the reincarnation of the strongest exorcist in another world manga
Each scene is carefully calculated, but never ambitious in their purpose. Even the cheerful moments only balance out the hell Seita and Setsuko are in, never acting as driving components for either character. The music also does little to help the experience move along, rarely ever effective in smoothing out transitions or amplifying sentiment in an authentic way. It unironically makes the
most emotional moments come off more canned than real. At the end of the day, the presentation may look very pretty, especially when it comes to the animation, but otherwise is rather insignificant when
building on the emotional side of the
film.
I feel conflicted when trying to summarise my thoughts on Grave of the Fireflies. It has some very noticeable problems that I take issue with, but it’s far from a bad film in my eyes. On the contrary, I would call it a fairly good movie that I unfortunately feel numb towards now, no longer jaded by the emotional appeal that obfuscates the maladroit aspects of the movie. The fact that it tried so hard to appeal through emotions and failed only disappoints me that much more. It’s an odd contrast for me to ponder over: a film I loved at first no long holds any fondness from me. It tugged at my heartstrings, but no longer has any effect.
^ "86ーエイティシックスー 2" (in Japanese).
Square Enix. Retrieved
March 24, 2020. ^ "86--EIGHTY-SIX, Vol. 2 (manga)". Yen Press.
That is, at least, until you meet one who is worth getting to know.
From the very outset, this series does not hide
that it will focus on some of the tough questions in life: purpose, meaning, our own endings. Yet embedded within these, it unpacks the many guised forms of regret. Upfront it reminds us that our lives are short; our prime is even shorter. It is easy to be . nonchalant or carefree – or to believe we are working towards “something” – but yet, after the fact has passed, what will we wish we did instead? What should have mattered to us more at the time?
In story, sousou no Frieren is about everything that happens "in the moment”, and the things we didn’t know we had until we find time to reflect; the end is what catches up to us when there is no
tomorrow to put things off until. As our lives speed towards that end, we start to learn the meaning in making those small moments count. But did we not always know this? Wisdom is as much about its meaning as it is about how we come to acknowledge it.
