Tuesday, August 27, 2019

Animated Thoughts: Tales of the Night

It's been a decent year for animated feature films. Between the Detroit Institute of Arts Detroit Film Theater and my local theaters, I've been able to partake of a number of features in the first half of the year.

The first was Tales of the Night, by Michel Ocelot.

There's just something about watching a modern feature using an old-school animation technique, in this case silhouette animation. Make no mistake, this is a film for the younger kids and tween crowd, but there's still a lot there for us older fans to enjoy.



If you're interested, the following link is to the GKIDS webstore where you can purchase this film on DVD: "click me".

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Next on my line-up was Danmachi: Arrow of the Orion.

This film takes place in the Orario setting of Is it wrong to try to pick up girls in a dungeon? series. And while there are appearances from our favorite characters in the Loki Familia, the story focuses mainly on the Hestia Familia. And while the story was a bit predictable, it was a fun look at the relationship that is building between Bell and Hestia along with some tantalizing hints of what's going to happen in the next season of Danmachi. If you're  fan of the series (and of it's spinoff Sword Oratoria), you'll enjoy Arrow of the Orion.



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Then there was Mirai, the latest from Mamoru Hosoda, director of Summer Wars and Wolf Children.



Mirai wasn't bad... it was just a little too "kiddy" for my tastes. Is a good film for parents to watch with the pre-teen crowd. But honestly, I had more fun hanging out with fellow ASIFA member Gary Schwartz and his wife before the film than I did in the theater. I think that if I had kids, I'd enjoy the film more since there were a lot of events and situations in the film that I just couldn't relate to.

Well, with Studio Trigger's Promare coming up in September the week before the Ottawa International Animation Festival, the Fall looks to be a very animated one!


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