Introduction
Hey hey, fellow adventurers! Blaziker is back for another exciting animated movie adventure, and we are exploring the final four animated movies before we wrap up the first half of 2024!
The first movie, My Oni Girl, is the latest animated movie from Japan’s Studio Colorido, is a simple story about a high school student encountering a demon girl who is on her own quest in the human world. I had covered Studio Colorido’s previous movie, Drifting Home, two years back when it premiered on Netflix, and I was happy with what it was provided. Now, with the Japanese studio releasing yet another animated movie that is worth looking out, how will My Oni Girl fare?
The second movie, Combat Wombat: Back 2 Back (also known as Combat Wombat 2: Double Trouble), sees the return of Maggie (Deborah Mailman) and Sweetie (Ed Oxrnbould) as Combat Wombat and her sick-kick the Galant Glider respectively, as this time they face an even bigger villain who is hell-bent to trap the citizens of Sanctuary City into his digital world and in the life of crime. I am currently doing a side project to cover the Australian animated movie series Tales from Sanctuary City, produced by Like a Photon Creative, one of the two studios that worked on one of the best family-friendly foreign CG animated movies of the 2020s so far, Scarygirl, last year. Given I liked the first Combat Wombat movie, and Combat Wombat: Back 2 Back is the fourth movie in the Sanctuary City franchise, will this sequel be an upgrade?
The third movie, 10 Lives, is yet another movie starting a cat as the movie’s main character, but this time, when said cat lost his 9th and final life, an unexpected twist of fate resulted in him not going to heaven, but being revived as a different animal as he went onto his new (old) life to discover his past sins. While I was not planning to cover this movie, it was until I saw its positive critical reception at the prestigious Sundance Film Festival that I started to become curious, and more importantly, 10 Lives is announced for a theatrical release in Singapore, which was surprising considering the number of foreign CG animated movies being shown in theatres in Singapore is getting smaller and smaller. With this rare opportunity, is this the surprise foreign CG animated movie no one sees it coming?
The fourth and final movie, Ultraman: Rising, is the latest animated movie for the legendary Japanese superhero icon, Ultraman, this time focusing on Ken Sato, a baseball superstar who returned to Japan to take over his father as the new Ultraman, as he not only had to handle his new role, he has to raise a newborn Kaiju monster on his own. I had never watched Shannon Tindle’s previous work, the well-loved Netflix limited series Lost Ollie, so this will be my first time seeing how he fares with this one. While I am not a massive Ultraman fan per se, and will also be my first Ultraman experience, is this movie going to convince me to check out the rest of the Ultraman franchise?
What are we waiting for? Let the 8th 2024 Animated Movies Rundown begin!
My Oni Girl
Key Information
- Director: Tomotaka Shibayama
- Animation Studio: Studio Colorido
- Country of Origin: Japan
- Rating: PG
- Release date: 24 May 2024 (on Netflix)
Trailer
Story and Characters
One thing I am starting to notice is that while the quality of some recent Japanese animated movies are either similarly high or more elevated, it is the writing that I am starting to see some level of regression as in some of the recent animated movies from Japan; it seems the animation studios have no idea how to elevate their script further, so they decide to stick to the basics. While there is nothing wrong in doing that, the issue with My Oni Girl is that even with such a typical script, the writing felt half-hearted.
For starters, the script relies too much on the typical Japanese anime tropes that we had seen in multiple Japanese animated movies, but over-reliance on those tropes is not the issue for me; in fact, it is the poorer execution of these tropes that frustrated me, since the usage of such tropes is not so well done. In addition, the story just felt incomplete, as I still got some questions regarding the movie’s story left unexplained, and the pacing is just too slow. I had to take breaks between screenings because of how much I felt bored by the experience.
There are other issues within the script itself, such as the poorly constructed dialogue that results in some unnatural dialogue between characters, and because of the short runtime, there was not enough time to flesh out the story properly, even if I endear the relationship between the two main characters throughout the movie, which is the best part of an otherwise mediocre and pedestrian script.
Considering Studio Colorido’s previous animated movie, Drifting Home, had a much bolder script, has a much better execution of that script with fleshed-out characters and an emotional core towards the end, the writing in My Oni Girl felt backwards compared to Drifting Home, unfortunately.
