User Reviews

This is definitely more than a pure animation. It's more like a movie, only an animated one. My emphasize here is on the word movie. Not because it has a brilliant colorful animation, that sometimes appears to be 3 dimensional, and sometimes 2 dimensional ( which is spectacular by itself). It has that. But I'm thinking of it as a movie because of high details. Actually, this is direction. When I watch animation, I don't really care who's the director of it. In fact, Until this one I forgot there is one in each animation like in every film. This movie is full of details that make it look much better than other animation. I'll mention some of them, that I found the most interesting.

1. Near the beginning of the movie, there is a scene with a tunnel exit covered by a waterfall, that flows not quite as one could expect of it. You get an explanation of the irrational flow a couple minutes after, but isn't it amazing they thought about it? 2. Flies around a lamp. When was the last time you saw flies around a lamp (in animation), just as part of the view, because they attracted to light and not to portray something ( like trash site, bad smell, dirt or other metaphoric things that flies represent). 3. While Jay was entering the rebel zone a guard watched him through the optics of a sniper rifle. They could show us only the guard, without the mentioned aspect. But no, this is what a direction is about!!! 4. Jay's fight with the army's commander. Just watch the details.

I could possibly continue with some more examples,like shooting scenes from different angles and so, though those were the most vivid to me. Think about it. Think about they thought about it.

In one word the animation was excellent. In some words it was a tasteful mixture, with live colorful characters and places. I don't really think they could do it better. Both the 3 dimensional animation and the 2 dimensional looked awesome. I really don't agree with those who say that the latter was dull and poorly done. As I said, I don't think it could be done better.

Another aspect of this movie, that stroked me with it's uniqueness, at least from western animation, is the brutality and the naturalism. I don't know much animation (again western), where a gun was violently put against somebody's head, shooting it, and spilling the blood all around. I don't think this kind of violence is good or bad, but in a way it completes the movie. I just get the feeling that it's necessary. This also brings it closer to movies because there is some convention (unspoken) that animation is for younger audience.

Well, the movie is not all good. Like every other movie, the plot is a crucial thing. Wonderful Day clearly lacks one. It tries to be scientifically ingenious in it's main idea which makes no sense if one thinks about it (you don't really have to think, its obvious enough). There is another thing that bothers. This movie involves a drama among three characters, which at the end gets exaggerated and too emotional ( emotional not for the viewer but for the characters themselves). There are a lot of animated and non-animated movies with that kind of drama in them. Some of them pass this drama to the audience, while others try but fail. Wonderful Days belongs to the latter. It has a good revealing of the drama at the beginning and the middle of the movie, but in the end it disappoints.

Wonderful Days' flaws are minor compared to its highlights. I would recommend it to anyone who likes animation and is not disturbed with excessive violence.

My rating: 7.5/10

"Wonderful Day" is mostly an exercise of style over substance: The plot has some interesting elements and a great atmosphere of melancholy...But sadly most of the story feels flat and forgettable (Despite some memorable and beautifully animated sequences) Kind of like "Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within", except that this movie is a bit less boring and it have better characters.

The animation and the designs were pretty good (Despite some brief moments where the expressions in the faces of the characters turn a bit awkward) but overall, the combinations of traditional animation, CGI and miniatures have an incredible looking appearance. The sceneries are beautiful and the movements of the characters are pretty fluid and well done.

If only the plot were as good as the animation...Well I guess it could have been a much worse...This could have been something preachy or emotionless (Like "Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within") Despite the boring and melodramatic parts of the story, "Wonderful Days" it's something worth watching, at least for the excellent quality of the animation.

