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| I would add a screenshot from the actual movie of A Silent Voice (Koe no Katachi), but Netflix, like the Blu-ray Disc Association, hates that sort of thing. So we'll just settle for this one from the ED MV special from…elsewhere… |
It's the fourteenth anniversary of HD, so I thought, why not switch things up a bit and do a return of Ani-Journal in commemoration, instead!! Being that it's been six years since the last one, and the first substantive post in four, this'll likely be the first installment of a few. So, without further(more) waste, let's go!!
—While I have yet to see your name. (Kimi no Na wa.), it was not very hard to see why In This Corner of the World (Kono Sekai no Katasumi ni) won as many accolades as it did, eventually usurping the megahit in award season (not that coming out later and being a folksy movie didn't hurt…). It did a great job conveying the everyday life of rural Japan and the concerning undercurrents around WWII, and the inevitable perils that came. It did this by focusing almost solely on Japanese life, and not revisionism or nationalism (perhaps one latter scene has a whiff, but it is understandable in context). It also (thankfully) did not fall into the trap of emotional manipulation, even though it would be quite easy to with the material (though some may disagree, which is understandable). The style and mastery of the storytelling meant events felt more natural, making them feel more effectual in the end. Common, everyday life in wartime isn't usually covered in films, unfortunately, but ITCotW really did it and its story justice.