Animation
In terms of the animation, I am happy to report that the animation is the one element that prevents My Oni Girl from being terrible.
Sure, Japanese animated movies have fantastic animation quality on average, and this movie is no exception to this trend. The character designs, despite looking fairly typical, are well done, but it is the background animations that sold me. The backgrounds, especially during some of the travelling scenes, flow so well and are very pristine, which is to be expected anyway. Movements are crisp and the rendering is very good.
In fact, I can almost forgive My Oni Girl for its shoddy script thanks to its animation, but even when the script is so bad that it is hard to ignore, I have to praise My Oni Girl for its animation.
Soundtrack, Other Elements and Level of Enjoyment
I like the soundtrack, as it complements the movie’s sequences so well. There is a good mix of slower beats and high energy tracks in the score, and this makes the movie’s soundtrack stand out so well. In fact, this is needed given the mediocre-quality script this movie has.
As for my level of enjoyment, I was honestly sure whether I like this movie or whether I do not like My Oni Girl. Because of the script, this movie sticks out like a sore thumb. Animated movies can be movies to escape from reality, but My Oni Girl just does not have this feeling. You cannot have good animation alone to make a great animated movie worth remembering for.
Overall Thoughts
I am going to be brutally honest about My Oni Girl, and it’s that it is a massive disappointment despite it being passable enough for me to recommend.
My Oni Girl was let down by mostly its shoddy and uninteresting writing, as well as poor pacing and unnatural dialogue that makes this movie like a typical morning commute to work rather that another Japanese animated movie fantasy experience that takes you out of your real world. There was not enough character in both the script and the characters to make it shine, which is a shocking contrast to the bold and impactful script animation studio Studio Colorido pulls off in Drifting Home two years back.
Despite stunning and gorgeous animation that helps to soften the blow, and is the only reason this movie did not get a lower rating than it has now, there are just too many negatives to make this a worthwhile movie. If honestly, go watch Studio Colorido’s previous animated movie, Drifting Home, instead, as it has a bolder script, has more well-developed characters and with much more stunning animation, and overall, much better experience compared to My Oni Girl.
Blaziker’s Hot Sauce Rating
Combat Wombat: Back 2 Back
Key Information
- Director: Ricard Cusso
- Animation Studio: Like a Photon Creative
- Country of Origin: Australia
- Rating: PG
- Release date: 29 February 2024 (in Australia)
Trailer
Story and Characters
Looking at the writing side of things, considering I had covered the first Combat Wombat movie prior to seeing the first one, I personally feel this sequel has a more complete story as compared to the first.
I will admit, this movie has similar tropes you would expect from a superhero comedy movie, especially if you had seen the first one, but I will say that the deconstruction of that genre is just the right amount such that this movie does not feel too much on the nose. Also, despite going for a slightly more simplistic story when compared to the first one which heavily deconstructs the superhero genre, and is more laid back when it comes to the animation, Combat Wombat 2 still has a level of excitement thanks to its better pacing and killer comedy that carry the first one forward. The comedy is well done without trying way too hard to be funny as well.
Plus, I feel the characters are more well-rounded this time around. Both Maggie and Sweetie still have the same comedic and deeper chemistry compared to the first and the tension between them is believable. The new character that tags along the main duo, Skylar (Elizabeth Cullen), could have benefited with more screen time, but she still has enough presence to bring this story forward, especially with the villain, Lenny (David Wenham), who might be a very interesting villain that does more than the usual villain stuff in other similar feeling foreign CG animated movies that is within my domain. Voice acting also received a noticeable upgrade for me.
I’m honestly quite happy with the writing in this Aussie furry animated movie, especially as it does things that are better than the first movie.
Animation
Compared to most of the foreign CG animated movies I had covered for the past few years, and especially coming from the Tales from Sanctuary City franchise, the animation might not be in the same tier as another animated movie not from the franchise but also by the same studio, Scarygirl, but the animation is a clear upgrade compared to the first Combat Wombat movie.
Personally, Maggie, Sweetie and some of the other characters being fully clothed in this one when they are not in superhero form instead of being naked in the first one aside (though the next Sanctuary City movies, The Sloth Lane and The Lost Tiger, have fully clothed animals), the texturing and rendering is much more detailed when compared to the first, especially when it comes to some of the backgrounds and characters in this movie.
