PDA

View Full Version : Napping Princess (Kenji Kamiyama)



Philip J. Fry
12-11-2017, 05:42 PM
https://westsidetoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/Napping_Princess_poster.jpg

Trailer:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JWXnyjYrhhY

IMDb (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt5731132/) / wiki (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Napping_Princess) / RT (https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/napping_princess) / Metacritic (http://www.metacritic.com/movie/napping-princess)

Official website (http://wwws.warnerbros.co.jp/hirunehime/)

Philip J. Fry
12-11-2017, 05:44 PM
https://i.imgur.com/plZ3jJW.jpg

Napping Princess: The Story of the Unknown Me.
Kenji Kamiyama, 2017.

Original title: ひるね姫 〜知らないワタシの物語〜 (Hirune Hime: Shiranai Watashi no Monogatari). Also known as Ancien and the Magic Tablet.

Synopsis: 20 minutes into the future (ok, more like two and a half years), Kokone, a vivacious high school girl dreams of Heartland, a fantastical realm which revolves around cars and a magic tablet. However, as time passes, her dreams start to mirror events happening in real life just as her father is arrested with the help of a corrupt executive of a car company.

How does it look? Looks good. Good detail in the backgrounds, nice use of color and the dream sequences are really good, plus it has some killer long tracking shots. Also, the character designs, particularly of Kokone look slightly more distinctive to the ones you see nowadays in anime films like A Silent Voice or Anthem of the Heart.

What did I like? Kokone is a lively character! Always smiling, always positive and full of imagination, she is a solid anchor for a film that at times seems to struggle a little too much with it's parallel stories. She's cool and has nice chemistry with her friend and sidekick Morio.

What didn't I like? Meh at that villain. Another grinning obviously evil, semi-hammy bad guy which isn't all that interesting.

Final thoughts: Kamiyama is still a very good visual director (can't wait for him to go back to GITS!) and this film is probably the warmest thing he's ever done without being cheesy. However, the two parallel stories at times make the plot of the film at times too muddy, as if it were all falling apart leaving me at times saying, "wut???"

Solid little film nonetheless.