The people of Iorph live far away from the lands of men, weaving the happenings of each day into a
fabric called Hibiol. They live for centuries while maintaining their youthful appearance. Maquia, an
orphaned Iorph girl, lives her life in an oasis surrounded by friends, yet somehow feels “alone”. But
the tranquil lives of the Iorph are shattered in an instant when the Mezarte army invades their
territory on a dragon fleet, seeking the blood that grants the Iorph long life. Maquia manages to
escape, but loses her friends and her home in the chaos. She then encounters an orphaned baby who is
“alone”. Maquia raises this boy "Ariel", with the help of some new friends. But as the era changes,
the bond between Maquia and Ariel changes too, amidst a backdrop of racial tensions between the Iorph
and the Mezarte. This is a story of irreplaceable time, woven by two lonely people who can only find
solace in each other.
(Source: Eleven Arts)
Seeing many of these 10/10 reviews on various sites and people saying they cried shocked me. I wondered if we had even seen the same movie. I, and seemly many who left the theatre did not leave angry, but certainly were not raving about it being a masterpiece. And in the whole theatre, only a single person cried. I overheard many conversations after the movie of it being "okay" and "a lot of stuff didn't make sense" and a few more criticisms and etc. And I agree with them, this movie is no masterpiece. However, it is not bad either. So here is my review Story:5/10 I find the plot to be all over the place and it never seems to have enough time to focus on each 'arc' of the story enough. Due to this, we see a few time jumps that aren't explained and many many many coincidences throughout this animation. So many coincidences it's actually ridiculous. So many unexplainable coincidences made it seem pretty silly many a times. The best example would be when ~!Maquia one night disappears (kidnapped I guess?) and then the next thing we know she's getting her hair cut in some random white room and then next thing we know she's heading an invasion of some sort.!~ Like, wtf just happened? I have a general idea but wow. There is literally no explanation other than she vanishes and then bam shes back again so you're left to put together the pieces. And of course the fact that in a massive metropolis city she manages to 'stumble across' every main character multiple times across the entire movie. "The Clan of the Separated"? Yeah right. This for me dampered many scenes that would have otherwise been fairly heartwarming or sad. The overall plot isn't a bad one. It's actually a very interesting concept that I feel was just simply not done right. Or, maybe needed 2 parts and more time to do it correctly. Art: 7/10 Animation wise it wasn't bad. Certainly wasn't great either. A few scenes looked quite silly but those were few and far apart. Was up and down throughout the film and sometimes is quite plain and boring but decided on a 7. Overall, not many complaints here. Sound 7/10: Here I had no complaints. No song really stuck out and made me really think about it deeper but all the songs seemed to match their scenes and OST was well done. No issues here Characters: 6/10 Characters were pretty good. Clear development was seen in our two main characters which was nice to see. However, many other characters who seemed like they had importance or could have had importance were simply forgotten about which was disappointing. The biggest of which being the ~!Army General Izol who swore to atone for his sins to Leila who was seen after that for less than 5 seconds.!~ In addition, the drunk man whom we never learn much of anything about and randomly appears to save the day or just out of nowhere could have been done a lot better too. In conclusion, it was a Weak 7. The movie was decently enjoyable but was literally coincidences the animation. Had a good concept with potential but didn't live up to it. However, still created a movie that was appealing and a decently enjoyable watch if you don't think too much about it.
“Maquia: When the Promised Flower Blooms” is a truly poignant tale with themes of motherhood, love, and adversity. Its wonderful animation combined with its brilliant visual storytelling helps make this film one of the best movies to come out in 2018. The fantasy film’s premise revolves around the relationship between a Maquia, a member of the seemingly ageless Iolph people, and Ariel, a little human baby who she finds alone after a dramatic turn of events in the beginning of the film. Faced with the thankless task of raising a child alone, Maquia spends much of the film struggling to ensure that Ariel has the best life possible. This is made complicated by the fact that Ariel is a human and grows up faster than the long-living Maquia. There are a fair share of action sequences, but “Maquia” is really an exploration into what it means to enter motherhood. Thanks to fantastic character development and well-written dialogue, “Maquia” excels when it comes to developing the relationship between Maquia and her adopted son. As we watch Ariel grow up, viewers will empathize with the concerns that Maquia has. Many parents are aware of the pain of having to eventually let go of one’s children and let them go free, and this movie excellently portrays this common problem in a way that is understandable even to those who are without children. An example of fantastic characterization would be Maquia constantly wishing for Ariel to never grow up, hoping that he will always be her little boy. Although seemingly minor, Maquia’s desires make her a stronger character and far more relatable. While parenthood can be tough, it is oftentimes harder to see your child grow up too fast. The writers behind this movie understand the themes they are working with, and the story’s quality improves as a result. Both Maquia and Ariel undergo character development as their relationship matures. Maquia’s experience raising Ariel begins to help her break away from her fears, while Ariel’s upbringing helps prepare him for the responsibilities of adulthood. It’s a natural progression that is convincingly portrayed on screen. Animation-wise, “Maquia” has fantastic production values. Although the CGI can look out of place at times, the overall quality of animation cannot be understated. Movement is fluid and emotions are fully realized on the faces of the characters present in the story. However, the movie is not without flaws. I must concede that there were several moments where the plot shifts gears without sufficient explanation, making it occasionally tough to piece the story together. Its disjointed plotline typically works in “Maquia”’s favour, but when it doesn’t, it leaves viewers a little confused. Another concern is the fact that there were a select few characters that had a sizable amount of screentime, but very little development or characterization. This problem, while minor in the case of this movie, results in some of the cast feeling less like characters and more like plot devices. It’s understandable that a movie that has a runtime of just under two hours suffers from this issue, but it is still disappointing nonetheless. But the aforementioned flaws are minor in the grand scheme of things. “Maquia” is an emotional film that makes the audience reflect long after they leave the theater. I disagree with the notion that it’s the “Your Name” or “A Silent Voice” of 2018, as it is fundamentally a different kind of film from those two. It’s an admirable and amazing film in its own right. Be ready to laugh and cry throughout the film as you experience the ups and downs of motherhood in “Maquia.”
