HAL MAL Review

TLDR version: This film was less 'love story in Kyoto' and more 'mediocre sci-fi fanfic'. Everything is half-hearted in this show.

Long version:

I was so excited going into this film. Seeing the Kibuneguchi (貴船口駅) sign set me off, and I knew it had the makings of a beautiful, heartfelt anime... good looking characters, a colorful craft / souvenier shop set in the heart of Gion... what's not to like? It's got the recipe for the perfect love story in Kyoto, and (almost) everybody loves Kyoto. Except that this film wasn't so much about 'love story in Kyoto/Japan' as it was 'mediocre sci-fi fanfic.'

Things they should've improved on to make it a 10/10 in my completely biased and uneducated opinion:

- Storytelling

Ohmygod. This movie could have been almost completely salvaged if it wasn't for the poor storytelling. There is very little information given throughout the movie, so it's hard to follow the story. You're forced to piece together what is even GOING ON with the few scraps of plot 'hints' that you get when the characters fight, make up, whatever. 

- World-building

Because of the focus on Kyoto and surrounding areas, it's easy to believe that this is a movie with a realistic / current day era. There's almost no mention of robots or how advanced AIs came to be and what their purpose is in this movie ... even though the entire movie plot is ABOUT ROBOTS. The main characters discuss it for like two sentences ... and that's it. It left me as the viewer feeling very lost, and I wasn't sure if this was supposed to be a sci-fi or romance movie. It didn't really feel like either, it just felt very contradictory and half-hearted. ... like the button.... yeah, pun intended. 

- Characters

It was hard to care about any of them, because we don't learn much about each of them beyond the flashbacks that happen. The dynamic that this couple has is a 'well that's nice' but not really inspiring or even ... fun, because it's so predictable. I was actually really disappointed by this part, because I was looking forward to learning more about Kurumi. Someone who sews buttons, dolls, clothes, has entire walls of craft supplies is definitely a soul sister to an artist like myself... but we don't learn anything about why or how she even started sewing. Does she have any other hobbies? Any friends? She must have inherited the home or shop from somebody... but who? I was expecting this movie to have a character I could relate to and support, a new favourite, and Kurumi fell short. I don't think the writers ever gave her or Hal the opportunity to build any depth. 

Half hearted effort also gets half hearted score from me, so a 5 seems fair. Honestly, if it wasn't for the stunning art and scenes of Kyoto - which was probably prioritized way too much, so that you would forget the lack of poorly-told story... I would even give it a 3. Had so much potential but otherwise fell short!


The original review on MAL: View here

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