Board 8 > Gauntlet Crew Ranks Anime Movies II

(+) Yeah! (+)

pyresword posted...

Can't help but be irritated at Your Name doing so well after Garden of Words did so badly on the last list you all did, but I guess Your Name is also reasonably good.

(Haven't gotten around to watching Weathering With You yet so will refrain from commenting there)

I have to rewatch it to be certain, but I think I liked Garden of Words. Isn't that the one that has really cool rain effects and poetry? If so I liked it quite a bit more than 5 Centimeters per Second at the very least. Did not enjoy the contrived ending to that one at all. Shinkai has come a long way since then. I'd say more, but spoilers abound.

@PrinceKaro Are you doing one ranking/day for the top ten or two?

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GenesisSaga posted...

I have to rewatch it to be certain, but I think I liked Garden of Words. Isn't that the one that has really cool rain effects and poetry?

Yes, that is the one.

I also didn't really like 5 Centimeters per Second when I watched it, though I went into it with totally the wrong expectations so it's possible I might like it more if I tried again.
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profDEADPOOL posted...

From what I've heard it's similar levels of yuribait, where they're totally gay and in love but it refuses to actually confirm it.

Pretty much. I love Liz and Hibike does drama and characters way better, but Hibike has an even bigger issue with the (non-)romance between female characters being hundreds of times more developed and teased than the straight ones, despite there being no chance of an actual relationship. It's kinda problematic.

This really isn't helping my case to sell the show is it?

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Sheep007 posted...

Pretty much. I love Liz and Hibike does drama and characters way better, but Hibike has an even bigger issue with the (non-)romance between female characters being hundreds of times more developed and teased than the straight ones, despite there being no chance of an actual relationship. It's kinda problematic.

This really isn't helping my case to sell the show is it?

The worst part is it's not like KyoAni is afraid to do actual gay relationships in some of their shows cough dragon maid cough, unlike some other studios which only ever do the baiting

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Heh heh. Nah...

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10. Penguin Highway

Karo: 8
Inviso: 8
Jona: 9
Red: 12
Charon: 18
Genny: 21
Johnbobb: 24

Total: 100

Karo: What It Is:
A series of bizarre penguin-related incidents plague a small town, and a group of children join together to find out the truth.

What I Think:
There is a sense of childlike wonder infusing the whole movie, sort of like playing in the woods behind your house as a kid and pretending you discovered a portal to the penguin dimension or something.
They mystery of the penguin infestation is the driving force behind the film, and it always keeps things interesting. It is a little bit goofy and a whole lot of fun, and I expect great things to come from the studio behind this movie.

Score: 83/100

Inviso: This is a long movie, and it takes a while to hit its stridebut once that happens, it really gets going and becomes interesting. Basically, this movie feels, at its heart, like an eighties adventure movie. You have the brainy leader kid, his dorky best buddy, the tomboy girl who hangs around with them, stereotypical bullies, and then a weird mystery that they have to overcome. This small town is suddenly overrun by penguins, and the kids are trying to figure this out, realizing that the main characters adult crush has penguin summoning powers, and theres a weird, floating water orb that threatens to overtake the entire town. The movie just has a good pace when it comes to unveiling new information and slowly unwrapping the sci-fi mystery at the movies core. By the time you reach the final act, everything has gone crazy, but it feels like the movie has properly ramped up to reach that conclusion. Its just a really weird and fun movie and I enjoyed laughing along with it the whole way through.

Jona: Aoyama feels unique for a main character for an anime film. He has impressive intelligence and can be pretty cocky. Its interesting to see his approaches to solving the mysteries of the random penguins, the dentist lady and the giant floating sphere. The different mysteries and the interesting two main characters really helped in making this movie engaging. His relationship with the dentist lady is pretty cute despite the age difference. The ending is really strong and emotional. This movie is just full of charm.

Red: A girl saves the world by turning every object into a penguin-holding pokeball. Really, the movie tries to act like it was some mystery to be solved. Lets be clear here, despite the characters pretending any of that made a lick of sense was a complete lie. Yes, I get it, throw penguins pop sphere. But none of whatever they tried to pass off as a logical conclusion was a logical conclusion at all. The world had a hole in it, which I assume was an idea inspired by all our dumb flat earth conspiracies or something. It was kind of fun watching the kids go through their research, though ultimately the conclusion was not nearly as interesting as the journey.

Charon: I kept waiting for this movie to start making sense and I guess that was a mistake. I like the characters in general here; they're engaging and comical. Watching this extremely intelligent boy go from eloquently speaking in a precise manner to follow it up with "think about boobs if you need to calm down" is pretty funny. Despite the nature of the plot, it's still quite well told and does follow what I consider to be proper storytelling technique. There are some other films on this list which are bizarre in this same way and decide to just take it all the way off the deep end, whereas this one remains in the realm of sense while still being nonsense at the same time. Interesting.

Genny: I don't think Ermine would like Penguin Highway as much as gauntlet Discord seems to think he would. There are a bunch of hella cute penguins yes, but only one of them gets a name and actual characterization and that one dies so yeah not really screaming Ermine #1. I actually think he'd prefer Birthday Wonderland for Doropo who's a somewhat major character, or Welcome to the Space Show for Pochi, or maybe even Weathering With You because of the general vibe... but I'm digressing again. As far as the little kids crushing on each other and/or significantly older interdimensional ladies I am not here for any of that, but count me in for cute penguins, somewhat cute Jabberwocks, and hilariously stoic precocious brats. From the moment Aoyama started talking I thought I was going to hate him, but his self-awareness or lack thereof in some cases eventually won me over and I did a complete 180. I can't say I cared for any of the other cast members unfortunately, and the side characters here are all varying degrees of one-dimensional (and this is quite ironic given the nature of this film's "mystery") which holds this movie back. One stand-out character does not a movie make.