Mari Okada as a director and studio P.A. Works were able to unleash their full potential with "Maquia : when the promised flower blooms" I've actually seen a lot of bad reviews for it, probable reasons are : -Early subs for the movie (pre blu-ray releases fansubs) are really messy : sentences are badly turned, which makes some scenes lose sense(like the one between Maquia and Krim). Moreover there are a lot of timeskips thus the viewer needs full attention to get into the flow of the movie. -Some people just hate Mari Okada or don't connect with her works. She has a unique style of storytelling and pacing that is different from what you usually see in anime productions. -Lastly you need a certain emotional maturity to fully grasp Maquia and Ariel motivations. Thus I wouldn't recommend the movie to teens. The reason being that teenagers generally lack the required retrospective on their own lives to understand and feel empathy towards the mother and child relationship that Maquia and Ariel have. Each of us have at some point acted cold towards our mothers and then reconciliated with them towards early adulthood, and that is the accuracy in the interactions between Maquia and Ariel that makes it such a good movie. I was laughing when Maquia and Ariel were laughing, I was crying when they were crying and I was cringing when Ariel was doing something stupid because I have also been there before.The way they interacted felt so real to me because I can look back and relate to most of their situations. The art was gorgeous especially background art and the character designer Akihiko Yoshida (Nier Automata, Final fantasy tactics) models blend in well with it. Another highlight is the sound : voice actors for Maquia, Leila and both V.A. for Ariel ( child and adult) made a poignant performance. The ost is also really pleasant to the ears and is timed well with the strong moments from the movie making them even stronger. You could however nitpick about the lack of variety in it. In conclusion: Maquia is a tale about motherhood and the shapes it can take and it capitalises on the empathy one will feel towards its characters. However once it grips you, you're in for a roller coaster of emotions confirming Okada's "genius of character drama" title.
~~~__The True Understanding of Immortality__~~~ _This is originally my review from MAL, but posting it here because I really love this anime_ >The Elder would surely laugh if she saw your face... Would surely laugh... And be happy for showing her a parting that doesn't only have pain... ~~~So before anything, I did put a 10/10 for this movie, which apparently seems to tick off a lot of people, and I exactly understand why, but I'll get to that later. Also, this is my first review on MAL, but please do not let that affect the way you feel about this review. So for those of you who just skim reviews, here is my overall opinion: _Maquia is a masterpiece and you should all watch it._~~~ ~~~Now for the detailed review: Story 10/10 : Given there is no cinematic composition, or even a script section in the review noting I assume this all falls under the story section. See, a lot of people I think have been put off by the way this anime was set up. By that, I mean the anime felt disconnected, like mere parts of Maquia's life put together, and due to the maturing of the characters, didn't feel like the previous section. While it may have disturbed a lot of people, it felt purely normal to me, it actually felt impressing. I mean, this is a story told through Maquia, and given how much longer she can live, time must go by in a blink for her, so the "unconnected" parts of her life felt to me as an actual amazing addition from whoever thought of it (I know Mari Okada directed the movie but maybe it was someone else's idea). So that was for overall script direction, as for the story, it's gorgeous. You dive into a world whose fantasy is slowly fading away into legends, add to this the use of those fading fantasy species, which includes Maquia's species iused as political and military weapons and you have the whole base of this anime's story and of Maquia's reason for being in the world of humans. It's happy, it's sad, it's funny, you just go through such a huge amount of emotions in under a simple 2 hours that it's close to unbelievable. I would go into more details as for the plot, but I went into this movie close to fully blind and I loved the hell out of it, so I recommend you do the same. Art 8/10 : Would I have not seen Your Name and its beautiful and incredibly detailed background art, The Shape of Voice with its amazingly expressive animation, or Violet Evergarden and its way of making everything constantly prettier than reality, I would have put a 10/10 on the art and animation. The backgrounds are as defined as Makoto Shinkai's, maybe sometimes even more, the animation expresses so much warmth and happiness when needed, while also being able to express sadness without the need for tears, and still managing to place in some incredibly well done action shots. The characters are pretty simple and do not require much lineart, which I would usually say is a bad thing, but hell is it well used here. They probably have the same amount of lineart as your usual seasonal anime, but it allows for the colors to show more, for us to notice that slight shine on the hair we would have usually completely ignored, a change in the eye even from a considerable distance, but also allows for the backgrounds to shine while completely fitting in, a close to perfect blend that even Your Name, at least to my tastes, didn't achieve. It makes it seem as if the characters are part of the background, without making us lose focus of them whatsoever, probably being closer to Violet Evergarden on that stage. The one thing I would say is "badly" done is the CG. Crowds are fine by me when using CG, and even then the anime sometimes fully draws full crowds, which made me quite happy. However, there's a few shots where its obvious CG was used, wether on the dragons or even sometimes on important characters, and