(L) Drifting Home [Netflix]

[Last Sinner]

The new film from Studio Colorido (Penguin Highway) will release in Japan and stream on Netflix on September 16th.

(That video is blocked in the United States, Canada, Russia and Belarus. Why? Copyright, I guess...?)

The "adventure fantasy as summer ends" anime centers on Kōsuke and his childhood friend Natsume. The two recently entered sixth grade, and are entering an awkward phase in their friendship and have started avoiding one another. One day during summer vacation, they visit an apartment building with that is about to be demolished, where the two of them used to live. Suddenly, Kōsuke, Natsume, and their friends get wrapped up in a strange phenomenon, and the whole building is surrounded by an ocean. The group of friends must try to find their way home from the drifting building.

[Guardian Enzo]

That’s from the very admirable Studio Colorido, and by the same director as Penguin Highway. I’m very pleased to see it’s going to be streaming on Netflix.

[Kanon]

Originally Posted by Guardian Enzo

That’s from the very admirable Studio Colorido, and by the same director as Penguin Highway. I’m very pleased to see it’s going to be streaming on Netflix.

Me too. I loved Penguin Highway, and it feels good to get a release at the same time as Japan for a theatrical movie.

[Last Sinner]

Just watched it.

And...it fell way short for me.

Spoiler for Why it fell short for me:

So the core of the story is the apartment complex the two leads used to live in is about to be demolished. Natsume, the female lead, has become a loner. Kosuke, who used to live with her, has become ticked off at her. Him and some friends check the place out on a typical kid dare, Natsume is hanging out there, two girls also check it out because one likes Kosuke, apparently. Apartment's 'spirit' appears. When Natsume is about to fall to her death during angst causing a slip, they get ported into the ocean...

I'm not kidding...And this is the general state of what happens the rest of the way. Drama around falling or getting angsty. The core part of this is Natsume joined Kosuke and his grandfather after her own family fell apart. But she felt that while she became part of a loving family, when Kosuke snapped at Natsume and caused his gramps to die...(there really is no end to the melodrama...), the two grew apart. After many near-deaths, encountering other buildings for supplies/negative memories, a ferris wheel that the other girl that liked Kosuke visited a lot in her youth, a lot of rain and storms, Noppo aka the spirit, finally finds his way to the spirit building graveyard and a bunch of glow lines port them home...Characters got over their issues during the journey and move on.

There's really not much more to it than that. Kana Hanazawza and Nana Mizuki were apparently in this one but in very minor roles. Asami Seto does a decent job as Natsume, who is the only character worthy of empathy because the rest are just utter brats, but even she becomes a real pain. There was an intriguing concept in the mix, but these characters were not the ones this story needed. There's little to bond with because those moments occur far too late in the piece, what happens next is predictable. Nothing gets explained, things just happen and you have to accept it.

If you're expecting something around the mark of Penguin Highway, sadly this didn't get anywhere near. Which is sad, because I wanted Studio Colorido to show they belong. Hopefully next time.

6/10