Johnbobb: Now, this isn't the fault of Penguin Highway specifically, but I've been getting pretty burnt out on coming-of-age movies. I can still appreciate a really great one, but Penguin Highway isn't quite that. Things like the protagonist talking about discovering his love of boobs feel like unnecessary padding onto a film that all-in-all has a pretty short plot. There's a lot of fluff, and a good bit of it is cute, but nothing incredible. Until the endoing, that is. The ending goes full bonkers in a great way that made up for most of the faults I had along the way.

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Outlier:

Johnbobb: 297
Jona: 264
Inviso: 252
Genny: 225
Karo: 222
Red: 203
Charon: 193

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I'm happy it made the top ten, and honestly surprised it did. So...yay.

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Pls let Weathering With You be next.

It's still good, but it shouldn't have made top 10

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But how can Weathering With You not deserve top 10 on this list when the anime subreddit told me it's top 10 among all anime films?

https://i.redd.it/bxo7i5znso751.png
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I mean of the 11 films I've already watched on this list, Weathering With You was easily the worst imo so
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9. The Boy and the Beast

Red: 2
Genny: 11
Charon: 11
Jona: 16
Karo: 17
Johnbobb: 18
Inviso: 19

Total: 94

Red: Hey look I ranked a movie with animal people in it highly I bet people are totally shocked again. In all seriousness, I enjoyed the double sided growth we see in animal land with master and student both learning from each other. It was both entertaining and functional. We eventually get horrible payoff in the hey isnt that other dude also a human realization that most of us probably make but somehow slips by all the rest of the rest of the characters. The action sequences at the end are good enough to keep attention, at least. Every character ends up having to come to terms with their place in the world, human or otherwise, and I think its rather satisfying.

Genny: This is only the second time I've watched The Boy and the Beast since it premiered in limited American theaters, and as someone who ranked Summer Wars, Wolf Children, and especially The Girl Who Leapt Through Time so highly on previous lists that should be pretty telling. While the general aesthetic is retained, it lacks the same punch as the aforementioned projects by the same studio and/or director. I can't quite pinpoint why I feel that way, but I think it has something to do with the pacing. It's not all bad though. Here's what I liked about the film: the action was great, the relationship between Kyuuta and Kumatetsu is a definite highpoint, and the humor is charming. I also love how Kyuuta came about his alternate name (for anyone who doesn't know, "kyuu" is nine in Japanese, so when Ren refuses to divulge his true name and Kumatetsu asks him how old he is instead, "Kyuuta" was born). I don't like how easily Kyuuta assimilates into the Beast Kingdom, winning the respect of everyone by beating up a few peers with mimicked techniques; nor how easily he assimilates back into human society after growing apart from it throughout his most formative years, and also the "Ren learns to read and write" segments are the most boring scenes in the film. I also don't like how predictable Ichirohiko's backstory truly is. While I understand it needed to happen for Ren to defeat Ichirohiko, I hate that Kumatetsu had to reincarnate so quickly after achieving his goal in the Beast World. Sure he gained the respect and praise that came with being acknowledged as the strongest by his peers, but he never even got the chance to rule as Beast Lord, even if that's not what he wanted the most.

Charon: A very classic example of "master and the student" style storytelling, I liked the world created for the animals. I perceived about halfway through who the villain really was going to be and even why, and even though I did predict it I still think the confrontation and battle between hero and villain here was excellent. I also feel this film was very well voiced, English wise, for what that's worth. It's hard not to judge films on how they sound since the convenience of watching a dub is appealing to me since my eyesight isn't that great to begin with. But yeah, this one hits all the right notes with me.

Jona: This movie would have ranked lower for me if the whole movie was like the first half. While the father-son relationship development between Kumatetsu and Kyuta was likable, it was nothing special. I found the second half of the movie to be really great though. Seeing an older Kyuta get back to the real world and seeing his father and befriending Kaede is really nice. I loved seeing the conflict in Kyuta having to juggle his life in two worlds. It was pretty obvious that Ichirohiko was a human from the beginning but Im just glad it wasnt glanced over. The climax is amazing looking and emotional. While its not as good as some of Mamoru Hosodas other works, its still a really good movie in its own right.

Karo: What It Is:
A young boy journeys to another dimension and goes to a furry convention.

What I Think:
Hosoda had a tough act to follow after his phenomenal 'Wolf Children', but he could certainly do better than this.
So what happens here is this human kid tries to learn kung fu from a beastman who is as childish as he is and somehow this actually works out because of idiotic shounen logic. Most characters are plain irritating, and there is far too much yelling in general. This assault on the senses continues unabated throughout the entire first half of the story. Toss in a generic teen romance that doesnt fit with the rest of the movie at all and a confusing final act that seems rejected from the kingdom hearts storyboards and I don't really know what to think about this film other than 12 year olds on deviantart can design better furries than these.
Hosada still remains a talented director and can still make you feel for characters even as bad as these are, but this is one story that should probably have been dustbinned.

