Children Who Chase Lost Voices (2011) - Movie Review

A coming of age story involving young love and a mysterious music, coming from a crystal radio left as a memento by an absent father, that leads a young heroine deep into a hidden world. (IMDB)

Rating: TV-14

Runtime: 1 hour 56 minutes

Genre(s): Animation, Adventure, Drama

Released: May 7, 2011

Directed by: Makoto Shinkai

Written by: Makoto Shinkai

Starring: Hisako Kanemoto, Hisako Kanemoto, Kazuhiko Inoue, Junko Takeuchi

This was the second time I have watched this movie. I originally watched the subbed version but decided to watch the dubbed version as a refresher. As with most anime, the dub is not very good. The voices do not match the characters very well and the emotions feel forced (especially with Asuna). Both the animation and story are very close to being Studio Ghibli quality and a good portion of this film feels like it could easily be a tribute to the legendary animation studio. 

It does have a few plot issues and several things are left unanswered. I also found the lack of character growth to be a little frustrating. The score, while absolutely beautiful, sounds the same as all of the other scores in Makoto Shinkai's films (lots of melancholy yet hopeful piano and strings). As a cat lady, I am always very judgemental when there is a feline (or feline-like) character. It is probably a strange pet peeve to have, but I want the cats to actually be believable. Thankfully though, it seems like pretty much every Japanese animator has a very good understanding of how they move and how their personalities can be.

Rating: ★★★★★★★★☆☆ 8/10