Welcome to the Space Show
I’m trying out a new format for movie review posts, so tell me how you like it! They’re arranged by alphabetical order, not by importance or anything haha. The subtitles are just some of the important factors I take in when considering each section, but not all. For example, for plot, I would also consider originality and enjoyment.
Unfortunately it took me about a year to watch this movie after I downloaded it (crazy, right?) but I regret stalling for so long. Originally 2Shea was going to review this, who probably would have done a much better job, but he’s busy with his kickass site, OtakuConnect. You should sign up and add the awesome Seki-Dan ;D
If you ignore everything I wrote and just look at the screenshots provided (lots of them are provided under the “Show v” tags), which I’m sure quite a few readers do anyway because damn I wrote a lot, you will want to watch this movie! The art alone is worth watching. It is a visual overload of colors, cuteness, imagination, and scenic mastery.
There’s a new location practically every other five minutes, a new scene and a new colossus of small and large details and designs in the background, foreground, and everything in between. The setting of space and its separate communities are an adventure on their own. I mean, holy Cow and Chicken! I wanted to pause all of the time to take screenshots of everything—
—except for the main (human) characters themselves. They’re not horridly animated but once in a while they do have a derpy face, odd-looking poses, and awkward movements. Also, there’s some CG they tried to sneak in there, darn it. Otherwise, the overall art production of the movie is amazing. I’m tempted to give it a perfect ten, for their backgrounds alone, in space, Earth, the kids’ rooms, anywhere.
★★★★★★★★★☆
There are some weeeeeird inter-species and age-gap relationships going on in here. Excuse me for being racist (there’s the human race and a bunch of alien races) but it did weird me out just a little bit… He’s a uni professor – and a dog – and she’s a child! That’s not the weirdest thing in anime but still, oh my good golly gosh. Not to mention that most of the relationships aren’t fully developed (Koji and Ink, for example, just happen).
The main characters also aren’t developed enough, at least not enough to become attached to. At least they’re written as children should be – curious, energetic, and individualistic – and voiced by a group of talented children instead of Hanazawa Kana, thank goodness. Noriko hardly does anything besides cry “Kiyoshi!” whenever she gets screen time, which gets annoying, but at the least you can see her insecurities just as you can see Kiyoshi’s maturity and Natsuki’s… Natsuki-ness. Unfortunately, aside from Noriko declaring, “I am strong!” near the end of the film, it’s hard to tell if she or any of the other kids develop by the end of the movie. Their bond is stronger than before, of course, but there’s no indication of maturing or learning a lesson.
The main characters have a little bit depth and have at least a bit of background, but the villains hardly have any depth to them at all, just a short background story and a desire to help the weak. What they’re aiming for exactly and how they’re going about it is confusing. Why exactly did you need to run a show to accomplish becoming a god? Also, if you’re trying to become a god, why are you bending to the will of a higher being?
The character designs, mostly of the nameless background alien-characters that fill up lots and lots of space, are amazing and awfully cute, and I wish most of the speaking characters could be that cute. We get a bunch of dogs, a giant cat thing that reminds me of Totoro, a striped tomato, a fish bowl, and a female Terriermon, who is the cutest character out of all the speaking characters. The aliens have a cohesive, plushy look and design to them, indicating that although there are loads of different races out there you can tell they’re all from the same movie.
★★★★★★★☆☆☆
Guess who sings the theme song for Welcome to the Space Show? An angel from the UK, Susan Boyle :) The tune and lyrics aren’t I-need-to-play-this-on-loop worthy but her voice is so lovely. Having it play with rolling greens and perfect blue skies on screen is a lot like Ghibli films and most anime and children’s movies in general, but it’s a safe bet.
The sounds of Welcome to the Space Show are just like the movie – a variety of sounds and audio effects from classical to zany. They’re a bit understated compared to the art and to the action, but not overwhelming (like Shutter Island, which played overly dramatic music while showing a bunch of people gardening… hilarious, though probably not what they were going for).
★★★★★★★★☆☆
Welcome to the Space Show has a good plot. Boil it down and it basically makes sense, everything is connected and there are no loose ends — it’s simple to understand, nothing in need of analysis. Ultimately, it’s pretty fun to watch, which is the most important thing in a movie. But the movie is long, and messily chopped up between characters. It feels a little slow at times, and I wonder if kids nowadays could really tolerate to watch all of it and keep track of everything that’s going on. Luckily, there are a few good action scenes and a bit of humor to keep the film from being too slow, and even a rather touching speech near the end. (Stuff like, “I want to be her hero!” always gets to me, haha.)
