I'm not a huge fan of isekai, although I don't dislike the genre either. I've watched mostly "game isekai" where characters are transported to the gaming world like SAO (Sword Art Online), NGNL (No Game No Life) and Log Horizon.
For those who are not familiar with it, isekai literally means "another world". So, characters in the anime or film are transported into an entirely different world. It's categorized under the fantasy genre. Now, why am I talking about isekai? It's because the film I'm going to tell you about today is under that genre. ^^
IMAGE SOURCE
The Japanese title 二ノ国 literally means two countries. It makes sense since the characters are transported from one world to another.
Basically, the story revolves around three friends named Yuu, Haru and Kotona. Yuu and Haru are best friends since they were very young while Kotona is Haru's girlfriend.
One time, these three friends were walking home from school when some suspicious otherworldly creature started stalking them. When they were on their separate ways, this creature continued stalking Kotona. She noticed it, so she ended up calling her friends. She ended up being stabbed and while the two boys were rushing to take her to hospital, they were hit by a truck and the isekai magic happened! lol
They were transported to another world, but they noticed that Kotona was not with them. Surprisingly, Yuu, who is bound to a wheelchair, can actually actively move his legs. The real story and adventure started when the two boys searched the new world they're in for the missing Kotona.
IMAGE SOURCE
I really like these two characters. Yuu is the logical type of person. He thinks before he acts, but he can still be very passionate about a lot of things. On the other hand, Haru is the impulsive type. He usually acts before he thinks. However, despite their differences, they're united.
IMAGE SOURCE
Story-wise, it was okay. I especially like the twist at the end, but I thought it could have been portrayed or delivered better than how they did it in the film. It was still good, though... so no complaints. haha
The isekai aspect was fascinating for me since I haven't watched a lot of similar films or anime, but perhaps fans of such genre would think otherwise... as to it's positive or negative depends on the person. For those who are not very familiar with the genre, they might find it amusing. <3
The art style especially the characters was amazing! I've read that it was done by someone who worked for Ghibli, so I thought... Oh, that's why... because while watching the film I thought Yuu resembles a young Howl with black hair. <3
I wanted to share the trailer, but it tells so much of the story... so I decided against it. It would be more interesting without spoilers.
All in all, it was a good watch. I enjoyed it a lot. I love the art style and the animation was actually good. I hope you can give it a shot, too. ^^