Score: 68/100

Johnbobb: This is definitely one of the simpler films on the list, with a story that's very remiscent of a fairy tale, seemingly inspired by stories like Tarzan and The Jungle Book with a little bit of a spiritual twist. It's a very easy film to enjoy, with the characters being fun and memorable, the action well done, and a predictable but interesting plot. I love the imagery of the giant whale fight (though the Moby Dick references were a little oversimplified, and I have a little bit of issue with the ending. The reincarnation/god/lord situation was never properly explained, so when Kumatetsu reincarnates, the stakes are vague and the action comes across as a bit of a deus ex machina. I could see this being a very good introductory anime movie for someone who hasn't watched any before.

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Inviso: If this movie was about thirty minutes shorter, I think I wouldve ranked it a considerable amount higher than I did. On paper, its interesting. You have this bear warrior whos undisciplined and thinks extremely highly of his abilities, yet he gets his ass beat when he tries to step to a REAL, trained warrior. Meanwhile, you have this kid whose mom died after she divorced his dad and separated them, so he winds up in foster care for reasons, and he runs away, only to wind up in the beast world. The kid, suffering from dad issues, and the bear, suffering from complete immaturity, play off each other, with Kyuuta teaching Kumatetsu how to dodge and rely less on brute force, while Kumatetsu teaches Kyuuta how to fight. Its a sweet story, and together, these two misfits work together to better one another.

This all culminates in Kyuuta eventually returning to the human world where he perhaps belongs, a rift is formed between the master and disciple, and Kyuuta storms off to the human world, where he realizes how out-of-place he is in that life. Kumatetsu, meanwhile, has to enter the arena to fight for the title of Grand Master, which was the original purpose of taking on a disciple in the first place. Without Kyuuta there to cheer him on and keep his head in the game however, Kumatetsu gets sloppy and gets his ass beat. Its only when Kyuuta pops up at the last second to offer words of encouragement that Kumatetsu turns the fight around and wins. If this was the ending, I would enjoy this movie a lot more. Its cheesy and cliched, sure, but sometimes clichs work for a reason.

Unfortunately, the movie goes WAY the fuck off the rails at that point. A second human characterthe adopted child of Kumatetsus opponentwho received VERY little in terms of characterization and development over the course of the movie, pops up and flings a sword into the victorious Kumatetsu. This is because, as has been repeated throughout the movie, humans all have darkness in their hearts. Kyuuta nearly lets the darkness overwhelm him with his desire for revenge, but he stops himself. And from that point on, I have no fucking clue what the point of the movie is. We introduce a weird antagonist for a story that feels VERY slapped on to the ending of the film, summoning ghost Moby Dick to fight Kyuuta in the real world. Its really dumb and REALLY hurts my enjoyment of the movie overall. The first three quarters of the film are enough to rank it this high, but stillWHY with that ending?

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Wow. This list is going REALLY well for me.

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Outlier:

Johnbobb: 306
Jona: 271
Inviso: 262
Karo: 230
Genny: 227
Red: 210
Charon: 195

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That's the wrong writeup for me
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oops, fixed

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JONA and I had the exact opposite opinions on which half of the movie was the good half, it seems.

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I wasn't particularly a fan of this movie. I've forgotten most of the details but I think I'm in a similar position as Inviso?

From what I remember, I wasn't very interested at the beginning, but then the movie slowly drew me in with the development of the relationship between the two leads which was actually pretty good. However towards the end there was some plotline involving the other human, and whatever that was I really didn't like it and it just made me immediately want to wash my hands of the movie and be done.
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Inviso posted...

JONA and I had the exact opposite opinions on which half of the movie was the good half, it seems.

Yeah, you're in the same boat as me.

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8. Ride Your Wave

Charon: 6
Karo: 9
Johnbobb: 9
Inviso: 10
Red: 10
Jona: 12
Genny: 28

Total: 84

Charon: Coming into this one I totally did not expect the character that would die would be the guy. That seemed to not be where the movie was heading, so when it happened it was a gut-punch because Minato was an extremely wonderful man that I just didn't want to see die that way. As the movie continues on, there were definitely moments I didn't see coming again with touches of supernatural elements to this drama. This movie is about coming to terms with the death of a loved one and that's obviously something most everyone can relate with in some way, so pairing that with likable characters is a surefire way to make a great film in my opinion.

Karo: What It Is:
A surfing movie that actually doesnt suck ass.

What I Think:
The main character is a girl who can summon the ghost of her boyfriend by singing in front of water, yet is not a Disney Princess for some reason. Anyway, the story details how they both help the other to move on after the accident, and shows what a touching story Yuasa can create when he reins in his worst instincts and lets his characters feel like real people. This film is just so damn cute.

Score: 82/100

Johnbobb: What's with the trend of every modern anime film just being SO FUCKING SAD. The biggest takeaway here is just how gorgeous the animation is. Like, downright stunning to look at the whole way through. Beyond the animation itself, the film is carried by a powerful performance from a very strongly written leading woman. I sympathized with her, I cried both with and for her. I ultimately only wanted happiness for Hinako, which says a lot for it. Unfortunately, I cared considerably less so about the side characters, with Wasabi and Yoko ranging from unpleasant to forgettable. Overall a very emotionally moving film with a solid ending.

Inviso: Its hard to say that a movie in which a girl sees the ghost of her dead boyfriend in water whenever she sings is NORMAL, but this movie is far better than you would expect from a normal movie. You would think Id be bored or annoyed during the first half hour of the movie, when its just a montage ofthe characters who make a point of how confusing their names aredoing boyfriend/girlfriend dating stuff. Buttheyre both likable enough in personality that I enjoyed that segment and I just kept waiting for the inevitable shoe to drop and fuck up that idyllic life. Of course it happens, and the guy at the center of everything dies, and suddenly EVERYONE has to deal with their depression and striving to better themselves in his absenceexcept the girlfriend.