that sort of stuff sort of pulls me out from the experience, the characters and the world setting being a major part of the movie Sound 7/10 : Maquia is quite special when it comes to music. Maquia is a character-driven anime, and one of the main features of this type of anime is the close to constant(or at least it feels like it) usage of music, in order to express the emotions of the character, and emphasize them whenever they're clearly exposed. But Maquia went about this differently. When I figured out it was a character-driven story, the anime directly felt weird. There was not too much usage of music. Actually, I'll be honest, it felt like there was none in the first half (I mean there was at a few moments, but most of the time it was extremely basic and could barely be noticed). However, I feel like it worked out for the best. The lack of music made it so that when the music went all-out towards the ending of the anime, it literally blew you away, more than any anime I've seen before. Because not only does it blow you away significantly more, but the OST on their own were already amazing, like, really really really amazing. They don't use any special instruments, the chords are not innovative either, it's just orchestral music, taken to its roots, and done perfectly. And as an orchestral music fan, that just left me in pure awe (and tears). -Characters: 10/10. I have seen many dramas, slice of life, romance and all other genres that tend to be thoroughly driven by the characters for the simple reason that they tend to be my favorite animes. And, well, in terms of characters, Maquia holds quite a, if not the highest, high spot. And it seems only logic given how the anime works. You see the characters growing, so the character development that is usually done through flashbacks or other means of going back to the past are not necessary here as you are literally seeing all characters grow from children to adult. That means that the character development is close to complete, as you see all the important moments of their lives but get to live it at the same time as them and really gets you to like the characters a whole lot more. Along with that, although I'm not really sure whether what I'm about to say falls under Story or Character, the fact that you see the characters grow along the whole movie means you see their departures and deaths making it sad or at least gloomy, but it also makes you feel incredibly happy when friends that you had left at the beginning of the story reappear as adults, even if you saw them for only a minute or two before. For that simple reason, I consider this worth a 10/10 as i have just not seen anything better than that done before in terms of characters. Enjoyment and Overall: 10/10 I put those two sections together because, in my opinion, the only thing that genuinely matters in the end is whether you enjoyed it or not. As for me, this became my favorite anime of all times. What I seek from anime is a beautiful world that is close to ours while having its own uniqueness that will get me to either like or dislike the place depending on the director's wish. I seek to feel emotions that I would never get to experience in real life because it is too dull (at least mine is). I seek to cry my heart out, to laugh, to love; I seek from anime to make me experience "something else" without having to resort to an empty character like a lot of animes do. And Maquia fits perfectly in everything I seek. It allows you to experience the joys of the countryside, what life in the city feels like, what losing someone feels like, the anxiety and pain of a full-on war, the madness that is brought about through loneliness and the pain brought about by the loss of all you have.~~~ ~~~__Final Thoughts__~~~ ~~~Final thoughts, I am telling you, if not obligating you, to watch this anime. This is definitely a one of a kind movie that will probably not have something come even close to it anytime soon. If you don't like it, then don't like it. If you do like it, you're in for one of the most amazing journeys you've ever had through anime. Which is why, if you're not sure whether to watch this not, for my sake, and the sake of the huge quantity of tears i let run down my cheeks while watching this, give this anime a try. Go entirely through with it, because maybe you'll prefer the older characters to the younger ones, or maybe you'll prefer war to a calm and happy countryside story, So please, with all my heart, I beg you to watch this with all your focus.~~~ ~~~This ends this review, thank you for your time.~~~
_~~~This review doesn’t include any names, spoilers nor reference to any characters inside the movie, but it does have the various themes tackled by it, so if you wish to watch that movie without any hint of the various themes and topics, please do not proceed! But if you don’t mind, then you are welcomed to read further...~~~_ ~~~img220(https://www.pinclipart.com/picdir/big/53-530505_flower-drawing-png-tumblr-daisy-drawing-transparent-clipart.png)~~~ # There are no good or bad summaries for something that moves your heart to the fullest. _Maquia: When the Promised Flower Blooms_ is one of them. Teaching you kindness, patience, pain, happiness... It brings joy and sadness in a range of 2 hours. _Maquia_ has so much to show you. First of all, _Maquia: When the Promised Flower Blooms_ shows you the heart of a human in every shape: as a baby, as someone growing, as a mother, as a family, and as a whole society. It shows what love is capable of, and that love’s path is not always an easy, nor a pretty one. I also like how it reminds you that power -any kind of power, borrowed or acquired- comes with a price that you must be ready to pay for if you are not fit for it, and through every action, you must atone for it. I think this is a reminder that is good to take no matter what. Finally, even more than what is listed above, _Maquia_ depicts the struggle of a mother and what being a mum is, and thus through multiple points-of-view. This is probably what moved me the most, so many