Ni no Kuni

Watched this on Netflix earlier and overall it's just kinda okay. Very very ... okay. It is visually pretty and well done with bright colors and fluid animation overall. However it's plot sags in a bunch of places and feels rushed. Characters often come up with conclusions out of nowhere and there are moments where the characters exposit important information out of their ass that was never established anywhere in the plot. Also of note, I watched the English dub. And it is pretty subpar tbh. I'd put this on for your older kids as there is a bit of violence and some suggestive content (impalement, pole dancing with no nudity) but I think anyone over 14 might be left unsatisfied.

High schooler Yuu and his friend Haru get involved in a case involving his childhood friend Kotona, which forces them to go back and forth between another world that is different but is somewhat similar to their world, Ni no Kuni. The real world and Ni no Kuni, when Kotona's life is in danger, what's the ultimate choice the three of them have to make in Ni no Kuni?

I have no exactly played any of the games so I have zero clue what this movie was about outside of 3 kids going to a different world. After a hooded figure comes to the real world. So the whole thing was new to me.

I found this movie overall pretty decent.

Ni no kuni isnt the best japanese animated film out there but for me it surved its welcome,film give us beautiful style of animation which in every shot looks clean and pretty enough to absorb it,story in a film will interest children of all ags including younger and older ones and it will also give them some valauble lessons for real life,however some parts of story were to messy to work and parts were characters travel between real life and stories were not so good connected to each other,and they become lost in some moments,ni no kuni is simply a film that will entertein children when you are doing something in house and cause of that they could learn some good life changing advices and messages

This was an enjoyable film but I feel there was too much important info that is missing for the story. The movie tells of a city called Beladon, where many important events took place, but it never goes into detail about why these events took place. If this were a game, the events would have been given greater attention. The studio had to cram as much as they could into a nearly 2 hour film but it left too many unanswered questions.

The anime movie Ni no Kuni, now out on Netflix, is based on the video games of the same name. It isn't based on the story of the first one but takes place within the games' chronology. In it, two high school friends find themselves transported from our world into the magical world of Ni no Kuni.

Admittedly, this is kind of a basic fantasy story structure in sort of a basic fantasy land, but it is a well handled film. Everything about this is generally fun. I rather liked the mechanics of the connections between our world and Ni no Kuni. The dynamic between and motivations behind the two leads are strong. I particularly liked Yuu, the wheelchair-bound one who is brave, intelligent, and cool headed.

If you're familiar, the first Ni no Kuni game included animation from Studio Ghibli. In fact, the director Yoshiyuki Momose was animator for the studio. Now, this doesn't have quite the level of detail of Ghibli or the games, but it still all looks pretty nice.

Be forewarned that there is a moment with an adult character talking about a seventeen year-old's attractiveness that gets uncomfortable. It is over and done with very quickly.

Overall, I'm glad I saw this on a whim. It's a nice little time waster and a bit of a feel good film.