Watching the main character devolve into a frightened wreck is sad, and realize just how traumatizing the whole ordeal was for her. But then theMinato, thats his name, Minatohe comes back in the form of some weird hallucination/not-hallucination water ghost, and we get to watch the girl openly refuse to move on with her life. She cant go surfing like she used to, she wont advance her life in any meaningful way, and she just cant bring herself to consider other romantic options, even as they present themselves. Even by the end of the movie, when everything works out and shes mostly moved on with her life, the film sticks that dagger in by having a pre-recorded message from Minato the year prior, and it just shows that shell never truly get over or forget himand thats okay. That makes her a realistic character. I appreciated that. Less so the weird, magic bullshit that made the third act feel super goofybut still, I liked the movie overall.

Red: A girl hallucinates with water after her boyfriend dies in a tragic accident caused by her indirect influence. Or at least, thats what I was assuming for awhile. Apparently I was wrong it was more water magic all along and she takes her friend and rides her way to safety. Oops. The year later message at the end felt absolutely devastating. I was honestly incredibly relieved they didnt go with the obvious route of having her fall for the other guy. The two other characters hooking up in the end was honestly quite refreshing.

Jona: The romance in the beginning of the movie is quite cute but the meat of the movie is when the boyfriend dies and Hinako has to deal with life after love. Hinako possibly hallucinating about seeing Minato in the water is intriguing stuff to see, which lead to some funny moments. The side characters are also interesting with them being involved in a love triangle with Hinako but they also have their own goals that they strive for which are a good contrast to Hinako and her situation. I do have a problem with the ending of the movie because it gives a clear-cut answer on whether Hinako was hallucinating or not. This is a movie that is ranked higher than it probably ought to due to Hinakos development appealing to me but I still liked it a good amount.

Genny: On an emotional level it doesn't hit as hard as I think it needed to hit for me to really feel invested in the outcome. If I was supposed to feel anything other than shock when Minato drowned then the movie failed to move me. Honestly it felt kind of hollow and cheap to kill off such a nice character. The proposal at the end of the film only serves to further exploit Minato's character, and serve up one last gut punch to the audience for no real reason. It's obvious well before this point he loved Hinako because he never left her even after death so why torture her or anyone watching with the knowledge that he wanted to be with her forever? Also by toying with the idea that Hinako was just imagining seeing Minato throughout so much of the movie only to remove that from interpretation near the end by implying other characters could have seen him all along only makes me feel bad for thinking she was just going mad with grief, and makes other characters seem cruel for trying to force Hinako to move on. Brand New Story might be a #1 jam, but Ride Your Wave itself can chill here at 28th.

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Outlier:

Johnbobb: 307
Jona: 275
Inviso: 264
Genny: 247
Karo: 231
Red: 212
Charon: 197

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Overall this movie was pretty good, but I do have some mixed feelings.

Mostly I thought the core story and characters are really strong which ends up taking the movie a long way. My main issue is I guess that as much as I'd like to ignore it, there's no getting around the fact that some things about the movie's gimmick are just goofy and weird in ways that undercut the emotional tone the movie at least should have been going for.

Also some parts of the ending bugged me also. Basically I thought the ending depicted the main character's emotional transition as being too sudden for the type of development they were going for, but I don't know. Could see other interpretations here.
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pyresword posted...

Overall this movie was pretty good, but I do have some mixed feelings.

Mostly I thought the core story and characters are really strong which ends up taking the movie a long way. My main issue is I guess that as much as I'd like to ignore it, there's no getting around the fact that to me some things about the movie's gimmick are just goofy and weird in ways that undercut the emotional tone the movie at least should have been going for.

Also some parts of the ending bugged me also. Basically I thought the ending depicted the main character's emotional transition as being too sudden for the type of development they were going for, but I don't know. Could see other interpretations here.

This sums up my thoughts exactly. The tonal shifts lead to an unsurmountable dissonance that the movie just wasn't good enough to overcome. Ride Your Wave had the potential to be a truly impactful emotional piece about dealing with loss and depression in a healthy way and healing from it OR this fun bittersweet joyride that imparts the theme that your loved ones are never truly gone because they're always in your heart and your memories, but it tries to have its cake and eat it too and it just doesn't sit quite right with me.

Let me be clear: I DID enjoy the movie, just not to the degree the rest of you did because of the aforementioned tonal dissonance. Even though I placed it this low (essentially tanking it from a top 5 spot I guess) I would still watch it again and appreciate it just as much most likely.

Last minute addition edit: Also I hated the Chekhov's gun Christmas tower proposal coming back into play at the very end. It just seemed like a really cheap way to pluck one last heartstring when the movie was basically over and the audience had already said its final goodbye to Minato.

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7. I Want to Eat Your Pancreas

Inviso: 4
Genny: 4
Charon: 8
Jona: 8
Red: 8
Karo: 10
Johnbobb: 35

Total: 77

Inviso: It says a lot that this movie ranks as high as it does, because I was just about ready to tune it out entirely after the first fifteen minutes. If you remember my rankings from previous lists, specifically Sausage Party and Plague Dogs, there are certain things that just make me super squeamish and make it really difficult to get through. Its weird that it only really comes out in anime, and gore doesnt bother me mostly in live action. But anyway, the first fifteen minutes of the movie are basically a constant reminder of pancreas pancreas pancreas pancreas tripe heart entrails pancreas pancreas, and that made my stomach turn a little bit. The fact that the main characters were generic silent boy and generic manic pixie dream girl did not inspire confidence either.

