Lonely Castle in the Mirror

When I reviewed "Drifting Home" last year, I said that when it comes to the fantasy genre, anime movies have a lot to offer. Unfortunately, that movie didn't showcase that potential.

But this movie certainly did.

I had such a magical experience with this movie. This is one of those mysteries where the movie is pretty simple in the first 90 minutes. It builds its plot points but it keeps it pretty slow and simple. It does this in a way that it keeps you interested in the story, but just barely. And then the last 30 minutes of the movie COMPLETELY change it. A lot of information is thrown at you until the entire puzzle is completed in your brain. And it's a lot of fun. Remember Astra: Lost in Space? Yup just like that. It's been such a long time since I've seen a mystery like that.

This type of structure is risky though. Because if you stretch out the movie too much, the final act can be a bit too late. This movie though, I thought handled it pretty well. I believe the first 90 minutes, while being slow, were important for that final payoff and for the overall mystery.

And the final act doesn't just provide answers. It really makes you care about these characters and because of that, you walk out completely satisfied. I just LOVED the final act of this movie. The animation by A1 Pictures is nice but towards the end, it's actually quite brilliant. Similarly, the soundtrack in that final sequence was outstanding.

I do think that not all the characters were necessary. They could have merged a few of them into one. But overall though, that final act really blew away all those thoughts. But I'm still confused about just 1 or 2 things, I think I might catch them on a re-watch.

In the end, I just adored this movie. "When Marnie Was There" is my personal favourite mystery movie in anime. But this movie was pretty damn good. If it comes to theatres in your region, please go and watch it. It'll be a beautiful experience.