In fact, unlike the first one where I agreed that it has some sort of a Cocomelon feel, this one has none of the Cocomelon effect, which is great given how hated this viral preschool animated series is as one that has any substance. This is because the animation quality, whether it is the character and background designs which have a massive upgrade, the movements which do feel more well-rendered and the lighting which is just the right amount, it was clear that the team at Like a Photon Creative heard feedback from their previous movies and took them with stride with their more recent movies.
Overall, while the animation is not as flashy and unique compared to other foreign CG animated movies with better animation from this year, Combat Wombat: Back 2 Back has a more upgraded animation style that feels like an evolution of the animation style in the first movie, especially when comparing to the earlier Sanctuary City movies.
Soundtrack, Other Elements and Level of Enjoyment
The score and the minor elements are nothing special, but they do help in bringing the animation and the writing forward. I also like the fact that in the end credits, as do their other movies, Like a Photon Creative puts forth a message before the end credits roll that “By watching this film legally, you have supported thousands of jobs of creatives, distributors and crew as listed below.” Disclaimer: I bought a copy of Combat Wombat: Back 2 Back legally, but regardless, it goes to show the amount of respect this studio gives to everyone that worked behind this movie, something we definitely need in other animated movies.
As for my level of enjoyment, I honestly like this one! I will sound like a broken record again, but this Combat Wombat sequel is a much better movie as compared to the first, and the good news is that the Tales of Sanctuary City series do not follow through the next one, so that you can start your Sanctuary City vacation with whatever you choose first. The same thing goes even for the first Combat Wombat movie, as there is not much that was brought forward to Combat Wombat: Back 2 Back from the first, though if you want to look into Maggie and Sweetie’s origin story as Combat Wombat and Gallant Glider respectively, you can go ahead with watching the first one, but that is not compulsory.
In a sense, the above is what makes the second Combat Wombat movie worth watching, because you do not need to watch the first Combat Wombat movie in order to enjoy this sequel, something I feel the likes of Marvel and DC Universe could have taken to heart with some of their movies.
Overall Thoughts
I got to say, I do not regret covering and reviewing the Tales from Sanctuary City series, even if I knew the overall quality of their movies are not up to par with Scarygirl which is co-produced by the same studio that brought us this series. That said, this is a worthy upgrade.
Even amidst the low bar it has to clear, Combat Wombat: Back 2 Back is my most favourite animated movie from the Tales from Sanctuary City series with a well-needed upgrade from the first Combat Wombat. While it still has the typical superhero movie cliches that you would expect, the writing still holds up because the comedy is well-executed, the characters are honestly well-developed even though some could have been better developed, the animation is a noticeable upgrade compared to previous Sanctuary City series and felt more like an evolution of a Sanctuary City animated movie.
Honestly, as long as the future Sanctuary City are as good as or even better than the Combat Wombat sequel, then I am up for the rest of the series. It surely is one hidden animated movie franchise out of nowhere, and from one that not only respects its audience, but also the crew members and distributors involved in the movie as disclosed in the end credits. That is something animated movies truly need, especially given the rise of A/I threatening the animation industry in 2024.
Blaziker’s Hot Sauce Rating
10 Lives
Key Information
- Director: Christopher Jenkins
- Animation Studios: L’Atelier Animation, Align, GFM Animation
- Country of Origin: United Kingdom, Canada
- Rating: PG
- Release date: 6 June 2024 (in Singapore)
Trailer
Story and Characters
Say what you will about this movie having similarities to the likes of Puss in Boots: The Last Wish and more recently The Garfield Movie in terms of copying off some elements of those movies, but what matters more to me than the concept is the execution.
Honestly, despite its rather generic plot, the writing is at least solid fundamentally. The pacing is just right so that I do not get bored so easily, there were quite a few twists that put me off guard, especially guessing what animal Mo Gillingham’s Beckett will get resurrected at and what he will do in his new forms, the jokes, despite being rather simple, are hilarious thanks to good build-up and the jokes themselves not being too cringeworthy, even with the bee puns.
