ig) are just there.
PRODUCTION
The visuals were incredible, the art direction was REALLY good, like, REALLY REALLY good. The animation was stellar, and there was plenty of CGI, but it was never out of place. They really cooked this movie up to perfection visually. Even the fights looked incredible, just everything was amazing.
THE ENDING
I haven't heard much coverage on this movie yet, but I already know this ending is going to be controversial. They pull a pumpfake ending and then randomly introduce time travel out of nowhere to connect all the dots in the story, and then lore dump to us, and then time skip, and then build an artificial body for Kaguya, and then THE END.
The way the ending went is part of the reason why this movie isn't rated a 9+ or something, but at the same time, how fast it went is exactly why the emotions hit differently. From Kaguya, who they did a great job at making me care for, getting sent back to the moon, and then a complete change in Iroha's character compared to the start of the story, she decides to skip work and goes to finish that song. Once she sings it, we see Kaguya go and come back, and then we learn midway that Kaguya hits an asteroid, which begins this time loop kind of thing, because Yachiyo is actually Kaguya who underwent that same thing and got sent 8000 years into the past. When we literally saw these events unfold in front of us, and it was explained to us from the PoV of someone who's lived it at the same time, my jaw just hung, it was a big surprise.
And then Iroha asks FUSHI for the full story, and the truth is, Kaguya was really suffering all that time, 8000 years on accident is crazy, and the mental strain that has on someone is just... wow, it's like the Moon Cradle arc from SAO (if yk then yk). I must say, the entire montage or whatever, with us seeing FUSHI with all these different people in all these different times, I believe it was just a drastic effort to make sure that Kaguya makes it to the present, but I honestly didn't fully understand it, but somehow, somehow, it made me emotional.
But my lord,
>"I've grown, I managed to talk to my mom. I found a happy ending, even without you. This story's over now. I want to be with you, Kaguya."
And the parallel is just that, what a twist on Iroha's character, how far she came, and how much she changed, that one line says a lot. During that line, we see time fast-forwarding in the background, which is some tied symbolism to how life was for Kaguy. I'm sure it's just a really good scene. I bet the fact that they're in the middle of the ocean has symbolism too.
That's the real ending of the movie, TBH. The little bit of stuff after that is pretty much just fan service, just adds to the story a bit.
So what makes this film stand out? It's really thematic without making it obvious what the central themes are until all the dots connect. The moment all the dots connect at the end, you'll feel a flood of emotions just like the characters at the same time (assuming you're the intended audience). This is a delayed emotional payoff to be specific.
So what makes this like those other movies I listed before? The thing that modern Shinkai movies and Ghibli movies do, and although this is the intended standard for all films, it's poorly done, is to make sure you care about the characters before the story enters its second phase. One of the problems with, say maboroshi for example, is that you don't feel the same sense of urgency that the characters do, because you simply just don't care enough, it tries to be so emotionally loud, but you can't relate or understand half the emotions (then again maboroshi just doesn't make sense at all).
You care about these characters because they're human and really fun to have on screen. You WANT them to be there, you're enjoying the movie because of them, as opposed to the events taking place.
This movie has its flaws, which is why it's not the highest rating ever: the weak side cast, some shit just not making sense, and there are some "asspulls" here and there. But... it touched my heart.
REMINDER, I make my reviews directly after my blind first-watch, directly off of how I remember it, so it won't be perfect, but I think reviews are the most fun this way. And please give feedback on my review, I want to make it look better and be more readable.