WONDERFUL DAYS (2003) Directed by Kim Mun-saeng, this is a stunningly designed and rendered flat animation/CG/model hybrid that only wants for a better story. Despite it's box office failure (still the most successful Korean animated film to date I heard), it's bodes well for future endeavours in the genre. At it's core, its about the `haves' in an environmentally-polluted future world plotting to wipe out the `have-nots' so they can replenish the dwindling energy supplies to their self-contained megacity. Fortunately, the have-nots have a brooding outcast on their side who knows how to put things right. The 2-disc Korean DVD is packed with extras, as is an expanded 3-disc Korean DVD. The films does, I might add, improve greatly on repeat viewings. I give it an 8, largely for artistic merit.

This has become one of my absolute favourite films.

I rented the German dubbed version, which is quite nicely done, apart from some sentences that seem to short for genuine German conversation (our phrases are usually 20% longer than, say, English phrases ... something seemed to be missing in the dub).

The story is nice and a little mysterious, but it is very important to realize that the film tells quite a bit of it with images alone - no dialogue, no narration. Just these absolutely stunning images.

I almost screamed in joy in the scene early in the flick where Shua and Jay sit, handcuffed together, him holding a gun to her face, in front of a beautiful Christian church glass artwork in this museum ("time capsule room"), and just the image tells the audience so much (and yet so delightfully little at the same time!), making this a scene without any dialogue was the best the film makers could have done.

There is so much imagery. They really figured out how to blend excellent Gothic and oriental architecture with the industrial cyberpunk setting of the slums around the city Ecoban, and they made not only every second of it count, no, they give you gratuitous flights and motorcycle drives through the wonderful, desolate landscape that you sometimes wish would never end.

All in all, a film with a definite 10/10 visuals, a 9/10 story, German dub quality 8/10, a soundtrack that's easily a 10/10, and subtle but decent sound effects, 7/10.

The best movie, in my opinion, that I have seen this year.

Sky Blue or Wonderful Days? It's obvious the former is the superior title for this film as it actually has relevance to the plot and the revelations within. Regardless, Sky Blue (or Wonderful Days) is an extremely engaging Korean (dare I say it without having negative responses plastered over my review?) 'anime' which is just absolutely ridiculous in its ability to leave you awe-struck with the beauty it possesses. Created over a seven year period Sky Blue fuses together computerised technology with a hand drawn elements to create something which can be said to be unique, then you have to wonder what they were doing over this seven year period in terms of scripting. That is certainly not unique.

There is much to love with Sky Blue on your first viewing, as I will testify to. It is engaging beyond belief on premiere, the story rings true, you identify with characters you become emotionally attached. The action sequences are sumptuous and I cannot describe the animation enough because it is simply gorgeous, incredibly detailed with a feel to it which is so fresh, new and vibrant it knocks the stuffing out of "comedic" ogres and talking fish. However, hindsight being that wonderful tool it is the realisation occurs in the aftermath of this film, rising through the cloud to shine bright into your mind, that the plot is no better than that of talking fish and kittens in shoes because it is so mind bogglingly generic. We've seen it all before, and yes there is a school of thought which says that being generic does not mean it is never going to be spectacular, I can agree with that, but you cannot base a premise of giving this film ten out of ten purely on the animation, the story must accompany it and unfortunately it falls slightly flat. There is nothing offencive or intrusive about the plot, as I stated it is engaging, but there have been far too many films in which we have seen these sequences played out with the same results time after time after time.

Empire claims this to be "Akira For The 21st Century", I'm sorry but no. For one there is a notable lack of philosophy for that claim to even be levelled at this film. Yes characters have views, opinions and mantras which they go through, but the "philosophy" is far too one- dimensional, working on one premise alone, for that claim to even contain any grounding in reality, let alone virtual. However, having said that, this film manages to achieve what the Wachowskis could not in their third instalment, a means to conclude a story with dignity. Yes we have seen Sky Blues plot line before, yes it is generic, but somehow you end up liking this film regardless, it has too many plus points, too many saving graces. Our three protagonists love triangle is (insert the word of the day here) but is still emotive enough to draw you in, and the subsidiary characters provide little quirks with enough sparks of life and freshness to allow you to settle in and feel at ease with the film.

