Story & Playability

Before I forget about this...I'll make a review of it.
This is the Brave Story Movie review but I'll add additional info of other Brave Stories...I might as well make this a Brave Story saga review :P

Side Note : All Brave Story storylines are pretty much "Alternate World" sort of thingies because the plot wouldn't make sense if they are mixed together.

Terms Dictionary :

Cave of Trials - A Cave of which 5 Guardians and a Trial that awaits for future Travellers-to-be.Depending on how fast they finished their trials,they will gain variable equipments.

Traveller - Those who sought to have their dreams fulfilled deeply,a Gate appears before them that leads to Vision.These chosen few becomes Travellers.Their task is to gather 5 Gem stones that will fit into the slots of their weapons and go to the Tower of Destiny to have their dreams fulfilled by the Goddess.

Gate of Life - Err..was it called the Gate of Life?Either way,it leads new Travellers to Vision and only appears before those who are chosen.

Goddess of Destiny - The Goddess of Vision and she will grant one and only wish to the Travellers who finished their tasks.But the Tower of Destiny is not an easy place to go through.She also comes in various forms as a Goddess.In New Traveller,she is said to appear as those whom the viewer cherishes the most.

Tower of Destiny - The Tower the Goddess resides in.

Vision - The parallel and mirrored world of the real world.There are multiple races and species of humanoids here and Travellers are held in high esteem here.The reason I said mirrored is because the Goddess of Destiny mentioned that the World is simply a mirror of the real world or something like that.

Gemstones - These Gems are to be fitted into the Traveller's Weapons...5 Gems in total,location unknown.Each have their own unique elements and features.

Highlanders - Their pretty much the police force of Vision.Except that they do not ask for rewards and uses a wristband to mark their identities.

Dark Gemstone - The Gemstone that seals the Demonkin away...if it is taken,chaos shall reign once more...

Demonkin World - A scarlet world which belongs to the Demonkin.

S.N.O.B - Or the Social Network of Bird-Lovers,this is pretty much a Vision global club for Goalfinch lovers.

Races :
Ankhakin - Not unlike Humans of the real world.

Kitkin - A humanoid race with cat ears and tail.

Waterkin - A race of large lizards which live near the sea.

Demonkin - A sealed demonic race that once caused chaos in the World of Vision.

Pankin - Despite being physically...small.These guys are simply geniuses.

Firewyrm - A race of dragons.They all live on a small island but there are only a few of them.About 12 or so I think?

Beastkin - Humanoids with...some beastly features.Well..there are variables so I can't say much.

Characters Overview :

Wataru Mitani - A young boy and depending on the adaptation of the story,he is either a typical kid or a gaming addict.However,in the Movie,he is a somewhat weak but good-natured kid who later met Mitsuru,who he idolises for his "coolness." He later found out that Mitsuru is a Traveller and must go to the World of Vision to fulfill his desires.He later also goes into the World of Vision so that he can reunite his family.However,due to his incapabilities in the Trials,he was given a rather weak equipment set at first.He grows physically and emotionally as the story progresses.

Mitsuru Ashikawa - A somewhat handsome and cold boy.He is a Sorcerer type of Traveller and is determined to have his dream fulfilled,even doing things against his moral.He also befriended Wataru and helped him out at times.Wataru is unable to accept the fact that Mitsuru would do just about anything to get the Gems to have his dreams fulfilled but his dreams aren't that simple...Mitsuru is also a very powerful Traveller.

Kee Keema - A Waterkin. (Waterkins are like large humanoid lizards.) Wataru is startled to see him at first but Kee Keema turned out to be a very friendly figure and he also said that the Waterkins believe that Travellers are "good luck charms" due to the historical events after famous figures met up with Travellers.He carries a large camping bag around.

Meena - A Kitkin. (Basically a Cat-girl.) She met Wataru out of an accident and somehow this caused Wataru to end up in jail.However,due to another sequence of events,he was freed and Meena apologised.She later travelled with Wataru and grew to like him.

Kutz - An Officer of the Highlanders.She's particularly strict about the laws and what-not.

??? - A mysterious voice that guides Wataru in his journeys...what is this mysterious figure?

Brave Story : New Traveller Characters Overview :

Tatsuya - A young kid who is simply addicted to his PSP.So much so that he pretty much answered his friend,Miki,unsincerely.This caused Miki to be somewhat pissed off.However,later,Miki suddenly fell into a coma for no good reason.To save her life,he became a Traveller with a mysterious voice as his guide...what is in stall for him?He uses a sword for combat,it will change in appearance as the game progresses.He himself grows up to be more mature as time passes.His silent in the game and you will be prompted to choose an answer if your ever asked a question.

Yuno - A skimpily dressed half ankhakin-kitkin whom Tatsuya saved when she was surrounded by monsters.Amazed by the fact that he is a Traveller,she brings him home and introduces him to her family.She later takes him around town and somehow ended up being Highlanders themselves.She later grew fond of Tatsuya.She uses a bow for combat.She have a great liking of fish.

Sogreth - A Waterkin that have some pretty gentlemanly habits.He felt indebted to Tatsuya and Yuno since they saved his son and decides to join them.He uses a battleaxe for combat.Despite his threatening appearance,his extremely good natured.His also a loving husband and father.

Meladee - An Ankhakin whose in charge of one of the Highlander branches.She holds great charisma,beauty and skills in terms of swordplay and is also a rival and aquaintence of Kutz.She later joins Tatsuya after he helped her out.She uses dual swords for combat.Meladee also treats Tatsuya as a little brother.She's also somewhat proud to be honest.

