Anime
TV-14
Directed by Makoto Shinkai
Streaming on HBO Max
Feats of animation can be very
magical. They can take people beyond what’s common and normal. The ways in
which animation can move beyond normality and into the fantasies that only the
mind can capture are astounding. Children Who Chase Lost Voices From Deep Below
flips through like a storybook, with fantastical scenes that sweep you
away.
The film
guides its audience through various scenes in nature, with the spirit world at
its helm. It doesn’t hold back on the beasts or the magic. The momentum pushing
the plot forward comes from the environment in the film more than the characters,
and it is filled with the spirits of nature.
Nature
to this film is a spiritual experience. It’s something that leaves a lot to the
imagination. The world that god created is larger than the one that humans
could make in some ways, and the things you can find out there are beyond human
comprehension.
It takes
animation to be able to put into perspective some aspects of the world that are
farther out of reach. What an animator can do to make good nature scenes is an
interesting topic. In Children Who Chase Lost Voices, the subtleties are
what drives the animation.
There
are various techniques used, including clips and loops, but not all of the
nature is placed in the box. The freehand techniques used to make more variant
clips gives a lot more depth to the personality of the animation. Different
water techniques are used that give life to the nature. Including but not
limited to linework variation and traditional loops.
Linework
variation gives an improvised feel to the artwork. It also gives it the
god-given feel that nature really has. Changing up the lines makes for the
animation to have a certain kind of shiftiness that alters the offerings. It
brings the animation to life.
Creatures
galore in this film. Butterflies, fish, and more. They are interspersed with
the nature and have their own sense of direction. They are separated from human
society and given their own space. Some stand out more than others. Some are in
the backdrop, and some are given their own scenes.
Humanity
in this picture is depicted with flaws, with violence, and with greed. Nature
is given a certain innocence and that innocence is protected by guardians. Sometimes
those are physical beings, and sometimes they are metaphysical. The fact that
nature is given the transcendence to follow through life with its own rules
apart from humanity gives humanity a distant feel.
The
farther the characters go on their adventure, the deeper into the mix they get.
The drama unfolds like it would on a long journey. The physical exhaustion that
the characters undertake builds to the breaking point. Everything is laid out so
that you can feel the toils of the adventure.
The boundaries
that the characters overcome and the barriers that they traverse are filled
with hardship. The scenes show the vastness of the world and how beings fit
into nature. The human exploration of such places can take its toll on people.
Nature has a way of protecting itself from outsiders.
All in
all, the film has a special kind of arc. It is far from your traditional anime
feature. Revolving around nature instead of humanity gives the whole piece a
converse faculty that institutes beliefs in education. It certainly has a
purpose, and it never loses sight of its vision. There is drama that is
well-suited to the situations placed in the film, and it unfolds with the
natural psychology that the film sets out to depict.