When using the tools of hindsight and criticism combined you realise that this film, for all its faults, is hugely entertaining and at the end of the day, that's what they've set out to achieve. The director has created a film which is fun, exciting, action-packed, thoughtful and above all just incredibly beautiful, and even an average plot can be pulled up from the wasteland when fused together with originality on other levels. Sky Blue is a revelation in animation and in its own way is an Akira for the 21st Century. Where Akira broke Japanese animation into a Westernised world, Moon Sang Kim and these creators from Korea have pushed forward their own brand of animation saying to Hollywood "anything you can do, we can improvise on better", and that alone deserves plaudits. Expect to be dazzled and prepare to enoy but be ready to come out expecting a whole lot more.

... than it could've matched the animation. But as it is, unfortunately it only looks good! But then again, that's more than other movies achieve I guess.

That's not to say, that the idea of the story was bad! Quite the contrary, I thought it was quite nice and maybe if they had worked a little bit more on it, it could've been great. But as it goes, this will leave you with the feeling that you watched something beautiful, but will net get you into thinking about it. Or make you want to watch the movie again! Animes tend to be too complex (packing to much story in as little time as possible), this one is also too light on the story side ...

Well, reading all these interesting comments above made me think.... First of all,i have to say that i loved Wonderful Days. A lot. The art is gorgeous, yes, i think this is the one point everyone can agree upon, hands down. Now, concerning the storyline itself....

I think there should be some clarification, especially for all those poor ppl who must have watched this in English (either subtitled or dubbed). Those who did the translations deserves to get hanged. and i mean it. i own the special edition 3-disc original Korean DVDs and have also watched both the subtitled and dubbed versions. It actually feels like i'm watching 2 completely different versions of the story! The original korean version has a much more interesting (not the greatest, but definitely superior and full of nuances)script and explains the story quite well, unlike the English versions that either skip entire parts of dialogues (which are essential to understand the movie *_*) or change their meanings into something totally different and just plain wrong! And someone mentioned that some characters' names weren't mentioned in the movie till the very end. Well, i can tell you that the names (except that evil adjudant(?)) are mentioned quite early in the beginnings, but mysteriously, NOT in the English versions O_o ! I'm on the verge of thinking that it must be some sort of conspiracy to ruin this otherwise great movie... I suggest you watch the korean version....or get a korean friend to actually translate you the real lines, instead of getting confused at the horrible English sub/dub.

anyway. oh, and i honestly don't understand all those who say that the story wasn't original,good enough,etc etc. i mean, it might not be the most mind-boggling thing on earth, but the twists are original enough to set it wiiiide-apart from your average anime/movies where all you have is 90 minutes of explosions, punches, boobies, and some supposedly dramatic ending (that ppl apparently find "original").

For those of you who still think the story isn't well explained in the movie...well, there's always the novelized version that came out in Korea (no English versions, sorry) that gives all the background story between the characters and all. Like what really happened in Shua & co.'s childhood, the characters' motives, blah blah...

Boy, is this review getting longer and longer....

A final word... considering the depressing situation in Korea (let's just say that animation/comics are ignored by most and the market terribly limited) the creators and all those who worked on this film did an unbelievable job. I really hope things get better back there, cuz it's not the skills they lack, but public support and funding.

oh, i guess i have to rate this thing. 10/10 for the story (9/10 for the actual flow), 10/10 for the art, 15/10 for the efforts lol.

Ordinarily I wouldn't spend a great deal of time reviewing a movie, but the amount of hype and bragging that was contained in the DVD pamphlet taunted me into doing this.

If you read the DVD description it describes this as a cinematic masterpiece 7 years in the making which stands to rival Akira. Let me assure you that it doesn't. In fact to even say that is an insult to everything about Akira.

The effects are quite impressive however the animation of the actual characters leaves a lot to be desired and the story line is just about the most predictable piece of rubbish you could ever imagine.