characters in this movie depict motherhood, and the meaning for each is slightly different which makes it beautiful -yet sometimes painful- to notice. _Maquia: When the Promised Flower Blooms_ moved me to tears more times than I would willingly admit, it brought me sadness and happiness but more than that, it healed me. _Maquia_ is a must-watch, no matter how emotional it is, there is just more to it than some tissues and a sea of tears, there is this final feeling of being one, complete, and having reached a state where you are full of something warm, with a lasting smile on the lips. There are so many movies or anime out there, but not so many can make you feel such a wide range of emotions in -only- 2 hours. I am not sure I could recommend any movies that would have as much of an impact as _Maquia_ had on me, but my favourite movie has always been _Kimi No Na Wa_ for showing more than what just meet the eyes, and for making you feel more than what you would ever expect of a movie that will only take a small amount of your time. In the end, I am happy with my sudden decision to watch Maquia, and I would recommend this movie to anyone that seeks comfort and healing. Also, I would personally tag that movie as a hurt/comfort one, but still, one to watch. ~~~img220(https://www.pinclipart.com/picdir/big/53-530505_flower-drawing-png-tumblr-daisy-drawing-transparent-clipart.png)~~~ In a nutshell, if you need to remember something before deciding if yes or not you should watch _Maquia: When the Promised Flower Blooms_, then remember that it will only steal a few of your time, and you can still ~~close it if you don’t like it~~. Okay, seriously now... _Maquia_ is going to show you love in every way, and to me, that is EXACTLY what makes it so stunning. So I do hope you will take the time to watch it. As kind advice, prepare some tissues beforehand and maybe -just maybe- a bit of your comfort food if you are a crybaby, but at the end of the movie, you won’t need any of it, your lasting feeling will be one comparable to the warmth of a hug, which in itself, isn’t bad at all. Good binge-watching!
~~~__Histoire 8,5/10__~~~ Nous suivons l'histoire de Maquia qui fait partie du clan des séparés un groupe de personne mis a l'écart et surnommé Iorph qui ont comme particularité de ne pas vieillir et de rester vivant très longtemps. Sa soeur Leilia, va se faire enlever pour procréer et avoir un enfant avec les capacité de ''immortalité''. On va se centrer surtout sur l'évolution de la relation Maquia et l'enfant quelle va trouver Ariel. Le problème est que elle na que 15 ans et sa ''race'' est détester elle va devoir changer de ville souvent et s'adapter. Le point fort est que on suit une progression de relation qui est vraiment agréable a voir, même du coté des personnages secondaire surtout Leila qui devient terriblement triste a cause du fait quelle ne peut pas voir sa fille. La chef de village leur a toujours dit que l'amour est source de solitude ce qui affecte effectivement par la suite car elle désire avoir une personne quelle aime soit sa soeur Maquia.. La relation entre elle et son fils se détériorent car il grandis et voient quelle n est pas sa vrai mère et que elle est différente des autres. Cependant il est toujours animé par le fait de protéger sa mère et de leur promesse fait qui étais de ne plus pleurer. La fin du film est vraiment le moment qui me fait dire que ce film rentre dans mon top : Ariel a rejoint l'armée et va devenir père avec son amis d'enfance Dita, celle ci accouche grâce a l'aide de Maquia et celle ci va aider son fils une dernière fois avant de partir après que une grosse discussion étais en cours elle se sépare de son fils.. Cependant il vont se retrouver quand Ariel est très vieux et va mourir devant sa mère une scène qui ma fait penser a Interstellar de Nolan. Ce qui ma brisé le coeur provient surtout du fais que Maquia se remémorent de toute sa vie avec son fils pour finir en pleure car elle a brisé le serment de pleurer.. Bref une forte dose d'émotion qui me beaucoup touchée __~~~Personnage 8/10~~~__ On va parler de Maquia,Leila et ariel Maquia est totalement perdu quand elle a elle adopte Ariel on voit une enfant terrorisé mais elle va changé tout au long de l’œuvre pour devenir une vrai mère qui est en paix avec elle la fin nous confirme bien que elle est tellement épanouie ça le fait chaud au cœur avec une fin qui déchire le cœur un bon personnage vraiment Leila elle incarne la solitude, on voit le manque d'affection dans ses yeux ce qui peut nous faire penser que Mme racine la chef du village avait raison ? l'amour apporte solitude ? et bien non. Maquia nous a montrer que elle apportent bonheur et gloire ( oui j'abuse) Bref leila arrive a sortir de se gouffre en passant d'une ainé admirable a une petit fille qui redécouvre le monde Ariel lui est l'enfant assez basique et dur avec sa mère c'est surtout voir ses états d'esprit changée et la fin qui est important sinon il étais très marrant a voir petit __~~~Art 8.5/10~~~__ A la fois on voit des paysages a couper le souffle a la fois du basique donc je ne peut attribuer une note plus élever il y a cependant des landscape magnifique ! __~~~Song 9/10~~~__ Wow les ost collent très bien mais surtout la fin et l'ending mettent la chair de poule on se sent transporté.$ __~~~Enjoyment 10/10~~~__ Une histoire tellement belle et pleine de nostalgie, l'amour maternel que se soit avec un lien de sang ou non est magnifique ça nous fais clairement pensé a notre enfance, quelle soit mauvaise ou bon et surtout que ont a que une seul mère et mème si ont grandis on change notre mère nous a vu changer. __~~~Overall ~~~__ ~~~8.8 ~~~
(TLDR Review at the bottom. Hopefully, that helped, in advance. Thanks for reading) (Note: This is a revamp of one of my MAL reviews. If you for some reason have a problem with AL reviews. You can go check out my MAL version). Obligatory Dream moment note: ~!Also, according to Anilist statistics, only a small percentage of people reading this review, are actually followed. So if you ended up liking this review, consider following, it's free, you can always unfollow later. Enjoy the review :)!~
