#aniblogging

The show looks great, the action scenes are really dynamic (shoutouts to the episode 9 kaiju for... whatever the hell it was doing), all of Gridman's gattai forms are cool, there's toxic yuri (noncanonical but please let me have this)... Really, there's not much else on my wishlist I could check off.

And a bonus for me, 50% of the show by volume is Obari storyboarding references! I am easy to please.

Wow, cool Full Power Gridman...

I really just want to blab about Shinjo Akane because I love herrrrrr I love her so muuuuuch. Akane views herself as an irredeemable monster, and given that she likes to murder people for mild inconveniences, she's kind of right. She's says "kaiju cannot understand a human's emotions" and means herself. She self-isolates and it only causes her depression and violent tendencies to get worse. And interspersed with flashes of every terrible thing Akane has done in the show, Rikka tells her "I know all of that and I want to be with you. It's okay if you're a monster, take my hand."

I read Akane's dreamworld as a heightened metaphor for things she feels about her real life, and what high school girl hasn't felt like a monster in human form, lashing out at others because of it? The grace the writing gives her for this got me kind of emotional.

What if you were unlovable and the people in your life loved you anyways?

Gridman also manages to avoid most of my usual gripes with Studio Trigger's work. In both Kill la Kill and Promare, I felt that the big twist reveal wasn't set up very well and only served to derail the story and make the ending feel rushed. Gridman manages to set up the twist pretty well from the beginning, but it is still kind of annoying to me that it's just straight up told to Yuta in one long scene by another character in episode 6. Why do they keep doing that.

Also, yippee, Gridknight!!

The flying leg suplex he does in episode 9 had me screaming in my seat.

This moment where Yuta switches from his usual pronoun to Gridman's pronoun was also pretty cool. I need to go back to episode one and check whether he did that when he first woke up and Utsumi commented that he was out of character.

The music in the opening is beautiful, sad, bittersweet, and feels like a callback to one’s childhood. The opening itself is also somewhat of a contrast to the rest of the film. Two kids, Kosuke and Natsume, running and playing like young kids do. The world is a playground built for them. Two kids who would come to drift apart, drift away, and become distant childish memories.

When they return to the place that was once filled with joy, there’s hesitance. Resentment. The argument between Kosuke and Natsume escalated quicker and higher than I had expected. Going from Natsume talking about a friend the other kids question the existence of, to Kosuke furiously chasing Natsume for his dead grandpa’s camera, leading to Natsume slipping and falling from the roof. And suddenly…..the world was flooded. All that remained was a vast ocean, the clouds in the sky, and the old apartment building. Being stuck in the building didn’t erase the resentment either. Even when trying to obtain food for survival, the two bicker and fight with pure rage. Only through peaks into their pasts could they finally reconcile.

Natsume is stubborn, but puts on a smile she hides behind. Hiding deep and painful emotions and memories of dealing with parents who constantly fought and the grief of losing someone who helped her heal from that trauma. In her pain and grief she continuously went back to that apartment, which caused her and several others to be stuck there. For all of this she felt like a horrible person, like people would be better off without her. But in the end, all of the kids came rushing to save her from the storm.

Then there’s Noppo. In the midst of the chaos of the situation: stranded on a floating building, nobody coming to help, no land in sight, when the kids search for food they encounter Noppo, the kid Natsume spoke of earlier in the movie before the kids found themselves in the middle of the ocean. Initially he seemed like a terrifying ghost, but after the anxiety subsided, they came to realize he’s just a regular kid like the others…..or so they think.

Until Noppo reveals that he’s been there since the apartment was first built…60 years ago. His arm, and then his whole body, had plants growing on it. He watched as people such as Kosuke and Natsume arrived, got older, and left the building. He was so attached that when the other kids planned on leaving due to the building sinking, he chose to stay behind, but Natsume stayed and begged him to come.

Kosuke and the rest came for the two of them. He vowed that he will only get home if Natsume and Nopo came with the rest of them. They can only survive if they stick together. But when the storm ceased and the building drifted into a realm where similar people with plants all over roamed, Noppo realized the kids can’t go home unless he left that building, and his newfound friends, behind to join the others in this realm.

This is a movie about drifting. Friendships drifting apart, then back home. Buildings drifting away, then back home. Drifting away from things that are painful, yet necessary, to drift away from.

But it’s also filled to the brim with specific concepts that intrigue my braincells: the world is an ocean. Abandoned buildings. Plants growing on people. Those blue glowy lights……a movie full of INSPIRATION for my CREATIVE ENDEAVORS…….by the way: the ending song SLAPS it’s Blush by Zutomayo. In case you were curious.

