It took nearly a decade, but at long, bittersweet last, Thunderbolt Fantasy has finally reached its conclusion in this, its finale movie. The movie picks up immediately where season 4 leaves off—which makes sense with the way season 4 ended. So, right off the bat, hopefully that answers your question if you were wondering how much Thunderbolt Fantasy you should watch going into this movie: ideally, all of it, up to this point. The movie begins with the second War of the Faded Dusk on the precipice of beginning, and it's up to the usual suspects to put an end to it. In other words, whether or not you like the story of this movie is going to depend a lot on how much you liked season 4's story, because it's just a continuation and conclusion of that same storyline.

Less dependent on the fourth season, however, is the pacing of the movie. Unfortunately, it's hard to imagine any attempt at wrapping up the grand epic that is Thunderbolt Fantasy within 90 minutes feeling anything short of rushed—and indeed, this movie often treads into that territory. The silver lining to having an entire season's worth of episodes before this movie is that it definitely softens this issue considerably, but alas, it's hard to watch this movie and deny at times it feels like it's trying to speedrun its way into tying up as many loose ends as possible and reaching its conclusion, and this is often to its detriment.

And speaking of stories and conclusions! I don't dare get specific at the risk of spoiling anything, but have you ever watched a moment in an anime, and—regardless of how you felt about it—you immediately get the thought, “Oh, this is going to be contentious?” This movie ends with a moment that'll very much leave you with that feeling. A feeling that, as far as I've been able to tell, is both warranted and accurate. Personally, however, I wasn't too big a fan of this twist, if only because it felt very shoehorned into the movie, as though it were a last-minute decision made on a whim because nobody had any better ideas for what to do with the involved character(s) in question. Maybe another season or movie's worth of content could've done more to expand on it and make it feel less like it's just there for the sake of being dramatic, but alas, this Finale movie is exactly that: a finale.

This is all a long-winded way of saying that, unfortunately, the story here doesn't quite reach the heights that it does earlier in the series. That being said, the earlier seasons are also nothing short of brilliant; the story in this fourth season and this movie are still perfectly fine all things considered, it's just really hard not to feel underwhelmed knowing how good Thunderbolt Fantasy, and Gen Urobuchi in general, have been. Most of the remaining character arcs are wrapped up in ways that at least feel like they make sense (with the very notable exception of, well, see the above paragraph), and it feels like all the loose threads have been tied up in a way that at least feels adequate. So if you're already a fan of Thunderbolt Fantasy (and if you've made it this far, I can only assume that's the case), you'll probably at least find some enjoyment in this movie's story. And even if you can't, as always, the spectacle of it all is sure to impress regardless.

Consistently across its nearly 10 years, the production value of Thunderbolt Fantasy has been nothing short of showstopping. This is a drum I've already beaten time and time again in reviews for previous Thunderbolt Fantasy entries, but it's something that's remained consistently true across the entire series. The movements of the puppets—whether they're doing something as mundane as talking about their plans, or something as explosive as fighting—are incredibly graceful. The costuming is exquisite. The voice acting and music breathe so much life into the whole thing. And the combination of practical and computer effects elevates it all, and really takes it to the next level.

As an ending to the grand epic that Thunderbolt Fantasy has been, unfortunately, this movie doesn't quite pack the punch that many fans would hope for. It's not a terrible ending, but it's more so going out with some sparks than a full-blown BANG. And yet, it still carries a bittersweetness that only the ending to what, broadly speaking, has been nothing short of an excellent journey that I'm going to miss. Even in this, one of its lower moments, it remains true as ever: the amount of love and creativity put into Thunderbolt Fantasy is overwhelming. No one's making anything even remotely like this.