Oblivion Island: Haruka and the Magic Mirror

Alt. title: Hottarake no Shima: Haruka to Mahou no Kagami


Year: 2009


Subbed (It is dubbed now)


Movie


Cat.: Adventure, Fantasy, Family Friendly, Person in a Strange World


Summary:


Haruka is a single daughter who lost her mother at a young age because of terminal illness. She continued to live with her father after that but time and the fact that her father is always busy with his work has created an emotional distance between them. When her mother was still alive, she received a hand mirror from her as a present and she treasured it a lot. After her mother's death, she started to forget about the mirror until she eventually lost it. One day, she decides to go to a local shrine and pray for the return of her lost mirror. It is there that she accidentally encounters a small masked creature which she secretly follows to the land of forgotten items.


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The story line reminded me of Alice in Wonderland. The characters move well, and possess some of the most emotive features and faces I have seen in 3D animation - ever. Creatures and vehicles also move in a very fluid manner, and while there are moments when the action is nothing short of dizzying in its complexity, the quality of the visuals is nothing short of superb.One thing that I did like was the fact that the film had a certain "dark" quality that, when taken as a whole, reminded me of shows like Neil Gaiman's "Coraline" and "Mirrormask", and Tim Burton's "The Nightmare Before Christmas" and "The Corpse Bride".


Cotton the stuffed lamb was the best character for me.


I give it a 3.5 out of 5.

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