My feelings on Mari Okada as a writer are... complex. She’s unquestionably talented, and the best of her works capture the raw vulnerability of intense emotion like few other storytellers can match. But even at her best, she’s incredibly messy. Every single show and movie I’ve seen from her- Anohana, Kiznaiver, O Maidens in your Savage Season, A Whisker Away, The One That Shall Not Be Named- makes frustrating choices that handicap the drama and lead to shockingly ill-advised story beats. Her adaptational work is more solid- Toradora and Wandering Son were both excellent- but her original scripts are evidence that she has some serious blind spots when it comes to writing. And sadly, the same is true of her first time directing a feature film. Maquia: Where the Promised Flower Blooms is a bold, ambitious work that does a lot of things very right, but it’s frustratingly imperfect in all the ways Okada works often are. At its best, it’s a movie is genuine, moving beauty. If only it was at its best throughout its entirety, we might have a masterpiece on our hands. The story takes place in a fantasy world, and it centers on the titular Maquia, a shy, weak member of a race of immortal beings known as the Iolph. These people stop aging as teenagers and live forever with eternal youth. Apparently, tapestries are a form of language among the Iolph, and they can encompass everything from letters to books to full histories. And they spend their whole lives weaving their memories into long tapestries as a way of recording how things have gone for them. They’re also encouraged not to go outside safety of their city; should an Iolph travel to the human world, they will surely experience some form of love there. And in time, when the object of their love grows old and dies, they will be left with nothing but sorrow. “If you love someone,” the elder often tells Maquia, “you will know true loneliness.” Thus the central question of the movie is posed: is it worth it for these immortal beings to experience life among mortals when every emotional connection they make there will one day be severed by time’s inexorable march forward? Sadly, Maquia finds that choice taken out of her hands when her city is invaded by the nearby human kingdom of Mezarte. Their king desires to conquer the Iolph people and make use of their immortality, both to sire a half-Iolph heir who will live forever and to preserve the lives of the Renato. These Renato are ancient, eternal dragons, but lately they’ve been dying out from some mysterious illness, and now only a scant few of these incredible beasts remain alive, all of which are also held captive in Mezarte. The city is ramsacked, and Maquia barely makes it out alive. In the outside world for the first time, all alone, she happens to stumble across a newborn baby cradled by its mother’s corpse, another victim of Mezarte’s lust for conquest. Seeing in the human child a reflection of their own loneliness, Maquia decides to raise him as his mother, so that they may share each other’s strength in the face of life’s tragedies. Thus, the movie proper begins, and we spend the rest of it following the lives of Maquia and her adopted son Ariel. It’s the story of an unusual mother raising an unusual son, set against the backdrop of political turmoil as the kingdoms of man grow ever closer to war. So, good stuff first: I really love this movie’s fantasy world. It’s richly detailed and lived-in, with gorgeous settings from simple farmsteads to sprawling kingdoms. The story does a fantastic job selling you on the reality of these places; every location we visit feels like a place people actually live thanks to countless little touches and wordless worldbuilding that brings them to life. It also helps that this is a PA Works production, and you better believe they know their way around beautiful background art and setting design, especially on a movie budget. Maquia is gorgeous to look at from start to finish, and even the occasional use of CG doesn’t interfere too much. I also love how the fantastical elements are integrated, not just into the world itself but the story’s themes. As Ariel grows older and Maquia remains a teenager, their mother-son relationship grows increasingly complex as they’re forced to navigate increasingly thorny questions of what it even means to be a mother and son. What is it that defines their relationship, and how does that definition shift when only one of them is growing older? What, if anything, makes Maquia his mother, and how does she live up to that concept? How will their bond survive as he grows increasingly apart in age and she remains eternally fixed in time? It’s powerful stuff, and the mythic weight of the dying dragons subplot further emphasizes the themes of immortality, memory, endings and beginnings. These things are the heart of the film, and whenever it’s focused on them, Maquia damn near soars. Its title character riding one of the dragons, the warmth of her love for Ariel, his increasing inability to see her as his mother because of time tearing them apart, a pretty damn epic final battle when the political intrigue explodes into open warfare, all of it rendered with tenderness and awe in equal measure. And the lengthy post-climax epilogue, which brings Airel and Maquia’s story to a breathtaking conclusion, is worth the price of admission all on its own. If the final ten minutes don’t leave you a sobbing mess, you’re probably a heartless bastard. Unfortunately, the journey to reach that point isn’t always satisfying. There are a lot of confusing time skips throughout the story, where we’ll jump ahead a few years and see Maquia and Ariel in a new location and have little to no indication of how long it’s been, or where this place is in relation to the last place. At first, you don’t even realize some of them are timeskips until you put the pieces together from context clues. It’s needlessly confusing, and it leads to the movie’s flow being kind of disjointed. Even just a title