Brave Story is a full length theatrical anime that Gonzo released in September 2006 in Japan. It is the story of a 10 year old boy named Wataru and his adventures in a mystical fantasy land.
One night Wataru and his friend are exploring a 'haunted' construction sight. In the midst of psyching themselves out, Wataru sees a mysterious boy dressed in exotic clothes. He follows the boy up to the top of the building and finds a mystical staircase leading to large ornate doors. The boy enters the doors and the stairway disappears. The next day Wataru's friend introduces him to the kid who was talking about the haunted construction site. The kid, Mitsuru, is the same one Wataru saw the night before, entering the ornate doors. Before Wataru can talk to the new kid, the school bully shows up and starts threatening him about being in the building. Mitsuru, a cold and indifferent child, stands up to the bully and soon a teacher breaks up the confrontation. Later that night Wataru returns to the construction sight and finds Mitsuru being beaten by the bully. He goes to help him but before he can Mitsuru ends up summoning a spirit to attack the bullies. After they run off and the spirit returns to where it came from the two are talking in a near by park. Mitsuru berates Wataru after he asks about the door and the magic, saying that Wataru is a spoiled brat and he has no need to go to the other world. Mitsuru then disappears and Wataru goes home to find his mother unconscious on the floor. Earlier that day his father left the family to live with another woman. Apparently his mom tried to commit suicide.
In a panic, Wataru head's to find the ornate doors, for Mitsuru told him that any wish can be granted in the other world. Not wanting to loose his mother after he lost his father, Wataru enters the doors at the construction site. The world on the other end is a world of high fantasy, with many bipedal intelligent species. Wataru is given the Hero Sword upon his arrival and he must collect five gems scattered throughout the world, Vision, and see the Goddess of Fate. She will then grant him one wish. Now, he must travel through a strange land searching for the gems in order to save his mother.
From this point on I won't get into detail, better to leave it for you to enjoy. The story is one of self discovery and breaking out of the archetypal childhood mentality. Wataru's journey is more a journey of self awareness and the loss of innocence than anything else.
The animation is nice without a lot of noticeable CG. Gonzo did a great job with this one in their flowing child like style. Throughout the movie my friends and I were making numerous RPG jokes, due to the movie feeling exactly like a Final Fantasy game. After watching it I did some research and found that it is not based off of a video game, it is instead based off of a novel, which did spawn a video game. The novel is available in America and is licensed by Viz. All in all it is a good movie, great for people of all ages and I am satisfied after having to wait a year to see it. I enjoyed the movie even with my great distaste for fantasy anime.
From this point on I won't get into detail, better to leave it for you to enjoy. The story is one of self discovery and breaking out of the archetypal childhood mentality. Wataru's journey is more a journey of self awareness and the loss of innocence than anything else.
The animation is nice without a lot of noticeable CG. Gonzo did a great job with this one in their flowing child like style. Throughout the movie my friends and I were making numerous RPG jokes, due to the movie feeling exactly like a Final Fantasy game. After watching it I did some research and found that it is not based off of a video game, it is instead based off of a novel, which did spawn a video game. The novel is available in America and is licensed by Viz. All in all it is a good movie, great for people of all ages and I am satisfied after having to wait a year to see it. I enjoyed the movie even with my great distaste for fantasy anime.
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