See it if you have to but please don't waste money on this.

Great great movie...tech-wise. Ok, granted it's not the most elaborate or original of movie plots. It's the eternal story about love and jealousy, power and corruption, good and evil but it has got a Miyazaki twist to its story, or at least tries to emulate the master, rather unsuccessfully I might add. The animation is like nothing I have seen before though, and I HAVE seen Final Fantasy. Main problem: the characters are poorly developed, if not at all. And the story doesn't grab you by the collar and throw you in its world, so you're always "aware" of the animation, it being the masterpiece that it is... But again, it's a movie well worth seeing, some shots will even make your jaw drop and eyes bulge, that's how much the scenes are beautifully drawn and animated. The authenticity of the "small" things (rain dropping pattern, eyes watering) is what I personally marvelled at more than anything else. Oh, and an out-of-this-world soundtrack to top it off, with some exquisite pieces that matched the moods perfectly. It was the only thing that really "sucked me in" a few times... All in all, it is a very promising start to all-korean animations.

Don't discriminate others for their social status and pollution is bad for you. That is, to the full extend, everything this movie has to say.

Oh, and that Production I.G. (Ghost in the Shell: Innocence) aren't the only ones who can incorporate 3D and 2D animation like nobody's business.

The animation, yes, is beautiful. There's some shots in this movie, that are so complicated and complex, a less dedicated production team would've just given up on.

There are several shots that seemed unnecessarily cheap though, where they simply took shots of 'real' rain and cloud and mixed it in with the animation. Looked bloody awful.

Other than the animation, there's really nothing much to talk about, expect how incredibly boring and unoriginal the story, character, and theme were.

If you're looking for an anime film with intelligence, go for 'Ghost in the Shell: Innocence'. If you're looking for one with a touching story, go for 'Tokyo Godfathers'. If you want a better one about saving the environment, go for 'Princess Mononoke".

If not for the damned good animation, there's really no other reason to go for 'Wonderful Days'.

I'm a fan of Sci-fi movies but I'm not going to recommend this movie to anyone and I almost fell asleep in the middle of it. As a Sci-fi genre, there is no futuristic technology to marvel at - just illogical and unexplainable pieces of equipment flying about. As a drama, the story telling is just not credible and lack depth. It gets frustrating to see this Jay character appearing at the most 'convenient' moment to make things happen. As a love story, there is no chemistry. No comedy, no mystery, no thrills, no suspense. It's pure eye-candy sprinkled with some fighting scenes. It's just a story about good versus evil. The evil being organized with leaders and a well equipped army; the good is an untalented loner with the help of a misfit gang. That's how bad the story can be.

Despite never hearing of the film prior to watching it, the opening sequence alone had me hooked. Great visual design, and vehicle animation complemented nicely by a soundtrack that has just the right mix of classical, neo rock, and new age allows this film to surpass similar Animated/Computer Generated feature films. While the story isn't the most innovative amongst Science Fiction anime, it has its high points particularly in the beginning and conclusion. The director shifts perspectives from action scenes towards slower paced dramatic scenes before returning to the action for an excellent tempo. The use of flashback also helps to fill in the backgrounds of the characters.

The use of methodically paced travel sequences coupled with superb music would really have to be experienced on the big screen preferably with Digital Light Processing(DLP) to fully appreciate its beauty.

Fans of the Animatrix, Titan A.E., and Princess Mononoke would probably enjoy this, but I wouldn't hesitate to recommend this to a broader audience because of its superb audio visual design, and landscape sequences. Worth Owning on Video for its high quality. Would be nice to see this given a professional transfer to DVD with known Actors much the way Armitage 2 and Princess Mononoke was given in Europe and North America.

I had absolutely no clue what to expect from this movie. All I had seen were those really cool posters and I'm glad to say that the actual animation of the movie is brilliant. It's an utterly seamless mix of live action, 3D CGI and traditional drawn images. A wonderfully detailed and beautiful world is created and it's highly atmospheric. A shame that the story ends up being crud.