Would I Recommend: watch it. WATCH IT- only if you want to no pressure

I don’t think there’s any part of this movie I hate, but there’s one portion I found a bit odd. Shaymin in their Land Forme is often pretty shy and cowardly and has a feminine voice, while when Shaymin is in their Sky Forme and is more confident and courageous, they change the voice to a more masculine one. I’m not sure if this was intentional and subtle misogyny, but it was kind of strange considering at this point (this movie was released in 2008) misogyny in Pokémon has been really uncommon. Just something to be aware of, is all. Shaymin’s change in demeanor is very intriguing; I just wish they kept Shaymin’s feminine voice no matter what forme they’re in.

Speaking of Shaymin, I was very shocked and amused by their snarky and sassy attitude, and their banter with Ash was easily the best part of the entire film for me. Aside from the worldbuilding, and oh my GOD the worldbuilding. The Reverse World and the way it works is so bizarre that it’s intriguing; how did they make all the complicated backgrounds for this???

The animation and visuals themselves are really impressive, and while the impressive 3D modeling is pretty much a staple in Pokémon movies, I have to especially point it out here. Both of Zero’s ships, but especially the first one, look so unique and awe-inspiring, and I can only imagine how much time and effort was put into creating so many models of Magnemites, Magnetons and Magnezones.

Zero himself is pretty cartoonishly evil but also pretty entertaining to watch. A very magnificent bastard, indeed; I wasn’t rooting for him at any point in the story but was very intrigued by his clever and cunning ways and how he could possibly be defeated. Additionally, Regigigas being in this movie was a surprise to be sure, but a welcome one. Gotta love them and their army of Mamoswine, 2D and 3D alike.

It doesn’t beat the Darkrai movie, but this one was really intriguing and entertaining. I essentially like both movies for different reasons (the Darkrai movie for Darkrai’s character arc and the action packed plot, and this one for the dynamic between Ash and Shaymin, as well as the worldbuilding).

Would I Recommend: Want to witness some intriguing stuff and potentially get a few ideas for your creative projects (I know I have)??? Give this a watch.

If Obari knows how to do anything, it's make a robot look really good. So many stylish Gravion frames, I am getting the itch to draw just from seeing all of them.

They really can't help but put Eiji in cute dresses and I am deeply appreciative for it. I might even like this dress design better than Tieria's gown in G00?? Borderline blasphemy.

SILLY BRAVES REFERENCE TEE HEE

I don't really have any basis for this besides a few interestingly timed cuts and the fact that his and Eiji's eyes are the same color, but I've been thinking since the second episode that Raven is Shigure Ayaka. I guess we'll seeeeee.

Also since Eiji got the leg machine, I've been thinking its possible this will go the way of Gear Fighter Dendoh and he'll get a red Gran Kaiser clone that can gattai with Gran Kaiser in season 2. After episode 8, that seems to be what they're building to by shoving him into the Gran Kaiser cockpit!

I really like that Luna pilots the rocket punch fist and drill tank! I'm hoping the coming episodes give me more of her and Leele watching each other's backs like in episode 5, that was cute.

And of course... I am not immune to Eitou brainrot....

First of all let me just say the art and animation in this film is GORGEOUS. The colors used in this were unlike anything I’ve ever seen, even in my time watching Pokémon movies (yes I am biased, why do you ask). The animation is very fluid and the 3D models don’t look too out of place, either (which isn’t exclusive to this particular movie at all, btw, I just think it’s neat)!

I was hooked right from the beginning of the film: a brawl between Dialgia and Palkia preceding the plot. I like how this duo was portrayed in the film: two chaotic, wrathful deities, beings that are pure forces of nature, locked in an eternal rivalry, wreaking havoc in their wake. And let me tell you, the stakes in this movie where THE highest stakes I have EVER seen in a Pokémon movie thus far, and I had only seen 6 of them before this one (which would now make 7). I’m just shocked that it was only Alamos Town that was at risk and not the entire world.

Now, let’s talk about the lingering shadow here: Darkrai. Their arc within this movie gave me the perception of a mysterious foe and not only flipped it straight on its head, but tore it to pieces, along with my heart. They’re misunderstood by literally everyone, people were set on literally destroying them, and it was only when they were standing between the Time and Space Pokémon themselves and the city that was against them that people began to see Darkrai for who they truly are. All Darkrai wanted to do was protect them. And at the end of it all………oh my god. The very end of the movie when the cast was mourning Darkrai nearly drove me to tears and I was so relieved when immediately after it was revealed that Darkrai survived the wrath of the deities.

The intro song was decent, but not all that great. But the ending song blew it STRAIGHT OUT OF THE WATER. Just when I had been consoled by the fact that Darkrai survived, the ending song almost drove me to tears as well. Absolutely phenomenal.

I will say though the visuals for Palkia’s interferences on the town (the colors used, the intensity, and the speed; not sure if I should classify this as “flashing lights” because it doesn’t seem like “flashing” per say? it’s a bit difficult for me to describe) can be hard on the eyes at times; just a fair warning for that if you’re thinking about watching it.

Other than those things however, this movie was too stunning to put into words sometimes. I took some notes for this review but for most of the time I was simply astonished by everything.

Would I Recommend: Absolutely. No questions asked.