Mm. I have to agree with you on certain parts. The plot was merely 'alright' -in my opinion- but the art was certainly quite a piece- that was the most fitting point for this anime. :)
Tales From Earthsea ova Review
Story & Playability
I am being very generous with this score rating. This movie was supposed to be based on the Earthsea books by Ursula Le Guinn. The original story was completely butchered. The characters were taken out of random parts of the story. This hurt the story significantly because all the characters introduced were in effect main characters in each of the books. Each of them, and their story, deserved a whole movie by themselves. Trying to throw all these characters together took away the depth of the story because none of them were visited in great detail. The events were also taken haphazardly out of the books, and were sewn together into a mismatched quilt. This movie painted the world in purely black and white, except for when one of the characters come to recognize the darker part of their being. There really was no impetus for the journey the main characters embark on, things just sort of happen, they are dealt with, and there is no satisfying conclusion in the end, because they never really went anywhere. The beginning of the movie starts with a ship rolling around on a tumultuous sea and these two dragons fighting, well, that's the last you'll see of them because it seems that scene was jus thrown in for kicks. Even the entire world that this story is based on is poorly explained. Why do names have power, even that is poorly explained and yet it is the basis of how everything operates in that world. It seems like Miyazaki just flipped to random pages in all the books and churned them together to make this movie. I never fall asleep during movies but I did for this one.
Rating:
Graphics
Gibli studio rarely disappoints me in art: beautiful panoramic scenes, great character designs, and identifiable iconic images that is seen in all of the Gibli movies. From the busy port cities to the quiet country side, the imageries describing the scenes in the book were brought to life. Although the story was botched, the characters were not too far removed from my mental images of them. Although the story fell short of bringing the world of Earthsea to life, the art certainly did.
Rating:
Sound
I loved the song "Teru no Uta". I did feel like the scene with her singing that song was poorly done though. There was just a shot of the character singing the song for a good 5 minuets. The OSTs were appropriately matched to each scene and helped build the mood of the scene. Then again, Gibli is also known for their beautiful movie sound tracks.
Rating:
Fun
This movie was well packaged, but the box, when opened was completely empty. Again, this review is for people who have read and love Ursula Le Guinn's original writing. I was so aghast throughout the movie, I couldn't remain truly objective. The story ruined it all for me. If I never read the original books, I might have thought this was an enjoyable story, but as a tribute to the Earthsea books, it was completely botched. There is no depth to the characters, no idea why they are driven to do the things they do, and no idea how they are strung together. I grew up loving Gibli studio, and still love their movies. I dare say I love them better than Disney movies because they are more complex and have more depth. Young and adult viewers enjoy these movies. That is, until this one. Very disappointing first work from Miyazaki Goro. Instead of stringing all these stories together, Miyazaki should have just chosen one of the books and made a movie based on that book. Even Ursula Le Guinn said something along the lines that although it was a beautiful story, it was not her story.
Rating:
Final Verdict
5.6667 (average)
Reviewed by fuuiin, Jun 22, 2007
Comments
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Lariel Jun 28, 2007
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nonoharameiko Aug 16, 2007
Thank you for this review. I haven't seen the movie yet and I'm not sure I want to- everyone is saying it's bad. (I only read the first Earthsea book, and liked it).
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ShadowDreamer16 Sep 13, 2007
Ahh...I was really looking forward to seeing this movie. Well I'll still watch it, I really hope you guys are just being a bit too harsh.
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Swordlily003 Feb 18, 2009
The plot of Tales From Earthsea was very haphazard to be sure. The first time I watched this movie I almost screamed in frustration at the terrible timing and dreamy pace of the story. But for some reason I have watched, and enjoyed, this movie more then once, probably for the amazing artwork and lovable characters ^-^ I say it's worth watching no matter it's faults.
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ryanwho Mar 29, 2009
Interesting to look at if nothing else.
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SchRita Dec 22, 2009
Thanks for the review!
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angelxxuan Banned Member May 23, 2012
seriously cannot argue with this review. I walked into this anime thinking it was going to be great, turned to find out I found myself wondering in thought and doing other things about half way into the movie.
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