Slowly but surely however, the movie won me over. Granted, I feel like the whole introverted loser fixes his fucking life plot has been done better by other movies on this list, but the relationship between Haruki and Sakura was cute. There were moments of sexual tension, largely instigated by Sakura because she plays around too much, but it felt like a genuine effort to bring Haruki out of his shell, while simultaneously giving Sakura a friend who didnt really treat her any differently because of her medical condition. It was sweet, and I will fully admit that it got me at the end. The movie sets up the ending in the first couple minutes, but then it COMPLETELY swerves your expectations, and that was FUCKED up. GREAT, but still super fucked up. But its still sweet how the movie concludes, and it developed the characters enough to hit the right emotional notes and make me cry. So yeah, good movie overall, it just doesnt QUITE do well enough to match up with some other movies with similar, emotional tones.

Genny: I Want to Eat Your Pancreas is my favorite romantic anime on this list, yet to call the relationship between -Redacted- and Sakura a pure romance would be a complete disservice. While I could delve into why I feel that way I can't express the jumbled thoughts in my head better than my man gigguk can so if you're curious please watch this: https://youtu.be/zqao854TBM0 .... The interesting dynamic between the two leads is the driving force of the movie, and they end up changing in the best ways just by interacting with one another. Our gloomy protagonist goes from aloof and disinterested in meaningful relationships to actively striding to form friendships while Sakura goes from putting on a constantly cheerful faade to tearing down her open walls and being real with another person. Throughout the movie Sakura intermittently reminds the protagonist (and audience) that her death is inevitable by stating it outright, but it's the subtle ways she reinforces the fact (e.g. trying to bring her two closest friends together so that they'll have each other to fill the void her existence will leave once she's gone) that really tug at those heartstrings. When the pin finally dropped I felt sad of course, but more than anything I felt indignant rage. She only had a little more time left, and I even knew it was going to happen, and yet I was actually left teary-eyed because it was cut short. This was the impact I think Ride Your Wave was going for, but failed to achieve in my humble opinion.

Charon: There's a group of films for me which stand out the most on this list, and they're all at the top. I'm not sure if anyone else sees them this way exactly and I doubt anyone else grouped each of them together, but this film in the "lowest" ranking one that moved me. All my top films got emotion out of me, in the form eye liquids. It's like a set of 8 films which at some point, should break your heart. This one had such a bizarre title and I expected nothing from it. What I got was a heart-wrenching story about a popular girl and a guy no one really cared about. I guess I'd be lying if I didn't say I felt for the main character here in a personal way, even if his personality is a bit far out there in terms of identifiable. So much of the film's time is spent on this relationship, and even though you know the ending is most likely coming, how it comes is a true shock and still packs a punch, which should have been in theory difficult to do for a movie with this premise.

Jona: At first, I didnt like the beginning of the movie showing that Sakura would die. Her disease would already lead you to that conclusion anyways but the circumstances behind the death are whats unexpected. This movie is all about the development of the relationship between Sakura and a guy whose name we dont find out until later in the movie, who are interesting characters in their own right and they serve as good contrasts. Its an interesting relationship due to them being strangers with the guy knowing about her disease while her family also knows but her friends dont. The relationship gets a lot of development and made me feel invested despite knowing the end result and its still emotional. The movie does go on a bit after her death for even more emotional pulls and an ending which was quite touching. The post-credits scene was a nice touch too. The movie can be predictable, and it doesnt exactly have a unique flavor, but its just so executed so well.

Red: Ok, first off, I did not expect the title of this movie to be so literal. Second, while this movie prepares you for the death that is coming, I can safely say I never saw complete random stabbing coming and it honestly was a way to make the event hit you like a ton of bricks. You expect the death to happen and maybe some fallout with her illness, but you never even get to that point, its something the film never prepares you for. It ends up a tragic death in so many ways you might not have been expecting. Unfortunately were still viewing through the eyes of a fairly boring main character otherwise, but the movie still manages to pull the right strings most of the time. When its not making things awkward about literally eating Pancreas at least.

Karo: What It Is:
A bittersweet romance anime that is not actually about cannibalism. Honest.

What I Think:
It a subtle story about two young people, one of which is terminally ill, and the touching relationship between them despite the specter of death hanging over the girl's head.
With great emotional resonance and characters you can care about, the strength of its plot helps to overcome its weakness in animation, which looks alarmingly lackluster for such a recent anime movie.

Score 81/100

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Johnbobb: This was one of the biggest disappointments of the anime list. That's not to say it was bad, I just went in with really high expectations after seeing the film get really good critical reception and after generally hearing a lot of good things about it. Back when we were watching old romantic comedies, I mentioned how a lot of them fell into the same repetitive, annoying trope: upbeat ditzy girl forces herself onto stoic asshole guy who treats her terribly, and somehow they end up together because it's necessary for the plot. That's my exact issue here. The main boy spends a good half the movie being just completely unlikable (with one scene being particularly uncomfortable and almost irredeemable) but as an audience, it feels like we're just expected to go along with it because we know they're SUPPOSED to be together. The way both of the characters act for the majority of the film just feels completely at odds with how anyone would actually act, which is particularly damaging for a film dependent on making the situation feel realistic. It's not until about the last half hour or so that the film really starts to come together properly, but by then I was already so against them as a couple that it lessened the impact of the emotionally devastating ending.

