Review of Suzume

This is damned good, and definitely recommended, but with some caveats. The art work is ornate. Very well done and at masterwork level. For the most part the animation is A Tier. If not for a clunky chunk of 3d CGI here and there, it would have been S Tier. Still, not very detracting overall. The main characters are well designed, even when one turns into a 3 legged chair. Some of the side characters are done well, but there are others that are picked up, and then dumped, faster than a $3 whore. A couple of them made me wonder why they even bothered toinclude them. To be able to stretch the runtime out, and call this a full-blown movie?

The narrative is pretty straight forward, but like Suzume's journeys it has a tendency to meander a bit. I felt things would have been better if the writers went straight to the point faster. One other issue I had with the writing was I found some scenes were...ummm...emotionally manipulative. There are parts that seemed to only exist to force an emotional response from the viewer. Many might never notice, but I found those minor, unnecessary scenes a little irksome. But these are mainly personal nitpicks. Mostly the writing is OK if not astounding.

The VA work was at a high level for the entire cast. I especially liked the actresses for Suzume and her aunt. They stood head and shoulders above a skilled crowd. I am sure the fine acting was partially a result of overall good direction. He wielded the VAs, animation and soundtrack with aplomb. A fine job, indeed.

I'd suggest opening the door, and stepping across the threshold to enjoy this universe. If I graded this movie, it's a 93/100 and an A-. Other than a few quirks many might not notice, it is so close to a full A I can't help but highly recommend it.