Journey To Agartha [DVD]

Very good movie

Compared to some other animations on the market,this is a diamond.Asuna,the 10 year old heroine,seems to be on her own.On arriving home after school,she calls out "I'm home" but the house is empty,it was just someone had left a light on.Apparently,her Mother works late.So,Asuna cooks,cleans AND does the shopping !Her passion is to climb a local mountain and listen to sounds through a crystal radio.Asuna has even made use of a cave as her den.We soon meet a boy who sits in the same spot and seems to think it isn't safe for Asuna.He's got a crystal too.They feature prominently in the film.This is Shun,a teenager,who leads Asuna on a journey to discover the meaning of life and death and that they are both part of the human condition.It's an amazing depiction of another world where more respect was shown to our environment and more importantly,a world before GUNS !So,we're shown a film about the choices we can make and the consequences of them.It's about love,loss and friendships.Yep,the usual stuff,but done very nicely.I knew I'd spent my money wisely after only 5 minutes !I thoroughly enjoyed all 116 minutes of it.The animation is brilliant and reminds me of the Studio Ghibli films.I think the great Miyazaki has an equal here in Makoto.There are loads of extra little animations that really do add to the pleasure of watching this film.It's nice that they go to the trouble of putting them in.I'm convinced there must be a DVD's worth of deleted scenes 'cos there are some abrupt scene changes during the film.There were no extras on this DVD but there is a promo for Bleach.Not a criticism,but an observation.The film focuses on light and colour so when Asuna and her companion near 'The gate of death',it changes to rainy grey,a marked contrast to the rest of the film,that's for sure.So.I guess there's not much for adults unless you enjoy just great animation with a superb imagination brought to life.I also have the two other films by Makoto Shinkai so my expectations were high.I'm pleased to report,I'm not disappointed !

A lot of people has claimed Makoto Shinkai to be the "new" Hayao Miyazaki and while I get that it's only meant as praise for Shinkai I kind of feel that the claime is misleading because while the two have similarities for sure Shinkai is still doing his own thing - but I do love both directers work a lot!Anyways...Leaving all that aside the movie is about a little girl who lives in a small village with her mother and meets the boy Shun and their meeting is ultimately what leads her to her journey to Agartha. I know that was kind of the really short explanation, but I won't go any further in the story because it's something you need to watch for yourself to trully enjoy the movie. The theme would be something along the lines to accept life as it is and that death is also a part of life - I really like the message, but it isn't something that the movie forces on you by any means. I decided to buy the DVD after watching the trailer for and the movie does not disappoint - before I new it the two hour long movie was already over. It's a really entertaing movie with some of the most amazing visuals I've seen in anything(but it's not in the photo realistic style as his later work in Garden of Words), but it looks gourgeus!So I'm happy for my random trailer watching and this movie made me a fan of Makoto Shinkai. So if you like anime and anime movies in general you should give this movie a shot.Thanks for reading and I hope it was helpful :)

I was surprised to find this as I'd never heard if it before. I bought it immediately when I discovered it was a Makoto Shinkai film!The story is beautifully told and gripping. It handles difficult subjects well whilst also not pretending to be something it's not. I won't spoil any of the plot though! The animation is lovely to look at and the score a treat to the ear. The characters develop naturally and uncovering their individual stories that make the complete web is thrilling.Moving onto the product itself. It arrived promptly considering I only had a rough guide of 'usually dispatched within X amount of days/weeks'. The art book came in it's own little packet which was a nice detail. It has all of its pages and none are damaged. There are no English translations unfortunately but that doesn't stop the sketches being beautiful! It came with all 3 discs which are scratch free and very shiny as you can tell from them reflecting my Tokyo Ghoul:re poster! 😂 There are a couple blemishes on the edges of the case but nothing that I'm overly annoyed about.All in all a wonderful product that I would recommend to any fantasy anime fan and a great addition to Makoto Shinkai's repertoire.

Strange to see the hollow-earth figuring here in a modern film. As in 'Journey to the Centre of the Earth', the protagonists invade a secret, dangerous and vulnerable inner world, but two, heroic and damaged heroes stay behind, to atone for their crimes against it, while the third, innocent, generous-spirited and heroic character returns to the surface. determined to keep the secret and get on with her life. You are left wondering if the ghoulish predators of the underworld will overwhelm the conservative but decent agriculturalist humans. You also wonder if the upper-world's techno-fascists will go on trying to dig into and exploit the treasures and talents of the under-worlders. Metaphor and satire permeate the film, but it is also watchable just as a ripping yarn, by younger viewers. (Not too young: the ghouls are pretty nasty.)