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lol

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Outlier:

Johnbobb: 335
Jona: 276
Inviso: 267
Genny: 250
Karo: 234
Red: 213
Charon: 198

thats a big chonker outlier

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Well in a way I'm glad I pretty much singlehandedly ensured IWEYP placed above Ride Your Wave because it's the far more nuanced and impactful romantic movie in which one half of the couple dies. Why is that even a theme two of these movies share anyway?? All I can say is wow Johnbobb. Ha ha

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Wow John really is just saying my opinions for me! I'm glad it didn't end up in the top 3 or so like I was worried about, but I still think this is too high based on the lower movies I've watched. The characters are very forgettable aside from the main dude being very dislikeable, and have arcs which are... okay? The guy's arc really isn't explored very well and doesn't feel earned or make me care about his change. The twist is really good and the scene with the mother afterwards is very very good, which makes up for a fair bit of the movie just not being great, but I was massively let down while watching it. Also, I know the exact scene you are talking about. Uhhhh no thank you. Plus, frankly, the art is not up to scratch and if it isn't going to make me care about the characters I would appreciate it looking decent.

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GenesisSaga posted...

Well in a way I'm glad I pretty much singlehandedly ensured IWEYP placed above Ride Your Wave because it's the far more nuanced and impactful romantic movie in which one half of the couple dies. Why is that even a theme two of these movies share anyway?? All I can say is wow Johnbobb. Ha ha

If you remove your and Johnbobb's rankings from contention, Pancreas still wins.

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so I REALLY thought SOMEONE else would say SOMETHING about THAT SCENE but nobody did so

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=26bbBvpZk3w

There are a LOT of issues I have with this movie, but I think they climaxed here. This is the character we're supposed to empathize with. This is one of thousands of movies where the plot is about the girl but we're only really shown it from the male's perspective (there are quite a few of those on this list alone, even TNIS,WOG as much as I love it falls into this) because he's falling in love with her and we're supposed to put ourselves in his shoes. That's already a point against it because, goddamn, that's an old, boring, tired trope. But it only became so much worse because of how unlikable main boy was. To be honest I'm surprised some of the people in this group put it so high (though others I definitely expected to) because I thought for sure SOMEONE else would recognize how absolutely shitty this dude is. He treats her like shit, she puts up with it because it's in her character to be lighthearted and accept life as it goes.

It's been... checks notes... over 80 years since It Happened One Night and still some directors can't get over that story crutch of "treat a quirky girl like shit and she'll fall for you." I could try to get into WHY people pull that shit but that's a whole other discussion that's gonna go off the rails so fast.

And it's not JUST that he's awful. Both the main characters are just... really, really off. Like, there's something not quite human about them. They behave unrealistically, like their actions and their motivations just aren't in sync with each other. My examples are a little fuzzy given that I've blocked off this film from my mind for the last few months after being left with just such an unpleasant feeling in my stomach about it, and a lot of that is due to THIS scene.

This shit isn't okay. It's not something that can be shrugged off with a "he doesn't have good enough social skills to know how to approach this" or "she was coming on to him first," as much as the film seems to want you to take it that way. As soon as this happened, any shread of connection I could feel toward mainboy was gone.

The ending would've been fantastic and powerful in another movie. This wasn't it.

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I haven't seen Pancreas and have no interest in doing so (just not my kind of movie at all), but I do find it interesting how much better it was received by western anime fandom than it was in Japan. It was just so weird to see it disappoint critically and financially on release, then a few months later suddenly see international anime fans declare it one of the best anime ever.
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Charon just called me Gennbobb because of my Ride Your Wave ranking and I want a divorce now

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GenesisSaga posted...

Charon just called me Gennbobb because of my Ride Your Wave ranking and I want a divorce now

<3

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GenesisSaga posted...

Charon just called me Gennbobb because of my Ride Your Wave ranking and I want a divorce now

Charon, that's not fair.

Johnbobb would never rank a Yuasa movie that low.

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I never watched this movie,probably in large part due to being put-off by the title, but it's strange that the write-ups here are only managing to convince me that I made the right decision despite what the placing is.

I really thought this whole pancreas eating thing was just a very strange title and nothing more. (Yes I did know the premise of the movie but assumed it wouldn't present with the same level of weirdness.) And this also generated like 3 new things I expect I wouldn't like about the movie in the process.
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Fuck you Johnbobb, and also fuck the rest of you for Weathering With You somehow still being in
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Ha ha

I get the Pancreas love, but I don't get the Weathering hate. Visually it's the most impressive film on the list. Well there's one other that comes close, maybe even surpasses it so never mind. Still, it's quite nice to look at.

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6. When Marnie Was There

Charon: 2
Jona: 6
Karo: 7
Red: 11
Inviso: 12
Genny: 16
Johnbobb: 17

Total: 71

Charon: Currently serving as Ghibli's final hoorah, for now (let's hope), Marnie was a fitting sendoff for the storied company. Capturing all the magic and wonder of the films that came before it, this is another touching story of a young protagonist and a supernatural being. Despite it not making my #1, this film was definitely the #1 in terms of tearjerking for me. I guess I have a personal relationship with "grandmother" films, and tons of animated movies just love to use the dead grandma trope. It's played to beautiful effect here, even if some of the way I was sort of wondering if perhaps there were some LGBT overtones to the main character's arc. I still don't disagree with my assessment of that and find it makes her a deeper character and is inline with her portrayal in the film. Either way, I'm glad to have finally watched this film and hope the studio can return to the limelight again soon. The animation world just isn't the same without them.

