A Colorful and Fun Adventure: Oblivion Island: Haruka and the Magic Mirror

Synopsis

This is the tale of neglected things and a whole different world. Haruka was just a regular high school girl with her own troubles and frustrations with her father. When she heads off to visit the shrine of her old hometown she recalls a mirror which ended up as a memento from her father and prays to a fox god for its return. But when she ends up dropping her keys under the stairs of a temple she ends up encountering Teo, a creature of another realm who collects lost thing. From following him Haruka ends up falling into Teo’s world and sets out on a journey to retrieve her mother’s mirror.

The Good

As one of the rare CGI films in the anime community it held up very well in terms of execution and flow of story. A main highlight to mark as the film’s main positive is the use of tones and palettes in certain scenes. For example, when Haruka and Teo are riding a train she and the viewer get a glimpse into the world they are in for the first time and it is just an amazing barrage of colors and mixed in with the music you can just feel the sense of entering into this bright and colorful mix of a realm.

What makes their tone use in scenes so clever is that it brings out certain parts of a scenes. For example, when the characters visit Teo;s home you can see all the little details placed into with how well the lighting has been placed, creating a calm tone to the mix.

Speaking on details, the amount of attention to detail placed in this film is also a great point to give to it. From the details of buildings in the background to the details of the dolls that are able to move, it is clear that no expense was spared in the animation and artwork of the film. Then there is also the motion humor created from moments like chase scenes to fun little dances that the characters do to add just a touch more to enjoy the film.

The Bad

Convenient, is a highly prevalent word throughout this film, whether it be the protagonist’s entrance into a new world or the rescue scenes by the side characters, the way things were set up were highly convenient for select characters. Here is an example, the character is captured by the villain and is about to be given something to erase her memories. On the other side, Teo resolves himself to save her and convinces the people to help build a plane.

In the time that it took to build the plan and for Haruka to prevent herself from getting her memories erased, the amount of conveniences laid out for these characters in the span of a few minutes between the scenes is a bit much.

Then there is the premise questions for the world that Haruka enters. It is made clear that the people have something against humans and are wary of them, but no reason has been given to the this other than the fact that they consider humans as “bad” and/or “scary. This just doesn’t stop with the against human trope either, there is also the portion of the film where it is shown that a group seems to have something against Teo but once again it is never explained other than that one line that he is slacking in work.

Conclusion

It is a very pretty film there is no doubt about that. In every scene there just seems to be something new to look at and you can’t take your eyes off even for a second. While the premise work and the lore of the fantasy world could have used some work,it doesn’t change the fact that it presents rather interesting scenes like the magic work and the corners which the characters end up in. Overall it is a fun adventure to watch if you’re looking for  a fun fantasy work about travelling to another world.

Rating: 7.5/10</b