*Spoiler Warning*
Ni no Kuni was released earlier this year amid some hype following the game franchise of the same name; I had no idea this was an adaptation and went into it completely blind. Ni no Kuni centres on two protagonists; Haru, the popular kid at school that likes to spend his time doting on Kotona, his girlfriend and Yu, his best friend, confined to a wheelchair as a result of a plane accident he was in when younger and is also in love with Kotona. Yu struggles to keep his feelings for her in check until one day she is attacked by an unknown assailant, being left for dead. This triggers Yu and Haru to get sent to 'The Other World'; an alternate universe in a fantasy setting where they find Princess Astrid, the spitting image of Kotona, who is also dying. Yu saves her life and in doing so, inadvertently saves Kotona as well. It is here we learn that both worlds and their residents are linked, if something happens to a character on one plane of existence, it also happens to the other.
Unfortunately, by this point in the film, there were issues I struggled to look past. The plot to the film was extremely predictable, the antagonist was too obvious and within the first fifteen to twenty minutes, I knew how the story was going to end. There were also parts that didn't make sense whatsoever, as the story and dialogue kept shifting around in a nonsensical fashion. At one point, Yu is trying to convince Haru to go back to 'The Other World' and save the princess again, Haru adamantly refuses, saying he needs to stay with Kotona, then instantly changes his mind, wanting to kill the princess thinking it would save his girlfriend. Later on, Yu is once again trying to convince Haru to jump over to 'The Other World' but again, Haru refuses, making the same argument as before. There are also points where they stop being friends and suddenly make up with no explanation as to how they got past their differences.
When I think about the pacing of Ni no Kuni, I compare it to an out of control driver, speeding up, slowing down and weaving all over the place. There are moments when you question how the characters know things without spending time learning. Yu and Haru suddenly knowing how to wield swords is one of these moments; normally it would take years of practice to be able to handle yourself in about the same way the two of them did and yet they pulled it off with such ease. Another moment was when Yu pulled the dagger out of the princess' abdomen, even after other characters failed to do so, he somehow knew he wouldn't be hurt from trying to save her like others were. Ni no Kuni is filled with moments like these, add in the shaky dialogue and subpar soundtrack, which doesn't really fit the overall theme and you're left with a feeling that the film was potentially rushed in production.
The art style of the backgrounds was amazing, using vibrant colours and describing beautiful scenery; personally, this was the only thing I really liked about Ni no Kuni. It was ruined, however, by extremely choppy animation. The characters' movements didn't seem to flow, as if they had been animated in ten frames-per-second and the objects that were animated didn't mesh well with the overall feel of the scene they were trying to portray. Parts of the film were also animated in 3D for no apparent reason, such as in a scene where Kotona is running away from her attacker, the camera decides to pan around her, adding nothing to the overall scene. It felt like OLM, the studio, was trying to prove they could animate in 3D, when in reality the parts of the film, like some of the battle scenes, that needed to be animated in 3D were done terribly.
After looking forward to this film, I was hugely disappointed by the execution and direction. The narrative was too simple and there was no deeper meaning to the overall story; it felt a little one dimensional and didn't invoke any emotion, I didn't get attached to any of the characters even when I felt like I should be. In all, I think Ni no Kuni was a huge flop, it felt like it should have been aimed more towards children than the demographic they were actually going for. I have to go low with this one and give it a 5/10.
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