Jona: Mystery elements? In a Ghibli movie? Sign me up! The relationship shown between Anna and Marnie is cute which makes it heartbreaking once we get to know more about Marnie and her mysterious ways. Its just a really well-done Ghibli film. Dont know what else to say.

Karo: What It Is:
The last Studio Ghibli movie for now, at least until Ghibli directors inevitably come out of retirement and/or rise from the dead.

What I Think:
A disagreeable young girl visiting the countryside befriends a mysterious girl who lives at a supposedly abandoned mansion and a lot of seemingly lesbian innuendo occurs.
While it is not quite up there with Miyazaki's greatest classics, Yonebayashi again shows great aptitude with female characters in crafting this touching story of friendship and family.

Score: 84/100

Red: A girl inadvertently learns about her heritage while thrown off with relatives for the summer. Were never really given much of a defintive reason for her actually interacting with Marnie, but there is a bit of a whimsical feel to their interactions that does come with a bit of satisfying curiosity. Anna coming to terms with her current parents and essentially making friends is rather touching, but the movie does suffer a bit from never quite rectifying her interactions with the past world.

Inviso: The back half of this movie is great. Its emotional and touching, and Marnies story, once we learn the whole thing, is so beautiful, especially as more and more layers are peeled back, and in turn we see Anna grow and develop as a character. The slow build of realizing just how unlucky Marnie is in terms of her relationships is just heartbreaking. Her parents were stereotypical socialites, neglecting her and leaving her with an abusive grandmother. Her husband died at a young age, and her subsequent mental breakdown got her daughter sent to a boarding school. The daughter hated her for this, and died before they could make up. All she had was her granddaughter, but by that point, life had taken its toll, and she started the cycle anew, leaving her granddaughter behind when she died.

The reveal that Marnie (who is pretty much an obvious ghost throughout the movie) is Annas grandmother, and is there to help Anna not feel so lonely and abandoned, adds a nice layer to the film. And Im not ashamed to admitthat ending scene where Anna introduces her foster mothercalled Auntie up to that point in the movieas my mom broke me. That just felt like a well-earned emotional climax, and it was subtle. The movie didnt hit me over the head with a scene of Anna breaking down and admitting how shitty she was and declaring her love for her mom. No, she just changes her speech pattern in a noticeable way, and even the mom recognizes this, wiping away tears at this introduction.

The only reason I dont rank this higher is because the first half of the movie is very difficult to get through. Its very slow, and I just dont care for Anna in that first half. Her whole character is just mopey and sullen, which doesnt make for a very dynamic movie. I GET that she has her reasons, but when were forced to spend half the film dealing with a bratty teen and no real explanation as to WHY shes behaving this way, before the PLOT actually kicks init drags the film down just a LITTLE bit, and keeps me from putting it at the top of the list.

Genny: When Marnie was There is like lofi beats to relax to The Movie. I'm not gonna seek it out for anything other than that purpose, but it's enjoyable enough. Once you know the twist it kind of negates what little suspense there is in young Marnie's life (this was my second time watching this for the record), and as strangely sweet as her relationship is with Anna I don't quite understand why they're initially so drawn to each other. I don't believe Marnie is a ghost, or a clairvoyant or time traveler so she couldn't know she's befriending her own granddaughter could she? Anyway in my opinion this isn't the worst Ghibli has to offer, nor is it even close to the best. It's a little above average in a company with an astounding pedigree of wonderful films (also Tales from Earthsea and Only Yesterday), which is of course high praise.

Johnbobb: man don't you just hate when that cute girl you're secretly in love with turns out to be the ghost of your grandma

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Outlier:

Johnbobb: 346
Jona: 276
Inviso: 273
Genny: 260
Karo: 235
Red: 218
Charon: 202

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Gennbobb 2.0
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Wow. This top ten has gone about as well as I could have imagined.

1. ???
2. ???
3. Colorful
4. I Want to Eat Your Pancreas
5. ???
6. ???
7. ???
8. Penguin Highway
9. Giovanni's Island
10. Ride Your Wave
11. Fireworks
12. When Marnie Was There
13. Memories
14. Castle of Cagliostro
15. Napping Princess
16. Vampire Hunter D
17. Okko's Inn
18. Welcome to the Space Show
19. The Boy and the Beast
20. Mary and the Wizard's Flower
21. Blood: The Last Vampire
22. The Wonderland
23. Appleseed
24. Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence
25. Miss Hokusai
26. Jin-Roh: The Wolf Brigade
27. Godzilla: Planet of the Monsters
28. Maquia: When the Promised Flower Blooms
29. In This Corner of the World
30. Liz and the Blue Bird
31. Night Is Short, Walk On Girl
32. The Fantastic Adventures of Unico
33. Phoenix 2772
34. Mind Game
35. Children of the Sea
36. Lu Over the Wall
37. Little Prince and the Eight Headed Dragon
38. Mirai
39. Dead Leaves
40. Angel's Egg

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v_charon posted...

Gennbobb 2.0

Oh come on it wasn't even in my bottom half this time...

Also I'm sorry, but Anna isn't the most compelling of protagonists and of the film was boring. Without that personal connection to someone dear being lost (might I remind you both my grandmas are still kickin' [knock on wood]?) this one just didn't have as much to offer in way of emotional impact or fantastical whimsy. That makes it an average Studio Ghibli film, which is still to say it is quite good.