card saying, like, “three years later” would’ve been enough to solve this issue. More critically, though, Maquia is meant to be a treatise on the power of motherhood, but its approach to that subject feels... misguided at times. There’s a subplot centered on one of Maquia’s Iolphian friends who is captured to become the king’s baby mama, and while the film acknowledges how awful it is that she’s been forced into this role, it also portrays it like the child born from this awful situation is the only thing keeping her from falling apart. Like, she’s imprisoned and kept from seeing her child, and she understandably starts breaking down from the sheer trauma of it all, but it’s presented like the thought of seeing her child is the one thing still giving her hope. She even chooses not to escape with Maquia when she’s pregnant, and it’s really uncomfortable how it’s framed like her being pregnant is something that binds her to the person who impregnated her. Even when she finally escapes at the end after meeting her daughter for the first and only time, it’s framed like this was a precious memory she’ll weave into her tapestry and never forget, and... no! No, it really doesn’t need to be! This child was a product of _rape_. She has no obligation to keep it, to feel obligated to it, to stay with the man who raped her as if motherhood was a shackle she had no choice but to endure. And what’s doubly bizarre is that Ariel is never framed as being “less” of Maquia’s son just because he’s adopted, so the movie clearly understands that biological bonds aren’t the be-all-end-all of parenting. So why the hell does it make this other character’s story revolve around her undying love for a child she’s never met, born from violation and assault, and treat that bond as equally important to its understanding of motherhood? It doesn’t make a damn lick of sense. And that discomfort is ultimately what kneecaps Maquia. There are other minor problems- there’s little sense of spatial awareness to the world and characters kind of teleport between scene with no sense of how long it took to get from point A to point B, some side characters feel underdeveloped, Ariel doesn’t always feel like a realistic kid in the first chunk- but as a story explicitly about motherhood, the fact it ends up feeling so creepy about motherhood is a thorn I can’t shake off. If you cut that subplot, Maquia and Ariel’s story works just fine on its own, but its presence taints the waters and muddies a picture that should have been crystal clear. If this is what Maquia thinks of motherhood, I don’t know if that’s a version of motherhood worth honoring. Which is Mari Okada’s issue in a nutshell; however good her works are at their best, her writing always steers into problematic territory that infects her messages with an unpleasant aftertaste. This movie is still excellent at its best, but I can’t fully give myself to it when part of its ethos is so obviously _wrong_. And combined with the more tangible storytelling flaws I mentioned earlier, it turns what should have been a slam dunk into a “good, with caveats.”
Maquia has to be the most letdown I have ever been by an anime movie. It isn't really due to the fact that it was overhyped, even thought that did play a factor into my disappointment. It was mainly because I genuinely liked it. This movie suffers from a lack of focus. The strongest aspect of it is easily the parent-child relationship between Maquia and Ariel. How Maquia and Ariel's relationship develops perfectly represents how parental bonds grow over time. Maquia and Ariel got the spotlight for most of the movie, and helped me ignore the fact that most other aspects of the story ranged from mediocre to bad. Way too many of Maquia's side characters and aspects of its world feel like they are given little focus. The movie kept on piling new side characters and worldbuilding details, so that most of these new aspects of the story got their time of day. In a TV series, expanding the horizons of the world like this would actually work to its benefit. There is a lot more time to flesh everything in that format, so that things don't feel rushed. But this isn't a TV show. This is a movie. Movies have to be as concise as possible, so they can't waste time adding new elements to the story. This problem eventually ends up being the movie's downfall, but I could ignore it in the first 70 minutes, mainly because it was pushed into the background. Maquia and Ariel's relationship was so intriguing to watch, that it didn't exactly matter to me that this problem even existed. This was the case, until the final third. The last 40 minutes ruined any enjoyment I had for this movie. All of the unnecessary additions to the story come to the forefront of the film. Characters like Lillia had the conclusion of her character arc, but there was a lack of any of the convincing buildup required to get to that point. Dita is thrown in out of nowhere, where she is suddenly introduced to give a last minute conflict involving her and Ariel's baby. Krim's character is so poorly explained, that any time that he had on screen left me confused. There was a war going on in the background of the climax, but there was no setup for the war actually happening. I don't even think I know the name for the opposing side. Everything managed to feel forced in such a baffling way. While Maquia and Ariel's scenes were pretty touching, it couldn't salvage the mess that was happening around them. As a whole, this movie felt extremely betraying. With a lot of movies and TV shows that I dislike, I know that I won't like it from the very beginning, and it keeps that same consistent quality of bad throughout the whole thing. These type of cases don't exactly leave much of an effect on me. Movies like Maquia will always be the type of thing that will always bother me. The movie had so much going for it, but it botched it at the most important point. Maquia is a movie that had so much potential to be amazing, but it got bogged down by its many problems to the point that it became a mediocre one.
