I watched the original 101-minute version and… it still sucks. Isu’s (the protagonist) arc is stupid with a vacuous payoff. The narrative manipulates his allegiance with little thought to a genuine autonomous being. Isu’s flippant moral drop-off is meekly built up through a few lines of dialogue implying he wants some sort of fame or power. But it places so much emphasis on his goodness in the beginning, his turn and betrayal are inexplicable. He’s one of those classic 80’s anime protagonists I end up actively rooting against.
Jill, the prince of Paro, has a similarly radical change, not as unbelievable as Isu, but still sudden and narratively convenient. Not only is the film stuffed with contrivance, its momentum is a slog. Every 40 mins I thought it’d start to redeem itself but instead continues to bore. A particularly stupid series of events comes with Isu being gifted some kind of cool hoverbike with training montage to boot, only to have it destroyed soon after.
The political intrigue is built upon two nations seemingly competing for ineptitude; somehow the idea that both nations have not been preparing for war is supposed to make this conflict more interesting. There could be something to the idea each army is made up of bumbling fools, but instead of investigating this, it glosses over any narrative investigation. This isn’t a short ova either, where I may excuse a limited story. This is a full-ass runtime featuring a half-assed story.
I watched the original 101-minute version and… it still sucks. Isu’s (the protagonist) arc is stupid with a vacuous payoff. The narrative manipulates his allegiance with little thought to a genuine autonomous being. Isu’s flippant moral drop-off is meekly built up through a few lines of dialogue implying he wants some sort of fame or power. But it places so much emphasis on his goodness in the beginning, his turn and betrayal are inexplicable. He’s one of those classic 80’s anime protagonists I end up actively rooting against.
Jill, the prince of Paro, has a similarly radical change, not as unbelievable as Isu, but still sudden and narratively convenient. Not only is the film stuffed with contrivance, its momentum is a slog. Every 40 mins I thought it’d start to redeem itself but instead continues to bore. A particularly stupid series of events comes with Isu being gifted some kind of cool hoverbike with training montage to boot, only to have it destroyed soon after.
The political intrigue is built upon two nations seemingly competing for ineptitude; somehow the idea that both nations have not been preparing for war is supposed to make this conflict more interesting. There could be something to the idea each army is made up of bumbling fools, but instead of investigating this, it glosses over any narrative investigation. This isn’t a short ova either, where I may excuse a limited story. This is a full-ass runtime featuring a half-assed story.
