Deemo Movie: Sakura no Oto - Anata no Kanadeta Oto ga, Ima mo Hibiku

As someone who came across the movie randomly and didn't even know there were games the movie was decent. At times it felt a bit thin and the movie really pushed the music in a way that scenes sometimes felt in place only to show off the music in the movie, which now makes sense knowing it was based of a game having to do with music. Some parts of the plot are very easy to see coming which is a bit disappointing and the cgi can be a bit clunky at times, however the movie is pretty good for what it is.

I think in ... general from what I've seen is that people who have never played the game found the movie to be much better than people who have played the game, so maybe if you have played the game your expectations should be that the movie isn't the best representation of the games and just watch it for the movie it is rather than a tie in to the game.

An admittedly strong advertisement for the games it's based on, 'Deemo: Memorial Keys' struggles to stand on its own as a film.

The issue is really the story, which to me seems like it would definitely be enough to stitch together a game that's primarily focused on its gameplay, which is a sensible call for a rhythm game. It's just that this isn't a game, and removing that aspect of direct interaction that separates the music from the story means the story's somewhat thin nature sticks out in a way that would almost be desirable in a game. It's not that it's not there, there ... definitely is a story, and it's got some fun emotional beats, but not enough to really keep your attention in its own right; again, it sort of feels like a lot of video game cut-scenes stitched together, which I suppose it technically sort of is. It definitely impacts the pacing as well, with the whole thing just struggling to flow properly.

Perhaps it would be easier to stomach if the animation was a bit stronger. It's not bad, and the music scenes are kinda nice looking, but it's definitely a little flat, and the 3DCG characters struggle to show any real emotion. Again, they sort of feel like video game characters.

There's a version of this that's a little less authentic to the source material, and by a slightly more thoughtful and interesting set of creators, that's probably pretty good. But, unfortunately, this version sticks a little too close to its source material, and isn't creative enough to really make the most of it.

Just watching the game cutscenes stitched together on youtube would've made a better movie. Confused and incoherent direction in all aspects from scenes to script, there is little good that can be said about the film. The music is great, Alice is cute, and that's about it. It couldn't capture the subtle eeriness of the treehouse and its foreboding undertones, nor was it able to develop the characters or their relationships enough for the emotional moments, which were gut wrenching in the game, to have any sort of impact. Just a few very loosely game inspired scenic similarities without any grasp of the substance it ... used to have. There are music videos of ingame songs with more meaningful development than what I just watched: a haphazard collection of uneventful scenes sometimes accompanied by great music with little connection.

I fully believe it's possible to tell a great story with just music. This movie though, doesn't have the first clue as to how to begin accomplishing that.