__[REVIEW] Sayonara no Asa ni Yakusoku no Hana wo Kazarou__ ___VERDICT: PERFECT 10/10___ I will try not to include spoilers in most of the review, but there will be quite a lot that I have to talk about which impacted me very emotionally. __Visuals - 10/10__ No words can describe how fluid and beautiful the animation for this movie was. In the beginning of the film, I thought there were going to be stutters here and there because no animator can keep up this consistency of charm and elegance. Boy was I wrong. Every single frame was drawn to perfection, colors bursting out the seams ready to embrace me in their warmth and allure, yet it was never too much in one scene. Small details like the reflections of buildings in the water and the yellow incandescent lighting in the taverns and Maquia's house perfectly captured the feel of a medieval environment. I would say one of the most notable things in the artstyle was that sometimes I couldn't see the character's noses, but that's quite a minute detail that I feel anybody would ignore from an otherwise amazing movie. __Story/Plot - 7/10__ Not to say that the movie isn't worth watching, but most of the story was quite all over the place in my opinion as the movie didn't quite have enough time to focus on every 'arc' in the story. The writers resolved that with mighty time skips which I thought were appropriately placed, but there were still times that I had to pause the film to be able to make sense of what was happening. Overall though, the central theme of motherly love and finding one's true 'hibiol' by experiencing the pain of parting is kept consistently throughout the movie which is mainly the reason why I'm not giving the story anything lower than a 7. __Sound/Music - 9.8/10__ These adjectives are only a fraction of how I feel about this movie's soundtrack; refined, dazzling, delicate, exqiusite, and pleasing. I can't even begin to describe how good of a job the composer did with the music in this film as it captured so many emotions that were a big part in the perfect 10 I gave this movie. Music during tense moments between Maquia and Ariel were masterfully placed, making the audience feel that everything was about to shatter right then and there. Softer and more lighthearted moments were accompanied by medieval instruments that sparked ecstasy in my heart comparable to that in Disney's Tangled. At the top of it all however, were moments of pure, raw emotion that I cannot express with words. Crescendos that make you feel nothing but a tightening in your chest and the pulling of your heartstrings, bombastic orchestral arrangements that completely and indefinitely engulf you in all the fervor of a child who loves his mother very dearly, and soft, sweet violins that compliment the insanity of it all perfectly. The only reason I didn't give this section a perfect was the fact that some sound effects felt out of place during scenes. __Characters - 10/10__ It is clear that the characters in this movie were very well thought out by the writers as everyone had a logical way of going their own path and making their own decisions. As the movie is about Maquia and Ariel, some side characters did feel a bit underdeveloped, yet were written well enough with their own personalities that they weren't bland pieces of cardboard moving across the screen with the main character. Ariel's character development was superb and Maquia's was even better. __Personal Enjoyment + Conclusion__ This movie blew me away. I had never felt this intensely about a film ever in my life and that is something to write home about. Never had I ever imagined that a movie about legendary race of immortals being destroyed and one of the survivors saving a child in the outside world would impact me to this extent. ~!I found myself rewatching the ending scene where Maquia says she'll break her promise over and over and over again, and I found myself crying to it every single time. Don't even get me started on the scene where Maquia had to experience the pain of having to watch her only son die AND HER WRAPPING THE TOWEL WHICH SHE USED TO WRAP BABY ARIEL WHEN SHE FIRST CAME TO VILLAGE.!~ Overall, this was an amazing film that I recommend everyone watch, even if you're not accustomed to anime or how stories are told through it. 10 outta 10 will definitely watch again.
