This film depicts the horrors of war, but fails to really impress me. The characters are unrealistic and the film is too preachy, which detracts from its greatness: Grave of the Fireflies, a movie with a similar theme, is a million times superior to this film and having watched it before I saw this, made me think this film was pathetic, though that's because anything looks pathetic compared to Grave of the Fireflies.
Why is this film deeply flawed? Because of the lack of humanity in the characters: they really do not appear to take the horrors of war seriously enough and the film lacks subtlety, which is a very important element of a great film, such as Grave of the Fireflies.
Still, despite its flaws I still found this film to be remarkably powerful in several senses. I recommend it, but it is not as remotely as great as Grave of the Fireflies.
Why is this film deeply flawed? Because of the lack of humanity in the characters: they really do not appear to take the horrors of war seriously enough and the film lacks subtlety, which is a very important element of a great film, such as Grave of the Fireflies.
Still, despite its flaws I still found this film to be remarkably powerful in several senses. I recommend it, but it is not as remotely as great as Grave of the Fireflies.