Introduction
Hello, fellow adventurers! Blaziker is back for another adventure and today, before the summer break hits us with a tsunami of animated movies, it is time to pump our brakes and prep ourselves for this adventure. Today, we are going to cover three more animated movies and they all had something in common. They are foreign animated movies. They were released in the last two years, and they all had favourable reviews. This will be an exciting appetiser before the June main course!
The first movie, Titina, heralds the North Pole adventure between a Norwegian explorer and an Italian airship engineer through the eyes of the engineer’s pet dog, Titina, but as their adventure to the last undiscovered place on Earth continues, tensions between who deserves the glory for the discovery boils. In my previous review of 2019’s Monty and the Street Party, I mentioned how a lot of Nordic animated movies have a lot of weird and wonderful stories to tell, with insane animation styles to booth. That was why Titina shocked me into finding out they can also produce something conventional, and in 2D hand-drawn animation, no less! Needless to say, ever since its debut at the Animation is Film Festival, it was time to discover something like never before in the Nordic animation scene.
The second movie, Goodbye, Don Glees! centres on a trio of boys on their last adventure as part of their adventure club “Don Glees”, but after being blamed for a forest fire they did not commit, they set out into the forest itself to prove their innocence, and discover an adventure of their lifetime with their friendships and innocence put to the test. First off, I had never heard of the director, Atsuko Ishizuka, but I had heard she also directed A Place Further than the Universe, which was well-received. Furthermore, given that GKIDS picked it up, it must mean Don Glees has to be a great anime movie, right?
The third movie, New Gods: Yang Jian, is the next movie in Light Chaser’s New Gods universe, Yang Jian, son of the legendary Erlang Shan, is tasked to hunt down a young man pursuing for a magical lotus lantern that would free his mother but unleash a catastrophe like no other. However, that man turned out to be his nephew. Light Chaser Animation is one of the most exciting foreign animation studios out there, as they had been showcasing the best that Chinese animation offers, ever since they begin their mythology movies with White Snake. Now, with them pursuing their take on classic Chinese mythology with their New Gods movies, will this be yet another hit from them? It could be, given GKIDS also picked this up.
With that, let our adventures begin!
Titina (2022)
Key Information
- Directors: Kajsa Naess
- Animation Studios: Mikrofilm, Vivi Film
- Country of Origin: Norway
- Rating: PG
- Release Date: 21 October 2022 (in Norway)
Trailer
Story and Characters
I find it interesting that the movie is titled after the female dog owned by the Italian engineer, Umberto Nobile, and not Nobile himself nor the Norwegian explorer he worked together with for the North Pole trip, Roald Amundsen. However, once I watched through the movie, I can understand why: the movie focus on the relationship between Nobile and Amundsen through the eyes of Titina, which provides a balanced perspective on both men throughout the movie, whether it was how they teamed up for the North Pole expedition, to the expedition itself and the aftermath. I liked this view as we get to understand the motivations behind both men, and how their relationship soured after the successful expedition rather than being focused on one party only.
Also, while Titina is a re-telling of the real-life expedition itself, this movie also is a brilliant character study about how glory, heroism and selfish beliefs can affect friendly relationships. Already, this goes beyond the usual messaging in other animated movies, but the conflict is also a point of weakness. Some of the re-telling feels clumsy, especially once taking in the Italian fascists (Mussolini, for instance) which distracts the conflict, but other than that, the writing and dialogue is great.
As for characters, the focus is on the clumsy Titina as she observes the souring relationship between Nobile and Amundsen, and she acts as a real-life hero who does more than just being a pet dog. Nobile and Amundsen, based on their real-life counterparts, are great, well-rounded characters with personalities of their own, and even with the unnecessary introduction of Mussolini into the mix, the cast of characters are well-thought of. Voice acting is also solid across the board.
Animation
One pet peeve I have for certain movies is colour oversaturation. Some movies had colours that were so over-saturated, it lowers the overall animation quality of the movie. Titina uses its limited budget to showcase a simplistic, yet imaginative, animation style.
Titina uses simple colours that paint a vivid picture of scenes in Italy, Norway and at the North Pole. Just simple, well-executed animation language that works like a charm. No need for bombastic animation scene for a movie with a simple plot to work.
Character designs are also simple, but flows very well with the animation and their movements are smooth, despite the limited budget given to the animation. You can tell the animators working on Titina stretched their budget to its absolute limit, and I’m happy they did.