In the future, thanks to major pollution, the world lives under constant rain that has destroyed civilisation to the point of near extinction. There are some folks who still live in luxury in a huge, self-contained city called Echo-Ban (why it's called this is anyone's guess) who take advantage of the peasants living in shanty towns out in the miserable weather.

Inside Echo-Ban there is this supercomputer that has a secret button that will blow a hole in the sky so big that the rain will disappear and sunshine will return. Yes, it's absolute total nonsense and silly science is all through this movie. You won't have a clue what anyone is talking about or what any of the hardware is. And why doesn't anyone simply press this secret button sooner? What is it about living under rain that the posh folks are willing to kill for? Still, it's miles better than that awful Final Fantasy movie. Just don't expect to remember it for very long. Nice try however, it's the story that lets it down.

The animation of this animation was really superb. But then again, I've always had a weak spot for huge post-apocalyptic structures.

But the story... it's so boring. I think it's because the story fails to capture the audience. You don't care for the good guys, and you don't care if the bad guys die or not. You just look at the pretty pictures, but even those become boring after 30 minutes.

Rating: 4/10.

I was completely hooked from the opening sequence, which is breathtaking. I'm not sure if I've scene a better combination of traditional 2D animation, and 3D animation in an animated film. It's simply stunning (My jaw literally dropped during of some the scenes). This movie is worth seeing just for the visuals alone. The story is by no means amazing, but it was good enough to keep me interested. It definitely could have been better, but it didn't stop from really enjoying this film. I should point out that I viewed the original Korean language English subtitled "Wonderful Days", and not the English Dubbed "Sky Blue".

8 out of 10. Korean animation has a bright future.

When science fiction-fantasy animation comes to mind, no doubt you'll look towards the land of the rising sun for definitive versions of the genre, and there are plenty of quality material to choose from, given the wealth of material and works by animators and filmmakers alike. Wonderful Days will mark my first Korean movie in this genre that deals with ailing worlds and its fair share of mecha-like vehicles to tickle the visual senses with its eye for detail.

Visually, the movie is stunning, especially when it combines 2D animation with a 3D world built from realistic models to give it visual depth, and spruced up with computer graphics. As mentioned, attention to detail is remarkable, and the fight sequences, even though the characters aren't using any fancy weapons, with very ordinary looking handguns as weapons of choice, they manage to thrill with its three-dimensionality and sheer energy that got translated seamlessly for the screen, and I can only imagine watching this on the big screen, where I will likely duck from objects being thrown about.

Impressive set action pieces that glue the movie together, but the story fell a bit short, as anime fans will likely be a little bit bored with the same-old storyline involving oppressive societies, exploitation of the weak masses, the arrival of a messiah to put things right, a love triangle, and something which I thought was topical for today, that of pollution. In the year 2142, the world is destroyed by an ecological disaster, and the remaining few of humankind live in an outpost known as the Ecoban, which curiously enough, pollutes the environment outside more as it maintains survivability inside.

The story felt a little bit like Vexille as well (along with a lot more other anime of this genre), with the rebels trying to infiltrate the Delcos system to stop further annihilation of slaves and their land in order to keep Ecoban running, and this brings our heroine Jay to come into contact with brooding ex-Ecoban colleague turned rebel Shua, You'd come to be one step ahead along the way as you slowly learn of their respective back stories, and just when you thought you could forgive its many plot elements which got introduced sans explanation, and bear with the characters for a bit, then came the operatic tragedy of a finale which somehow took away a lot of its shine, and dragged on so much that it's easy to condemn the movie thereafter with its clumsy dealing of the caricature-like antagonists, despite its superb animation.

