English Dub Review: Ninokuni

Our Take:

Ninokuni is every isekai/fantasy trope wrapped up in the Studio Ghibli aesthetic and they hope that the aesthetic will distract you from the fact that the story isn’t interesting at all.

It starts out pretty standard, there’s a love triangle between Haru, Yu, and Kotona, and when Kotona is stabbed by a fantasy assailant, they realize that there’s a parallel fantasy world to their own. The two boys then go on their way trying to figure out what’s the difference between the two worlds, how Kotona and the princess that looks exactly like her are connected, and how they can save both worlds. The fantasy world is lovely to look at, but it doesn’t really offer anything new; it’s just typical modern fantasy, which is a shame. Fantasy is fun, even if it uses very common building blocks, because they can construct a different world. Even if they look similar, maybe something about the types of creatures that live there, the kind of society that exists, something can distinguish them from the rest. Everyone has their own take. I didn’t feel that here; I felt like I had seen this all before, but better. It feels very cookie-cutter, and there isn’t anything particularly special about how the fantasy world stands out.

I can’t really explain what tired me out so much about this, because it’s not like the story didn’t have a sense of urgency in its plot. Kotona and the princess’ life is in danger constantly, and the country routinely teeters on the brink of war. There’s magic, battles, and a murder conspiracy theory, and yet I was incredibly bored the entire time. For some reason, how they delivered the story felt too slow, too dull, too unimportant. Haru and Yu are supposed to be close, even if they’re love rivals, but it feels like most of the time they don’t really have much of a dynamic. If they’re friends, I want to be sold on it; I don’t want to just have it told to me. From how it comes off, they just seem to be okay with each other, but nothing indicative of a closer relationship. That’s honestly a real shame, because what makes Ghibli storytelling so much fun is the simple but close bonds the character can have, and I didn’t feel any of that here at all.

Also, I know Haru is a jock and doesn’t know the rules of fantasy, but he really takes some levels of stupidity in the middle. He doesn’t believe that the other world is real, just a dream, so he makes to have fun with it. He doesn’t take it seriously, but when he does, he jumps to conclusions. Okay, people make mistakes, and there’s nothing bad about characters being wrong. But then Haru takes advice from someone so obviously evil, from the aesthetic down to what they’re saying and really, Haru? You’re just going to trust this person who’s obviously shady? Just because Haru is a jock and doesn’t know isekai doesn’t mean he hasn’t interacted with just about the majority of popular media out there– like, you’ve never seen a movie before, Haru? It doesn’t come off as desperation as it does, you should really know better, and that drags down the betrayal scenes a lot. It doesn’t feel like two people fighting on the wrong sides for the same thing, but rather Haru being incredibly stupid.

The animation, however, is extremely good. The film’s director, Yoshiyuki Momose, used to work in Studio Ghibli, and it shows. The aesthetic is very similar, but the animation is also smooth and lovely to watch. It’s very visually striking and beautiful, and I had a fun time looking at it. It’s a shame that the story was so muddled and dull that I couldn’t enjoy the concepts the animation were telling. Maybe the movie is better seen on mute, but no doubt, this is where the effort was placed. And it shows– it’s really visually gorgeous to take in. Unfortunately, just being pretty isn’t enough for a good watching experience. Maybe the games are better, but whatever’s here sure isn’t it.

All in all, skip it.