When I first heard about _Maquia: When The Promised Flower Blooms_, I knew it was going to be something special. I mean, not to diss anime as a whole, but these days, a lot of anime seem more focused on fan service and putting characters in dumb, sexual situations for kicks and giggles over telling riverting stories involving compelling characters you can care about. Thankfully, though they're far fewer in number, they're still being made. Whether they're movies or TV shows or just short OVAs, genuinely good anime are still there, especially the ones that really remind you of what makes anime truly amazing. _Maquia_ is definitely one of those anime. I admit, I'm kinda torn about this one, because it has everything I love in a good anime and is very beautiful, but it does have a lot of flaws that prevent it from being a true masterpiece in my eyes. The story centers on a woman named Maquia, who hails from a clan of people who stop aging physically when they turn 15 years old. She lives a peaceful life in the village of Iorph with her friends and family. However, everything changes when an army from the Mezarte Empire attacks her village. Maquia manages to escape, but her friends aren't so lucky. One of them, Leilia, is kidnapped by the royal family for the purpose of creating an immortal heir, and others go missing. As she's lost in her grief, she comes across a newborn baby whose family was killed in the onslaught. Taking pity on it, Maquia decides to raise the baby as her own, naming him Ariel. But she knows full well that unlike her, Ariel will grow up and age, and in the process of learning to be a mother and raising him, she's intent on finding her friends and making it through the Mezarte Empire unnoticed by those who hurt her friends. Full truth: _Maquia_ was actually P.A. Works first feature-length animated movie, but you wouldn't know it just by watching. Seriously, the animation is absolutely stellar. The background art is lush and beautiful, from the light reflecting off of tranquil waters to antiquated stone buildings that depict the Iorphs' home as a land frozen in time. Everything absolutely oozes with vibrance and life. The way the characters move is so fluid that you feel like they'll pop right off the screen. This is especially true in every scene involving a tavern, and there's one part where some of Maquia's patrons slam their wooden spoons on bowls, cups, and tables like they're drums during a happy hour. To me, that part alone was the most well animated scene in the entire movie. Plus, the war scenes are very striking and hyper detailed, with no single character being little more than a gray blob in the background or a still frame used to save costs. There's always something going on in the background, making the world of _Maquia_ feel so much more alive. The music also helps in not only capturing the medieval feel of the movie's setting, but setting the mood for every scene, especially the big, heavy, emotional parts that are sure to strike a chord in anyone. Each track feels distinctive and unique, even with similar instruments being used over and over again. The characters are where things start to get kind of...mixed. Don't get me wrong, I loved the whole ensemble, and every character brings something to the table, so in that aspect, they're all great. Maquia herself is a very good main character, even if she doesn't look or act like it. She's a young, frail woman who's very sheltered and doesn't always know what to do. She's not snarky, sassy, physically strong, or even very complex, but she goes through some pretty bad things and still manages to be true to herself and be herself even in the face of adversity. Several other characters are admittedly rather one note, and since this is a movie, there's only so much time you have to develop the characters. Plus, the movie's themes involving the passage of time means you see them change over the course of the film. Some changes are good, and some...not so much, what with Ariel being more sullen and moody as a teenager. Still, I loved all of the characters, though I did think the Mezarte family seemed a bit too stereotypically evil. Unfortunately, as much as I absolutely want to exalt this movie as a full blown masterpiece, I can't deny that it has some pretty significant logical problems that really hurt it. First of all, the Renato dragons. What's their deal? The whole Red Eye issue was never resolved, the movie doesn't really explain what Red Eye is and why it makes them go berserk, and it seemed like the Renatos were just used as living props to move the story and characters forward rather than being characters in their own right. Plus, with the movie's themes involving the passage of time, it tends to jump around a lot from time period to time period without really clearing certain things up. For example, Ariel gets bullied by a girl named Dita early in the movie, but later on...out of absolutely nowhere, ~!it's revealed that somewhere down the line, he met back up with her, married her, and she's pregnant with his kid. What?! This raises a crap ton of questions. How did he meet back up with her? What made them fall in love and get married? Why would Ariel want anything to do with her after she bullied him so long ago?!~ This comes right out of nowhere with zero explanation, and the movie doesn't try to establish how they got together, and its haphazard pacing in this regard, and in other scenes, really hurt the movie. However, I consider the film's biggest flaw to be this one scene in the end, where a certain character acts completely out-of-character despite her earlier depiction. I won't go into spoilers, as that's not allowed, but this character is repeatedly stated to love another person, but when they actually see said person again, they just leave and forget about them, like she never even cared about them in the first place. Not only does this completely go against her characterization in the movie, which is just bad writing IMHO, but her actions actually have a lot of really dark ramifications that I don't think Okada and the other writers caught on to when making it. I know a lot of people complain that Okada's anime tend to be melodramatic and heavy handed, which I can get behind, but I think those elements not only worked in the movie's favor here, but were much more reigned in this time around. That one scene I mentioned does leave a pretty nasty aftertaste in an otherwise great movie. I used to watch Doug Walker/Nostalgia Critic's reviews, and one specific moment in his _Snow White_ mini-review for Disneycember spoke to me. He described _Snow White_ as being a movie that doesn't show you what you logically or ethically want to see, but what your emotions want to see. In that aspect, Maquia is basically this in a nutshell. The movie is absolutely fueled to the brim with emotion, practically bursting at the seams, often times at the expense of pacing, character development, and plot threads that really need to be resolved, so it's not always for the better. I think most of the movie's problems can be attributed to the fact that it seems like it'd be better fit for a TV series than a movie, that way many of its plot threads can be tied up and many of the subplots getting more screen time than the medium of films allow. Is _Maquia_ a perfect movie? No. Is there room for improvement? Oh, hell yes. But in all honesty, _Maquia_ is still a genuinely great movie filled with a lot of heart that'll definitely resonate with anyone, whether they're a parent or not. I'd rather watch a flawed but still good movie over a straight up bad movie overall. While not without its problems, for Mari Okada's directorial debut, I think she hit a home run with this one. If you're looking for a good movie that'll grab you by the feels, then this is the one for you. Just have a box of tissues handy.