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INTEREST: Early Reviews Praise Shunji Iwai's 'Fireworks' Anime Film




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#874319



Joined: 14 Aug 2017
Posts: 2
PostPosted: Mon Aug 14, 2017 2:36 pm Reply with quote
Nice cherry-picking. You can blame Yaraon for this, but quoting 3 tweets by the same person doesn't mean much. If you actually know how to read Japanese you will notice that it is getting trashed in general reviews, and critics are commenting about missed opportunities, disappointing art and animation quality for a theatrical release (which is somewhat typical of Shaft, and evident in trailers which showcase awkward 3DCG), and mediocre storytelling (people feeling that the movie was pointless after it ended). Some go as far as to call it unredeemable trash, and an effective soporific.

The article references someone claiming that it doesn't feel like an anime movie, but this is a load of bull, and should be obvious from the promotional material. I assume that the use of non-anime voice actors fooled them. In contrary I have seen commentators mention that the contrast between anime voice actors' and real actors' performances is jarring, and (from another person) that, compared to the original work, this adaptation does feel like an アニメ劇場版 - an anime movie/digest version of a TV series.

Finally, I got from an animation scholar that the film cannot surpass the original because it remains constrained in its visual style. The director decided not to implement Shinbo's idea of transforming the character art towards a manga-like style to reflect the changes throughout the film (I haven't seen the original, so I'm not sure EXACTLY what he's talking about). His conclusion is that because the film, despite having no technical constraints as an animated work, does not convey the feeling of a world where many realities interlock and are made possible, and where it is impossible to determine which one is real and which one is "correct", it fails to outgrow its status as a mere anime adaptation. It could have surpassed the original, but Kawamura did not have the courage to develop the artistic vision. This is disappointing for an animation film.

The most praise you will see about it if you aggregate constructive reviews is for the performance of Suzu Hirose. So if you are not careful, you might think the film is actually good as you browse through 50 Hirose fanboys and 50 Suda fangirls posting superficial messages about how "pretty" it is and more importantly about the voice acting and singing. Unfortunately it takes more than that. The general consensus among people who knew what they were watching is that the original film is superior.

What I conclude from all these comments is that it is a forgettable movie that the Western fanbase will praise as the greatest thing evar before they get to see Yuasa's films and realize that everything else shown and praised in the past few years is actually mediocre/crap. That includes the crappy Okada film streamed on Crunchy a few months(?) back and Koe no Katachi, which people clinged on because it was the first movie of the year that they could actually watch.


Last edited by #874319 on Mon Aug 14, 2017 3:01 pm; edited 3 times in total
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TasteyCookie



Joined: 19 Jan 2017
Posts: 421
PostPosted: Mon Aug 14, 2017 2:52 pm Reply with quote
#874319 wrote:
Nice cherry-picking. If you actually know how to read Japanese you will notice that it is getting trashed in general reviews, and critics are commenting about missed opportunities, disappointing art and animation quality (which is somewhat typical of Shaft, and evident in trailers which showcase awkward 3DCG), and mediocre storytelling (people feeling that the movie was pointless after it ended). Some go as far as to call it unredeemable trash, and an effective soporific. The most praise you will see about it if you aggregate constructive reviews is for the performance of Suzu Hirose. In any case the general consensus is that the original film is superior.

My conclusion regarding ANN's terrible coverage is that you are getting paid to advertise it, or whoever reviewed the private screening reaction searched the wrong terms or doesn't understand Japanese well enough to read real reviews.


Umm.... any sources for any of your apparent "general consensus?" The only negative opinions I've seen on the pre showing was on 2-chan, which most likely was just trolls who haven't seen the show almost like every other comment on 2-chan. Not saying their might be critics who didn't like it, but I have not come across any in my browsing.
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#874319



Joined: 14 Aug 2017
Posts: 2
PostPosted: Mon Aug 14, 2017 2:55 pm Reply with quote
TasteyCookie wrote:
Umm.... any sources for any of your apparent "general consensus?" The only negative opinions I've seen on the pre showing was on 2-chan, which most likely was just trolls who haven't seen the show almost like every other comment on 2-chan. Not saying their might be critics who didn't like it, but I have not come across any in my browsing.

Twitter. I don't feel like digging each comment back up, though. I think I searched "試写 打ち上げ花火" a few hours after the screening.

I amended my post upon noticing that Yaraon is being referenced as the source of the article, and I assume that very little independent research has been done on ANN's side, but if you look closer and don't stop at the one-liners you will notice that people who are actually commenting on the film with more than one adjective and not just about the voice actors are indifferent at best. I'm sure plenty of people will like it, but don't expect a masterpiece by any means.
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FtKaru



Joined: 05 Jan 2016
Posts: 70
PostPosted: Mon Aug 14, 2017 3:45 pm Reply with quote
#874319 wrote:

What I conclude from all these comments is that it is a forgettable movie that the Western fanbase will praise as the greatest thing evar before they get to see Yuasa's films and realize that everything else shown and praised in the past few years is actually mediocre/crap. That includes the crappy Okada film streamed on Crunchy a few months(?) back and Koe no Katachi, which people clinged on because it was the first movie of the year that they could actually watch.

When you close out with this, it just seems like you're just more annoyed that Yuasa isn't receiving enough praise more than anything. Anyways, I guess I'll just keep your claims in mind since I'm not going to bother digging through Japanese twitter to look for the tweets of journalists/critics that I don't even know the names of.
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Blackiris_



Joined: 06 Sep 2013
Posts: 535
PostPosted: Mon Aug 14, 2017 4:15 pm Reply with quote
From the trailers it certainly looked like a pleasant film. I love Shinji Iwai, but I'd rather see another completely "Iwai" anime film by him like the amazing Hana & Alice which felt so fresh and refreshingly different from other anime titles. I don't get the same sense of identity from Fireworks, which looks certainly like I film I will enjoy, but not like something that stands out.
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aiem



Joined: 02 Aug 2013
Posts: 44
PostPosted: Mon Aug 14, 2017 5:50 pm Reply with quote
#874319 wrote:

What I conclude from all these comments is that it is a forgettable movie that the Western fanbase will praise as the greatest thing evar before they get to see Yuasa's films and realize that everything else shown and praised in the past few years is actually mediocre/crap. That includes the crappy Okada film streamed on Crunchy a few months(?) back and Koe no Katachi, which people clinged on because it was the first movie of the year that they could actually watch.


HILARIOUS!

Koe no Katachi was super delayed when it comes to international theatrical release. Unless you're talking about those exclusive small screenings done in Europe. You sure you're not confusing it with Kimi no Na wa?

Hell even the official release here in the US is in October so I don't get what in the world you're talking about.
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zrnzle500



Joined: 04 Oct 2014
Posts: 3767
PostPosted: Mon Aug 14, 2017 11:24 pm Reply with quote
@#874319 Which film are you referring to that was streamed by CR? Because as far as I an tell, not only has CR not streamed any of Okada's films, but I can't seem to find any recent films streamed by CR in the last few months. They have done movie theater screenings, but I don't think people were raving about the Kabeneri compilation films, and Ancient Magus' Bride's first three episodes aren't really a film.
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