Overall, Titina does not have grand production designs, but it does not need to, because the animation showcasing in it is simplistic beauty at its best. I may be more biased towards 2D, hand drawn animation, but well-executed examples of it go a very long way.
Soundtrack, Other Elements and Level of Enjoyment
Soundtrack, while not the most important element of the movie, is pleasant to listen to, and it definitely does the job well.
As for how much I enjoyed it, while I had not said much Titina, I do not need to because it is a very relaxing, but mature-feeling movie for me. The complex themes woven into the simple plot and picturesque animation. Honestly, I really loved this one, which is well-needed from some bombastic animated movies as of late.
Overall Thoughts
Wow, colour me impressed! I enjoyed Titina much more than I expected!
While Titina does not have the bells and whistles, it does not need any of that because the plot, while having slight issues, highlights an importance in toxic masculinity and the importance of friendship over rivalry, the cast of characters have their own charm and backed by great voice acting, and the animation is simple and beautiful. While the Nordic animation scene continues to embrace their weird, perhaps it is time they should use their brain and start making more fantastic, conventional animated movies that may not be bizarre, but will have a lasting positive impact on the animation community.
Blaziker’s Hot Sauce Movie Rating
Goodbye, Don Glees! (2022)
Key Information
- Director: Atsuko Ishizuka
- Animation Studios: Madhouse
- Country of Origin: Japan
- Rating: PG
- Release Date: 18 February 2022 (in Japan)
Trailer
Story and Characters
When I looked into what the movie was about, the first thought I had was, “Isn’t this going to be generic?” This is because summer plots had been done to death many times, whether it is anime or animated movies. However, this summer adventure into the woods turned out to be a movie utilising friendship and seizing the day very well.
Despite the frantic pacing and that the ending felt premature at first, this movie is very smart in revealing just enough information so that viewers can follow along with the story. It is because of this storytelling that it does not force-feed viewers with information and requires them to take leaps of faith. This is very refreshing, as more often than not, animated movies love to force-feed with too much exposition, so this is a wonderful change of pace. In addition, there were a couple of red herrings in the movie that actually paid off, allowing viewers to experience and appreciate the journey the main trio of Roma, Toto and Drop during their adventure, rather than the destination itself.
Speaking of that trio, the chemistry and friendship between the three of them is pretty heartening, and each has their own character developments that played well with their own dynamics. Seeing the loss of innocence of the trio and understanding that felt believable, and I was buying into their stories throughout the movie’s runtime. It may be a small anime movie, but it was one that knows where the heart is.
Animation
Anime movies put in a 100% commitment to making their animation stand out. With Don Glees, the animation may not match up with that of Suzume, but that is ok because what we got was still spectacular.
Don Glees played it right with the amount of colour saturation, something that has been an issue in a few animated movies as of late. It can be a bit bright, but the character and background designs are beyond mesmerising, which is as to be expected when it comes to anime movies.
A few sequences show some thrills and the animators at Madhouse clearly had fun with it, because they made those sequences so smooth, and while the designs are simple, they are still a sight to be behold, showing the high quality in the animation.
Honestly, I do not have any major criticism when it comes to the animation in Don Glees, there were loads and loads of spectacular animation, I was blown away by the beauty of it, and regretted my doubts about the movie.
Soundtrack, Other Elements and Level of Enjoyment
One element that took me by surprise had to be the soundtrack. Given this was not composed by a well-known composer, I do not have high hopes for the soundtrack. However, I should not have underestimated that soundtrack.
It felt very lush and fun to listen to, and a lot of the songs complement the movie very well. In fact, the soundtrack might have produced (unironically) the best version of Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star I had ever heard, but that did not stop the fact that everything about the soundtrack elevates this movie to whole new heights. Anime soundtracks rarely disappoint, but this has to be one of the best unassuming animated movie soundtracks as of late.
Honestly, as for how much I enjoyed it, while there were a few noticeable faults in the movie, they did not derail my viewing experience one bit. I was so entranced by the friendship between the main cast and the twists and turns in the movie, I did not realise I spent so much time watching it. It was not just a breeze to go through this movie, it was like watching it unfolding in real life. That has to be a rare moment, isn’t it?
Overall Thoughts
I will admit, Goodbye, Don Glees was going to be that unassuming anime movie that I will forget as soon as I finished watching it, but it turned out to be a very impactful anime movie indeed.
