You know the old saying, "The whole is better than the sum of its parts?" Tenki no Ko is the reverse of that: The sum of its parts are better than the whole. This is an enjoyable film, you can't get confused by that. It is an anime blockbuster. It's got guns, and comedy, and romance, and Japanese myth, and social commentary on climate change, and so much more.

But the problem with Tenki no Ko is that it had so much to say, perhaps too much for one film. It's like one of those moments where your friend asks you about that thing you're deeply passionate about. "I know you care about that thing. Please, tell me all about it." It's so exciting! Nobody ever asks you about that thing you're passionate about, especially not directly. You've really have to convey your thoughts and feelings on this, because this may be one of the only opportunities someone actually wants to hear it for a long time. So you just start going, you say everything you can think of, trying to get as much out as you can because you don't want to waste their time. But as you start, you realize you left something out, so you backtrack to handle that; but this other thing you need to mention is related, so you might as well explain that while you're here. And while you're at it...

This is Tenki no Ko's issue. The film is filled to the brim with really important thoughts, feelings, and ideas. All of them are fundamentally interesting and beautiful in their own right, and none of them on their own are very boring. But when they're all put together, it turns the larger film itself into word-vomit. This makes the film a jack-of-all-trades package: it's good at expressing many different things, but isn't great at any one thing, and thus shines a little less brightly compared to its peers. Maybe if the film instead was a tv-series, and had more time and energy to focus on developing its cast, or exploring its mythos, or weaving its story. Maybe if the film was more laser focused on about half of the subjects it touches on and tries to address.

Maybe if it was more tightly bound, Tenki no Ko would easily sweep someone off their feet in raw passion for animation and emotion. Instead it tries to put on a huge juggling act, and it's good for what it is, but because it juggles so many things, it struggles to remain cohesive, and loses some of its fire by the end.