But there's a saving grace. Ever since The Fountain, I haven't been able to be swayed that much by a movie's score, until now. The Wonderful Days soundtrack just carries the movie on its own, never mind the relatively weak plot, which received a tremendous boost by the emotive tracks that spoke volumes. In particular, I enjoyed the track "A Prayer", which surprisingly was in English and played at apt moments in the movie, and especially "Mars Theme", even though tracks of such nature are likely necessary to provide that additional emotional oomph which it delivered more than proportionately to the story.

A lot of people are knocking Wonderful Days because of it's fairly conventional story content. While I agree that it would of been a bolder choice to go for something a little more adventurous, and follow the examples set by writers such as Kazinori Ito (Ghost in the Shell, Avalon), you've got to remember that this film was a big risk because of it's budget. The story had to be kept straightforward in order to be appreciable to the largest possible audience. Korea basically wanted to put themselves firmly at the forefront of the anime market in terms of technology, and although wonderful days' plot feels a little basic, it really doesn't stop this film from striking a chord emotionally (helped by the incredible score), as well as wowing the viewer with it's technical brilliance.

I'd also like to mention that the film's background architecture and location shots are achieved primarily by shooting miniatures through a motion-control camera. An earlier review (think it was Mike M), mentions the "over" use of CGI, but never once concentrates on the miniature work that was used far more frequently than computer effects. Just thought I would mention this as the blending of the miniature models and cell animation is so well integrated that all the backgrounds could indeed be mistaken for CGI to the casual viewer. The only scenes that were 100% CG elements afaik were the Ecoban motorcycle scenes. It's really nice to see traditional anime-style mixed with CGI elements and also miniatures in such a perfect balance, and nothing ever looks out of place in Wonderful Days.

I loved Wonderful Days. It was genuinely beautiful to watch, had a fantastic epic score, and despite the simple story it still manages to hold the attention throughout. The production company (Tin House) really pulled out all the stops with the visuals, and I just hope this film does well in the global market. Hopefully then, we will start to see more high quality Korean anime with stronger plot and narrative. Great movie.

i was waiting a long time for this masterpiece. now that i've finaly watched it i can only confirm my assumption (the trailer was more then beautiful). the plot could be a bit better. luckily the animation and sound (music) make up for that. I can't realy remember a movie that has used such a unique technique. a must see for sure.

Movie: The story is strong and filled with interesting characters, yet despite the breadth and depth of the story the characters are kept light and you don't really feel as though you do anything more than scratch the surface of them, which is a real shame as they they seem as though they could be given so much more life and reality with some more backstory.

There were a couple of moments that didn't do the film much justice, one was that some of the character voices had the usual anime style of being just a tad over acted, and the others, which are all too typical in anime and manga, cute animals and unusually annoying children. It feels as if the film is pulling between two genres when these sort of styles are brought in. On one hand they are trying to create an adult themed cartoon, and on the other you have voices and characters straight out of Pokemon.

This bothers me, because if they had managed to focus on a pure adult animation then this movie would have increased in estimation, but although these failings are not bad enough to really harm the film they do affect it. Still, with all this there's something that just takes your mind away from it all the time, the visuals, they are stunning.

The backgrounds to just about all of the scenes look fantastic, and some of the sequences were stunningly created and looking really beautiful to the eye. Careful consideration has been taken about where to place the viewer, and how to recreate the actual movement of a camera through the scenes. Nowhere is this more apparent than the opening scenes with the bike racing through the outside world, it's a wonderful piece of animation.

Picture: Widescreen 1.85:1 Anamorphic: Very sharp and clear picture, the colours tended to be duller due to the nature of the story, but when colours arrived they were strong. During the fog scene there was very little evidence of the grading effect you see in lower quality encoded DVDs and digital signals, it was very smooth and you had to really look to see this effect. Overall an excellent picture reproduction.

Audio: Dolby Digital 5.1, DTS: The DTS audio was utterly brilliant being delicate, crisp and clear. During any action sequences the audio was loud and bold and very spacious, travelling around the speakers with the action. The full effects of DTS were used with audio coming from all around you, which was helped by the thoughtful positioning of the camera in regards the action and therefore where the sound and movement would be coming from. There was a good use of silence too which heightened the actual sound effects when they arrived. The soundtrack was wonderfully chosen and matched the movie superbly, with the final scenes elevated by the chosen operatic piece which was quite stirring.