For a few faults in some parts of their writing, Don Glees delivered some unique storytelling despite a rather generic storyline to take, with a heart-warming cast of main characters to boot. The animation is simply spectacular, and the soundtrack delivers. Don Glees is that summer anime movie that works very well, and honestly, that is all that is needed to get high praise from me.
Blaziker’s Hot Sauce Movie Rating
New Gods: Yang Jian (2022)
Key Information
- Director: Ji Zhao
- Animation Studio: Light Chaser Animation
- Country of Origin: China
- Rating: PG
- Release Date: 19 August 2022 (in China)
Trailer
Story and Characters
A common issue I had been seeing in recent Chinese Donghua movies is that sometimes, they love to overstuff you with exposition. While that would be acceptable for a Chinese moviegoer who knows a thing or two about Chinese mythology, the problem is that most viewers outside of China, something I noticed first hand with Goodbye Monster last year. With Yang Jian, the same issue arises.
One thing I loved about Yang Jian was its Cowboy Bebop inspiration, because it feels like Chinese mythology mixing with a bit of sci-fi and bounty hunter concepts, something Light Chaser has done with its previous New Gods movie, New Gods: Nezha Reborn. Light Chaser loves to re-invent the wheel, and they did a great job with that concept.
With that said, probably the biggest issue is that the story felt too heavy-handed with its exposition, as well as the number of twists and turns. There was just too much of this stuff that it is very difficult to keep track of storylines and character development throughout its two-hour runtime. Also, there were so much character betrayals that these writing decisions became noise that distracts the moviegoers so much, even if the writing overall is pretty cohesive.
The characters all have that Light Chaser treatment, and the writers did a solid job incorporating them onto the big screen. Incorporating legendary characters from Chinese folk stories is no easy feat, but Light Chaser does it well with incorporating the legend of Erlang Shan and other gods into the movie too. Even with a messy story, the characters live up to their god-like status.
Animation
Something I never tire of is the high quality levels of Donghua animation, especially since they probably are one of the few studios that had mastered the art of photorealistic CG animation. While you could say the same for Yang Jian, there are certain moments in its animation that just felt… off.
First off, the entire background animation looked very immersive with the creative visuals, especially with its utilisation of calligraphy in the final act. Yang Jian embraced their stylised CG animation with that style, and it looked glorious.
However, there were a few moments where the animation, especially with some of the character animation, looked shockingly stiff, like some character expressions do not feel natural. This may be the first time this happened in a Light Chaser movie, and while the overall animation is still great, it is worrying that Light Chaser might have cut corners when animating for this movie.
Soundtrack, Other Elements and Level of Enjoyment
As with all Light Chaser movies, their soundtrack is bound to be excellent, and while the score and soundtrack may be slightly weaker than normal, they still amp up the level of epic during the various fight scenes, making this watch so much entertaining. Honestly, the score is simply great.
In terms of my level of entertainment, while the writing and animation issues took away some level of enjoyment, I still enjoyed my watch of Yang Jian. There were moments that were so thrilling, I did not realise time flew past quickly. Still a great recommendation, just be aware of the writing and animation issues when you watch the movie.
Overall Thoughts
Well, it was bound to happen. Some of the best animation studios in the world have their own dog days, and with Light Chaser Animation, it has to be New Gods: Yang Jian.
There was too much going on in terms of the exposition, which has been something Light Chaser can be guilty of and that was despite the high enough level of cohesion the main plot has throughout its run-time. Even if their Cowboy Bebop-style inspiration worked most of the time, the overstuffed writing took away that quality. What was shocking, however, was the amount of stiff animation during its runtime, something that is rare to see from Light Chaser. Yes, there were a few animation moments that were mesmerising, but given this was Light Chaser, I expected more.
It is overall worrying to see Light Chaser being complacent, but that was because they had been in the top for a while. Perhaps this mentality needs to change, and Light Chaser needs to continue improving their craft, or else they will fall behind.
Blaziker’s Hot Sauce Movie Rating
Conclusion
Three epic indie animated movies, three pretty similar results. Honestly, I am sol glad I got to watch these movies, and they are worth your time regardless of how I feel about them.
However, enough talk. June is about to begin and with that, an epic treasure of animated movies coming our way to begin summer! I will see you in my next review, and until then, k thank bye!