Mitsuru - A strange wizard Traveller who helped Tatsuya early on in the plot but later confirms the fact that he only helped him out due to the circumstances.Tatsuya is determined to understand and help him.Mitsuru is solely interested in fulfilling his dream and is using any methods available to get it.He acted very strangely and once said that neither he nor Tatsuya can get their dreams fulfilled by the Goddess. (I can't say why for plot purposes.) He later attempts to seize the Dark Gemstone,but it is revealed that he wants the Demonkin King to be released instead.However,he have a change of heart at the last minute and teleports Tatsuya's group away...

Ropple - A somewhat arrogant pankin and is quite ignorant of emotions.His superior decides to let him do some "fieldwork" along with other people to become more socially responsible and stuff like that.He uses a staff for magical combat.Oh yeah,he seems to be a student of some tower in the World of Vision.

Leynart - A Beastkin who is also a Knight.He uses a lance and guards the borders of the land.Leynart misunderstood Tatsuya but it was quickly cleared after finishing a certain mission.He joins the team in order to find a way to cure his fiance(?) and to help them out of interest.He also have a rather...typical knightly attitude.

Kutz - If Meladee is a cannon when she sees someone breaking the rules,Kutz would be the nuclear bomb.Any one who would dare break the law under her nose better run fast otherwise you'll suffer her whip.She joins the team temporarily for a certain mission.

Wataru - Heh...Deja Vu.He aids the hero in a mission to clear their name so he joins the team temporarily.His combat style is not unlike Tatsuya's.

Meena - She uses knives for combat and follows Wataru all over the place.Either way,she have a pretty cheerful nature and joins the team temporarily to help them clear their names.

Kee Keema - A Waterkin who joins the team temporarily to save Sogreth's son and yes,his the same Kee Keema from the previous Brave Story.

Lau - A hermit who lives near the Cave of Trials.His more or less the regulator of Travellers and provide them with info and their starting weaponary depending on how well they did in the trials.

Demokin King - After a sequence of events,this monster is freed and his armies wrecked havoc in Vision.

??? - A mysterious voice that guides Tatsuya in his journey....What could she be thinking?

Overall :
The storyline is pretty cool to be honest.Except that all the Brave Story plots are quite basically the same with several changes here and there even though there are different characters.The Ending is bitter-sweet as well.Note that the Movie Version didn't mention the New Traveller characters and New Traveller is something like a spin-off.You can find out a bit of each character's past or desire in the New Traveller game as you seek for their Bravesoul abilities.

Manga Characters differences :
There are drastic personality swaps and there are quite a bit of crucial plot differences.

Rating: 8

Graphics

Art Review :
I really like the character's design.Wataru and Tatsuya's design are somewhat plain but the other Vision Characters have some pretty cool / kawaii suits.

Character Design : ( In an attempt to make my usual empty Art Reviews longer. )

Wataru & Tatsuya - A plain leather armor and helmet set.Their design is overall pretty much the same.Both of them use the Traveller Sword which evolves as they gather more Gems but Wataru's sword doesn't actually change until he gathers all the Gems in the Movie Version.

Mitsuru - Yellow hair and overall,pretty cool looking.He wears a mage-like robe with a fitting staff.His design is even more exaggerated in New Traveller but I prefer the Mitsuru of the Movie version.

Kee Keema - Nothing too significant about him.He carries a large camping bag though.He also wears a leather helmet of some sort.

Meena - She wears a rather bland dress but she look good in it :p Well,her design varies a bit depending on the adaptation.

Kutz & Meladee - Both of them wear pretty much the same thing.A red coat and a black shirt on the inside with black pants.Overall,a duo of tough beautiful women.

Yuno - Like I said,she's somewhat skimpily dressed.But she looks cute enough :D She even have whiskers come to think of it o.0 She also have blonde hair.

Sogreth - Now that I think back a bit,he wears some sort of heavy armour along with his large battleaxe.

Ropple - Like I said,he is short.He have cyan / green hair and wears a typical wizard suit.

Leynart - Wears a pretty cool Armor suit along with a headgear. (He can't wear a full helm due to his horns.) He uses a shield along with a Lance.

Demonkin King - Basically a large humanoid up to the torso and on the bottom it looks like a monster.

??? - Well,she's practically a frog.But she can turn into a girl as well...Eto..

Lau - A wizened old man with glasses and lots of beard.He wears a somewhat large hat with robes.He is also usually accompanied by some birds of multiple colors (I forgot the bird's official name.There is a mini-game for it in New Traveller and there are Red,Blue,Yellow,Black,White and Green versions of it.I can remember Red = Power,Blue = Speed,Yellow = Balanced, Black & White = High Balanced I think...I can't remember Green unfortunately. ) Edit: The birds are called Goalfinch.

Rating: 8

Sound

Music Review (Movie) :
The Music of the Movie is fairly mediocre.But I enjoy the Theme of the Movie.It's used in the centre part of the plot and at the ending.The Theme is called Ketsui no Asa Ni.

Music Review (Game) :
Err..there's hardly much decent music for it in the game to be honest.

Voice Review (All) :
Pretty good...somewhere above average I guess.

Rating: 8

Fun

A pretty good game / movie with a heart-warming plot.We see how the main character struggles through the plot and grow up through his experience.The Ending is bitter-sweet and the characters are interesting to a certain extent. (I did say to a certain extent :P )
Probably for the genres of...
-Supernatural
-Slice-of-life (Not really)
-Action
-Adventure

Trivial Info :
-Brave Story starts of as a Light Novel.
-The film is somewhat a charity programme.
-Other than New Traveller,which is for PSP,there is a Nintendo DS game called My Dreams and Wishes and a PS2 game for it called Wataru's Adventure.
-There are several soundtracks released for it.
-There are Novel,Manga,Films and Games based off the plot of Brave Story.

Rating: 9

Final Verdict

8.33 (good)

Reviewed by z827, 10wk 1d ago

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