Extras: None.

Overall: Although there are a few more annoying aspects of anime creeping in here with some not so strong voice acting and childish animation, overall the movie is good. What really makes it is the fabulous animation combined with the excellently visualised camera movement. It truly is a feast for the eyes, and when the DTS audio is layered above it you're sucked into the world so easily. Yet for all those good points the story is left quite light and brushed over, especially with the lead characters who are hinted at being deeper than they really are. There was so much to explore here and yet it's been ignored. Definitely worth a viewing if you are a fan of such movies, otherwise you might find this visual feast a tad less satisfying.

I was very privileged to see the world premiere of this at the Waterloo Film for Animated Cinema this weekend. The animation is absolutely amazing. They blended CGI with live animation, matte paintings, and video of miniatures, and accomplished what I say is easily the most amazing animation I have ever seen. In addition to this they managed to have a story that rivals the best of Japanese anime. This film proves that Korea is ready to start producing their own animation rather than just animate for other countries. Do yourself a favor and see this whenever you get the chance.

WONDERFUL DAYS is the first South Korean animation I have seen. The animation is, in a word, GORGEOUS. The story, on the other hand, is grossly lacking. It's not that the film doesn't answer questions, it just doesn't seem to care about supplying minor details like -- oh, the NAME of the third party in the story's core love triangle. You know, I would think giving the guy's name early on would be logical, but I guess not. We don't even know the guy's name until over an HOUR into this 85-minute movie. Other minor quibbles dominate the film.

But as animation, WONDERFUL DAYS is a winner. It is also supported by a fantastic and haunting soundtrack with some amazing choice songs. The type of stuff that makes you weak in the knees.

Now if only they could bother with the story...

7 out of 10

(go to www.nixflix.com for a more detailed review of the film)

I imported "Sky Blue" on Blu-Ray disc and payed quite a big sum of money, just going by the reviews on IMDb. Usually I blindly trust these user reviews and the rating... In this case though I was a bit disappointed. As a long time anime fan this film has its moments but overall doesn't impress. The CGI seemed outdated and the hand drawn animation fell short of most anime feature films I know. The story would be fitting for a 20 minute episode of some anime series, but certainly not for a feature film. It just doesn't grab you or makes you care about any of the characters. There is some action to be seen but even this doesn't seem to "work" because I just didn't care much for the characters.

The claim that this film was seven years in the making is certainly not justified by it's quality. But more likely by a hampering cash flow.

Perhaps because of the medium (Blu-Ray) some shortcomings were also clearly visible . There is a lot of "color banding" and even some pixelation of objects that were clearly not intended for the HD medium. I honestly cannot recommend this film... well, maybe as a rental.

Absolutely astonishing! Not only the magnificent scenes, but more of the integrity of the story line, the moral behind it, the CGI, and the romanticism (not to be mixed-up with man-woman relationship/love, I meant the classic definition of romanticism - sublime)!

Having read many mangas, seen countless anime as well as feature length films, I think this is, to an extent, the only one of its kind! Relating 'Sky Blue' to several analogous feature films, the former sees through the modernity and the implication of so-called civilization reflected from 'Ghost in the Shell' 1995, 'Innocence' 2004 and 'Appleseed'; the devastating consequence of being selfish, greedy and blind as typified in the classic 'Akira', 'Jin-Roh' and 'Final Fantasy Advent Children'; and the beautiful perception of human nature as seen in 'Castle in the Sky', 'Spirited Away', even in 'Monsters Inc.', and built an unforgettable masterpiece! Yet the combination is nothing ever dramatically, explicitly, realistically and beautifully expressed before!

