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Movie review by Dennis D. McDonald

Kids' movies about imaginary friends might be a dime a dozen, but The Imaginary has several characteristics that make it special.

Artwork

The animation and artwork are exemplary and gorgeous. Both urban and rural environments are rendered using beautiful drawings and traditional techniques, even when rapidly evolving fantastical events are being portrayed. Remember the parade scene in Paprika? Be prepared for some similar imagery.

Story

The story in this PG rated film starts out feeling recognizable. A young girl in a troubled home with an overactive imagination not only has an imaginary friend, but she also constructs amazingly illustrated worlds into which she and her friend escape. But soon we see a darker side of her imaginary world.

Characters

We eventually see that the problems she experiences in her imaginary world must be addressed by her imaginary friend and his newfound allies. The number of characters rapidly expands including-remember this is a Japanese film-a talking cat.

Crossover

While the crossover between real and imaginary worlds is handled initially via a fairly standard Alice In Wonderland style portal, eventually the relationship between the two worlds becomes complicated as danger emerges into the real world and an accident occurs that has repercussions in the imaginary world.

Rating

This is a PG rated film. I would think carefully about how very young children will handle it. The death of a parent is referenced early on but that is a standard Disney plot point. There are some scary scenes that will frighten really young kids accustomed only to formulaic manufactured animated TV series.

My six-year-old granddaughter, already an experienced Miyazaki fan and lover of films like Bubble, Suzume, and My Oni Girl, liked it very much.

Someone with a preference for a Minions-style humor might not appreciate it. The dialogue is very well written. English voice acting is solid. Plot points are revealed in ways that assume the viewer is paying close attention.

Review copyright 2024 by Dennis D. McDonald, www ddmcd com.

I was really looking forward to watching this with my kids after I saw the trailer but the end result was very disappointing for me. It had the surface charm of a Studio Ghibli flick, which we are huge fans of. What could have been a work of art sadly falls short for one very distracting reason. The story, art design, characters, world, etc. Are all fantastic and it would be a visual treat were it not for the jarring camera movements, jittering, and blurriness that are prevalent throughout the movie, especially during high action sequences. Made it very difficult for me to stay focused through the whole thing and nearly caused motion sickness in parts.

Giving this an 8/10 rating

New film from Studio Ponic, which is and adaptation of an english fantasy novel. This film covers ground that has been stepped on by 'Imaginary Friends', which is still out in the cinema, so you can do this as a double bill if you want, both films are very good and quite dream like, but this more so as it's animated, giggling it a very different feel, the story is different, but the themes is both films are the same.

In this film, the power of the mind is very well explored into dark territory, as the evil in this, is evil, and is quite scary, and you will go-'what the hell is this',, and the film has these comments in it, and some quite joyful scenes, and the characters, real or not, a very well defined and worth sicking with.

I managed to see this in the cinema, and as always, this is the best way for an very well crafted animation, you will get the most out of it.

The Imaginary is proof that animation is by far the best medium to tell a story like this. Everything runs on imagination and childlike wonder here and the film has more than enough visual beauty, inventive character designs and wonderful adventures to be worthy of its title. It's colourful, emotional and briefly disturbing in ways that all greatest animated films achieve, even if it's not at their level.

Rio Suzuki and Kokoro Terada have all the required energy and childlike innocence, mixed with determination and affecting sadness to lead this with ease. Issey Ogata is surprisingly creepy with an uncomfortable presence that easily matches his character's most disturbing actions and on the other end of the spectrum, everyone else does a great job of being as adorable as the imaginary friends they voice.

Yoshiyuki Momose's direction is endlessly inventive from the very beginning and can handle the bigger tonal shifts in a way that prevents them from feeling jarring. The animation in general is absolutely breathtaking, relishing the opportunity to deliver so much exciting, colourful spectacle. Kenji Tamai's score has the sweeping emotion required to really tug at the heartstrings when necessary.

I've been trying to get into more anime, and after seeing the trailer for this, I decided to give it a shot-and I'm so glad I did. I honestly don't get why the rating isn't higher. It's a beautiful story, told with so much care and heart, that it had me hooked from beginning to end.

What really stuck with me is how it explores the innocence of childhood-how kids, even in the middle of grief or loneliness, can create entire worlds of wonder and joy. And how sometimes, adults forget what that felt like, or worse, try to take it away. But this film feels like a quiet reminder to let our inner child breathe a little, to not lose sight of that part of us that knows how to dream.