The characters are also well-developed and likable enough that they can carry the movie at times, especially with Mo Gillingham’s Beckett, the over-privileged cat who lost his 9 lives but gets a chance to set things right for Simone Ashley’s Rose with his new lives. The voice acting performances also surprise me, as their performances are honestly strong, even for former One Direction member Zayn Malik as the two henchmen (yes, he voiced two characters) to Bill Nighy’s Professor Craven.
Overall, the writing took me by surprise as the execution of this movie’s concept is so much better than what the concept is trying to, especially with the final act where I was honestly whimpering due to how emotionally distressed I felt at the ending. This is a very rare sight for family-friendly foreign CG animated movies in general, so to see something like this already makes this better than your typical family-friendly foreign CG animated movie.
Animation
I had already covered one animated movie fully animated by this movie’s animation studio, and that was 2022’s Fireheart, which was an overall fine animated movie that does the job. Even though they also animated the terrible Netflix animated movie The Soccer Football Movie, that was done together with the infamous Splash Entertainment, so I will not consider that one fully done by L’Atelier Animation. Regardless, the animation in 10 Lives is an upgrade compared to those two movies I mentioned.
While the animation style is not flashy nor unique, it does not need to because the overall quality is great. There are fluid movements from the characters, the styling is just right, the designs, especially with the various forms of Beckett, look cute and the backgrounds are good. Colouring is on point and not too oversaturated.
In fact, it was clear the animators involved put in a lot of effort to produce animation that is higher quality than the animation quality in most family-friendly foreign CG animated movies, and that is honestly good enough for me to like the animation.
Soundtrack, Other Elements and Level of Enjoyment
Despite the soundtrack going for pop-heavy stuff (which, if you have seen my essay on the Americanisation of non-mainstream animated movies, is bothersome for me), the soundtrack is pretty alright, and not too grating and annoying for my taste. In fact, the usage of these tracks in certain scenarios throughout the movie is appropriate, so I did not mind the soundtrack.
As for my level of enjoyment, I was pleasantly surprised to find myself enjoying this movie overall. Despite being a typical family-friendly foreign CG animated movie that I had known and expected, the surprising twists and turns, the ending and how everything comes together resulted in me having a positive response to this movie. This definitely went up and beyond your typical family-friendly foreign CG animated movie which already puts it in the same level as other family-friendly foreign CG animated movies that punch above their weight, such as with Mosley, Seal Team, Chickenhare and the Hamster of Darkness and Scarygirl.
Overall Thoughts
I had seen way too many family-friendly foreign CG animated movies to count, but even though the average quality of such movies is not high, you can find a good quality family-friendly foreign CG animated movies that even adults can appreciate once in a while, and that was what 10 Lives achieved.
Despite a rather familiar feeling plot and concept that we had seen before, the execution of this movie is much more than the sum of this movie’s parts. The writing is straightforward and did its job with having good jokes, right pacing, well-realised characters and surprisingly strong voice acting performances, the animation is solid and well-detailed without feeling too mushy, especially since the animation studio previously worked on the terrible 2022’s The Soccer Football Movie, and the soundtrack is not too grating for my taste.
However, it is how emotionally strong this movie felt that makes this movie much more than a typical family-friendly foreign CG animated movie and shows that you can produce a good quality family-friendly foreign CG animated movie that nails the basics and then some. Honestly, I will not mind watching 10 Lives again in a pinch.
Blaziker’s Hot Sauce Rating
Ultraman: Rising
Key Information
- Directors: Shannon Tindle and John Aoshima
- Animation Studios: Netflix Animation, Tsuburaya Productions and Industrial Light & Magic (ILM)
- Country of Origin: United States, Japan
- Rating: PG
- Release date: 14 June 2024 (on Netflix)
Trailer
Story and Characters
While I have yet to watch Kubo and the Two Strings and Lost Ollie, two works done by director Tindle himself, but seeing his passion of animation in full force from his social media, it was very clear he and his team put in a lot of effort and attention to the writing, and it shows.
One of the best parts about the movie’s writing is how heartfelt and personal Ultraman: Rising in how it portrays its writing and messaging about parenthood and responsibility that were not only well-explored, but also felt very complete. With each scene, you felt the massive character development in the movie’s main characters as well as an emotionally driven plot that not only does not feel manipulative, but genuine with a lot of heart. It also helped that the comedy and jokes felt very natural and do not distract too much from the story.