Recalling those CGI wastelands, to me there are something inside of them, not a single phrase to describe them! – Magnificent yet regretful, seemingly hopeless yet nostalgic!

After viewing this movie for the second time, this time surrounded by a few friends, one person remarked, "Why are people so down on this movie? It's good, it's story is hardly difficult to follow, and at 85 minutes, it flies by."

They pretty much summed up my capsule review. Maybe I've watched way to much

Japanese anime, but it was nice to not have a convoluted plot for a change. The production design of the film is amazing, the backgrounds are jaw dropping, and while the character animation itself is a little stilted at times, it almost blends seamlessly with the rest of the film.

I by no means make the claim that this film is be all end all, it has a few problems. There's a few transitional edits that feel a bit awkward, and almost no story is given to flushing out the world inside Ecoban itself. In fact, you'll be hard pressed to spot a scene that has a person who's not a government official talking to another government official when inside Ecoban.

And that's my biggest complaint to the film, it could use a little more time to flush out the story and make it feel a little less rushed.

For fans of animation, this film's a must see on visuals alone, and for everyone else, a solid film awaits you.

7/10.

Sky Blue is another formulaic futuristic sci-fi animated feature with an apocalyptic vision of mankind's fate in much the same mould as Square's cinematic bomb Final Fantasy:The Spirits Within. Like that worthless movie, Sky Blue serves up an ambitious central plot set in the distant future (2142?) after a global disaster, in this case a man-made disaster, and then proceeds to clumsily fumble with some important themes such as friendship, love, dreams and the environment through a poorly written story with a weak cast instead of developing the environmental message into a cohesive and engaging yarn like one would expect. Earth is in peril due to humans causing an ecological catastrophe that has blacked out the sky. The set up is familiar, borrowing the same formula as FF:SW. We have the last remnants of our species gathered in a giant, covered city with the entire planet now one big wasteland, a troubled 'hero' who drifts into strange dream sequences and battles against time to save mankind (in this case by destroying the city to let the sun shine through the clouds!?!) and a squad of 'lovable'(annoying and stupid more like) warriors fighting for the cause. There is even the crude tacked on 'romance' that is both completely unnecessary in such a film and undeveloped, but it seems filmmakers these days feel obliged to have a tacked on love story at the core of every non romantic film so I can almost forgive the scrip writers for this crime. Unfotunately there are no weird aliens in this film and the characters are amongst the weakest ever created - the hero, the girl (who's only discernible trait is having red hair) and the (oh so sci-fi animation cliché) villain are all devoid of personality and the script they deliver is weak, cold, corny and unrealistic - every line seems to be an explanation of the plot (which is so thin it requires little explanation) instead of any meaningful insight into what is going on between the characters. Another film from the orient that attempts Hollywood style story telling (for some reason) and fails miserably.

Sky Blue was a very poor film indeed, however it will look great on a HD Widescreen display, if only for the backgrounds. A lot of time and money was invested in this project however there are some very noticeable problems with the animation (the only thing notable in the production). Shadowing is poorly done creating disappointing effects on bikes and the flying bike things, most moving objects don't look properly integrated with backgrounds. The 2D characters are the worst aspect of the film's animation as they all look too similar (and all appear pretty healthy, clean and well nourished considering there has been no sunlight for 100 years and there is no explanation about food supplies etc) and are horribly animated in contrast to everything around them, they look terrible against the lush 3D backgrounds because they just don't look like they fit in at all. In the English version the voice acting is the worst I have ever encountered in an animated feature, matching their animated characters the voice actors are wooden and emotionless adding to the general atmosphere of boredom. All in all Sky Blue is just a poor man's 'Spirits Within' without the A list voice talent. Sky Blue is at best mediocre as a visual spectacle, some backgrounds are eye popping, but overall it is nothing special and the plot is short, underdeveloped and predictable. Ghost in the Shell and Advent Children are superior in visuals and story. 4/10 - boring and uninspired, avoid.