The movie has everything, as though it were trying to appeal to everyone, kids and adults alike – drama, action, romance, fight scenes, humor, adventure, even a car chase, because all movies need a car chase! (Not really.) What it’s missing is a good, strong message to take home, a theme to live by.
The theme is essentially the theme song – “Who I Was Born to Be.” Not-so-hidden in this coming-of-age adventure story is learning to grow up to become who you already are, and it feels a little shoved in there at times. It’s interlaced in the story fairly cohesively, but not subtle or reinforcing enough to make a deep impact. I don’t think the audience – or the characters themselves, really – learned anything or got a strong message from this adventure, aside from growing closer to each other and knowing what they want to be when they grow up (which they all sort of knew prior to the main conflict).
“I’m going to be a doctor,” one of the characters tells his mom.
“I already knew that!” the mom replies.
Asian parenting jokes aside, there’s nothing more depressing than having your fate predetermined for you, or being limited by your body or personality. Granted, that’s not exactly what Welcome to the Space Show is trying to say, but that’s my pessimistic view of it. Essentially, the nerdy know-it-all wants to be a space specialist (astronaut, astrologist, scientist, whatever), the cute and overly dependent girl wants to be pretty, the nice helpful guy wants to be a doctor, etc. House isn’t the nicest guy around, but he’s an arguably effective doctor (after getting the wrong diagnosis three times).
There are other little messages, such as the famous “All for one and one for all!” and how you should work hard yourself, not have others work for you. The villains have their own message too – it’s wrong according to the main characters, they’re pro-social Darwinism apparently – that almost keeps them from being cartoony villains with no depth. Regardless, any message falls flat.
★★★★★★★☆☆☆
Aside from all the nitpicking, I would recommend watching this movie. Even though it’s not the kind of movie I’d want to watch over and over again, it’s absolutely lovely to look at. Not simply the visuals, but the story is fun, imaginative, and adventurous enough to take you out to space and to throw you into a universe of almost chaotic colorful and creativity. Obviously it has its problems (What kind of alien calls himself an alien and his ship a UFO?), but while some aspects of the movie are fairly weak when assessed individually, as a whole it’s definitely worth watching.
Pros: strong visuals, great setting, fun to watch
Cons: weak characters, underdeveloped themes, messy pacing
★★★★★★★★☆☆
oh, my eyeees!! @_@
This movie looks really good!! The bright colours and weird looking monsters really attracted my attention. Graphics are the second most important thing i look for after the plot. Then again, if the story like is crap, i still watch it for the graphics ;D haha
oops, i just contradicted myself there…"orz
anyway, great post, Vivi! hope too see some more interesting movie recommendations! :D
My recent post Happy Birthday Shouko!
I totally get what you mean! XD but if I get bored then even if the art is nice I'll drop it… my attention span is kind of short haha
♥
I really like cartoons. And I am a fan of anime. The movie is also interesting to watch based on the comic strips above. I like the messages frrom the movie: “All for one and one for all,” which reminds me of three musketeers," and how you should work hard yourself, not have others work for you.
My recent post Gagner de l’argent sur internet – les vidéos partie 2
I like cartoons too XD
Ewww a child and a dog? xD Yet somehow I'm intrigued (*adds to the "to-watch" list* ) Well, either way I want to check it out because of that gorgeous scenery in your screenshots.
I'm loving the format :D Everything looks great!
My recent post The World God Only Knows 2 [10/11]
I loved this movie! So damn cool I saw it before watching Summer wars, really high production and amazing animation! I did find a few aliens to be strange but hey they are aliens! I wanted to have odd ball designs.
Everyone should watch this! And Summer wars <3
Another eye pleasing post. You guys should definitely do movies more often.
Anyways, even though the movie looks good, it not my kind of thing. Something about anime movies with kids makes me back up. :(
Jeebus that's one beautiful post Vivi :O You really should review more movies lol
For some reason all the movies you review are ones I never heard of. You're too indie for me haha
My recent post Blood-C/Double J [First Impressions]
This reminds me how I need to work hard on my art if I want to achieve something this visually awesome ;_;