In addition, and speaking of, the characters are so well developed that I have almost nothing to complain about, both the character development and voice acting. Ken Sato (Christopher Sean) might be one of my most favourite protagonists of the year so far, as his personality and character development are believable and fun to say the least. You can sense the level of ego with him at the beginning, but also the selflessness in him too, especially once he had to juggle his responsibility of being Ultraman, his baseball career and, of course, taking of his new Kaiju, Emi. Speaking of Emi, she might be one of the cutest Kaijus ever created for media. I mean, LOOK AT HER! How can you resist her?
Also, it helped that the supporting cast are all fantastic, from Ultraman’s father and the previous Ultraman Professor Sato (Gedde Watanabe) who genuinely cares for his son, Mina (Tamlyn Tomita) who acts as both Ken’s robot assistant and cheeky companion, and the evil Dr Onda (Keone Young) who will stop at nothing to capture Emi once and for all. It also helped that the voice acting, in both English and Japanese dubs, is just as fantastic.
Overall, the writing and characters are so on point that I have virtually nothing to complain about that element whatsoever. It’s just animated movie writing 101 courtesy of Shannon Tindle and his writers, y’all!
Animation
Fans of the classic Ultraman anime and manga series would be familiar with how the animation in Ultraman works, but even then, the animation is just spectacular.
The team at Industrial Light and Magic (ILM), who are more well known for top-quality visual effects more than their animation works, put in a lot of effort to give the animation the feel of both Ultraman manga works and various TV series (both live-action and animated) to the next level. The action sequences have an extra oomph and stylised feel that feels like it popped out of an Ultraman manga, which is what they were looking for.
I also do not see any major or even minor animation errors, the character and background designs are just amazing to look at, and the colouring, lighting and texturing is on point. In other words, nothing much to say about how amazing the animation is.
In fact, given the last time ILM worked on the animation work is the disastrous 2015 animated movie Strange Magic (which I believe most would like to pretend that it does not exist), this is a massive turnaround for ILM, and I hope they will dabble more into animation works on top of their top-tier VFX contributions.
Soundtrack, Other Elements and Level of Enjoyment
I have nothing to complain about the soundtrack and the movie’s minor elements, as they are all fantastic, which is rare these days, I will admit.
As for my level of enjoyment, even as a non-fan of the Ultraman series, I love how well rounded and nearly perfect this movie was! I had so much fun enjoying the various moments throughout the movie that I almost forgot to critique the movie properly as a reviewer. That is usually a sign of how great an animated movie was, and yeah, my excitement speaks for itself.
Overall Thoughts
Honestly, I am not surprised about the results, but even so, I felt a sense of gravitational shift thanks to how nearly perfect Ultraman: Rising is.
Ultraman: Rising is the perfect blend of emotion, action and comedy, with fantastic messaging, well-timed jokes and nearly on point writing with well done character development, the voice acting (both English and Japanese dubs) is great and the score is excellent. Most importantly, the animation is straight up killer with so, so many gorgeous and breathtaking action sequences.
I have virtually nothing to nitpick at Ultraman: Rising because frankly, this movie is close to perfection as it should be. Whether as a newcomer or a long-time Ultraman fan, I had a feeling you will be enjoying this masterpiece together.
Blaziker’s Hot Sauce Rating
Conclusion
I got to be honest, this is one of the strongest Animated Movie Rundowns I had done for this year, since none of the movies showcased here scored lower than 12/20, each movie felt distinct from the other movies and they are all well produced and done by animation studios who are very passionate in the animation medium. It seems that the studios have read through my essay about the Americanisation of Non-Mainstream Animated Movies and taken steps to not fall into the pitfalls I listed, which is a great thing.
Well, that is about it for pretty much the first half of 2024, and man, I covered 32 animated movies in the first half alone, which is honestly quite insane to think about. With the next animated movie I plan to cover being quite a long way away, I feel it is time we slow down and reflect on what an insane first half of 2024 this brings in terms of my animated movie adventures. I will see you for the Mid-Year Review, and until next time, see you on the next adventure!
