

Director: Koichi Chigira

This film was in competition for the Best Anime in Japan Academy Awards 2006. It however lost to The Girl Who Leapt Thru Time.

Synopsis
it tells of the adventure of Wataru (an eleven-year-old kid) who wishes to undo the past and save his beloved. In order to do so, he has to go through some tests that challenge his wits and guts ...

Prior to watching, I was not aware that Brave Story also deals with a similar theme/message to the winning anime (The Girl Who Leapt Thru Time)... that is, if we could turn back the clock ... could we?! should we?!

My thoughts

What i like

-- The first 20 min or so (until the moment Wataru ventures into this other world) is very gripping ... For a moment, I thought the beginning was more exciting than The Girl Who Leapt Thru Time.

-- The last 20-30 min or so is also great ... although there is predictability in its morality and message, it still manages to hit the right chords and bring some sadness into its supposedly "happy"?! ending ... I thought the last scene was rather great ... reminding me of some Hong Kong TVB drama (in the sense that the character's face is never shown, but we all think we know who they are) ...

What could be better ...

-- Pardon me, but I think the "adventure/challenges" in the other world is kind of similar to many other Japanese anime ... there is no huge surprise ... It is not bad, but it did not wow me away ... 

Because of this entire middle segment, I humbly think The Girl Who Leapt Thru Time is a better film dealing with the same theme/message ... Why can't we simply do away with all these "other" world (with different creatures) and keep it simple?! If the entire middle is revamped, I might have liked it much more ...


Conclusion
I like the front and the end, the middle is so-so.
As a whole, I prefer The Girl Who Leapt Thru Time ... 
But in terms of beginning, I think Brave Story is rather engaging ...