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I agree with Inviso. This is easily the best my rankings have ever done at the top five landmark.

Now if we can just stick the landing this will be my favorite list ever. *Prepares to land face first when #8 wins*

01. ???
02. ???
03. ???
04. I Want to Eat Your Pancreas
05. Angel's Egg
06. Maquia: When the Promised Flower Blooms
07. ???
08. ???
09. Mind Game
10. The Wonderland
11. The Boy and the Beast
12. Mary and the Witch's Flower
13. Lu Over the Wall
14. Godzilla: Planet of the Monsters
15. Blood: The Last Vampire
16. When Marnie Was There
17. Memories
18. Dead Leaves
19. Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence
20. Okko's Inn
21. Penguin Highway
22. Welcome to the Space Show
23. Napping Princess
24. Jin-Roh: The Wolf Brigade
25. The Night is Short, Walk On Girl
26. The Castle of Cagliostro
27. Vampire Hunter D
28. Ride Your Wave
29. Children of the Sea
30. Giovanni's Island
31. Liz and the Blue Bird
32. The Little Prince and the Eight-Headed Dragon
33. Miss Hokusai
34. Mirai
35. Appleseed
36. The Fantastic Adventures of Unico
37. In This Corner of the World
38. Fireworks
39. Phoenix 2772
40. Colorful

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1. ???
2. When Marnie Was There
3. Maquia: When the Promised Flower Blooms
4. ???
5. ???
6. Ride Your Wave
7. ???
8. I Want to Eat Your Pancreas
9. ???
10. The Wonderland
11. The Boy and the Beast
12. Mind Game
13. Jin-Roh: The Wolf Brigade
14. Napping Princess
15. Okko's Inn
16. Lu Over the Wall
17. Vampire Hunter D
18. Penguin Highway
19. Mary and the Witch's Flower
20. Godzilla: Planet of the Monsters
21. The Castle of Cagliostro
22. Dead Leaves
23. Memories
24. Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence
25. Welcome to the Space Show
26. Mirai
27. Angel's Egg
28. Giovanni's Island
29. The Night is Short, Walk On Girl
30. Blood: The Last Vampire
31. Appleseed
32. Fireworks
33. Liz and the Blue Bird
34. Miss Hokusai
35. The Little Prince and the Eight-Headed Dragon
36. Colorful
37. In This Corner of the World
38. Children of the Sea
39. The Fantastic Adventures of Unico
40. Phoenix 2772

I will fully admit that Marnie got to me the most emotionally. I wasn't able to give it the top spot for reasons; sometimes a flawless film usurps all emotional responses, which is what I think happened here. Really the gap between Marnie and my #1 is pretty large and there was really never a debate about what #1 for me. But anyway, yeah. I think if you've ever had a grandma die whom you were close with, this film should evoke an emotional response that's pretty strong with the big reveal near the end (it's no Coco in terms of response, still, though I don't think anything ever will be). I'll admit, as I said in my writeup, I still think Anna could have been a lesbian and they decided not to dwell on that fact because it wasn't really important to the movie, which is kinda nice.
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1. ???
2. ???
3. Lu Over the Wall
4. ???
5. Okko's Inn
6. ???
7. When Marnie Was There
8. Penguin Highway
9. Ride Your Wave
10. I Want to Eat Your Pancreas
11. ???
12. Liz and the Blue Bird
13. Welcome to the Space Show
14. Mary and the Witch's Flower
15. Colorful
16. Mirai
17. The Boy and the Beast
18. Vampire Hunter D
19. The Night Is Short, Walk On Girl
20. Giovanni's Island
21. Maquia: When the Promised Flower Blooms
22. Napping Princess
23. Children of the Sea
24. Memories
25. The Castle of Cagliostro
26. The Fantastic Adventures of Unico
27. Angel's Egg
28. Miss Hokusai
29. In This Corner of the World
30. Phoenix 2772
31. Dead Leaves
32. Godzilla: Planet of the Monsters
33. The Wonderland
34. Fireworks
35. Little Prince and the Eight Headed Dragon
36. Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence
37. Jin-Roh: The Wolf Brigade
38. Blood: the Last Vampire
39. Appleseed
40. Mind Game

---

1. Mind Game
2. The Night is Short, Walk On Girl
3. Children of the Sea
4. ???
5. ???
6. ???
7. Fireworks
8. Welcome to the Space Show
9. Ride Your Wave
10. Memories
11. Dead Leaves
12. Lu Over the Wall
13. Mary and the Witch's Flower
14. Okko's Inn
15. ???
16. Mirai
17. When Marnie Was There
18. The Boy and the Beast
19. Blood: The Last Vampire
20. Giovanni's Island
21. Napping Princess
22. Ghost in the Shell 2
23. Miss Hokusai
24.
25. The Fantastic Adventures of Unico
26. In This Corner of the World
27. Little Prince and the Eight Headed Dragon
28. Angel's Egg
29. ???
30. The Wonderland
31. Maquia: When the whatever whatever
32. Liz and the Blue Bird
33. Jin-Roh: The Wolf Brigade
34. The Castle of Cagliostro
35. pancreas
36. Phoenix 2772
37. Colorful
38. Vampire Hunter D
39. Godzilla: Planet of the Monsters
40. Appleseed

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Oh my gosh there's a 29 left!?

Which of my top ten babies is doomed?

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