Despite being produced only four years ago, the Glass Rabbit is a movie that completely flew past the radar for some reason. Now that I finally managed to find it and check it out (in raw, I didn’t manage to find a subbed version) then yeah, I have to say that it’s pretty mediocre for a WWII-movie. If you’re interested in the themes of the Second World War portrayed, go for the ones that were produced in the eighties and nineties.
And sure, the movie is solidly told. I’d have no problem with it if it wasn’t such a complete rip-off of Ushiro no Shoumen Daare. Events and characters are rearranged a bit, and I guess that the protagonist is a bit older, but apart from that, it’s the exact same formula, but without the personality, charms, animation or themes other than “war is bad”. Any part in this movie that doesn’t come from Ushiro no Shoumen Daare has been taken from another movie, like Barefoot Gen or Chocchan’s Story. It never really shows something of its own. The only really original parts that I managed to find was the ending, at which all of the characters come together and spoon-feed the movie’s cheesy morals about how war is bad, like those cheap saturday-morning cartoons. There’s a reason why all the other WWII-movies didn’t do that!
Of course, I’m not blaming the person who this series is based on I’m sure that she went through hell, and I have a lot of respect for her for that. However, my criticism go to the creators of the anime: what was the point they wanted to make by creating this movie, more than ten years after Ushiro no Shoumen Daare was created? It couldn’t be to give this classic story a coat of modern graphics, because it actually looks much worse. The budget is clearly limited, and for some reason the animators tried to recreate the character-designs and art styles of the early nineties.
Of course, if you haven’t seen Ushiro no Shoumen Daare, this is a very serviceable movie that will keep you interested. However, it simply is inferior to the movie that it tries to rip off: the lead character is a bit too one-sided: she’s constantly made out as a strong girl and there’s just too little variety in her character, not to mention the incredibly stereotypical way in which the Americans are portrayed here. Some of the slice of life moments are nicely done, though.
| Storytelling: | 8/10 |
| Characters: | 7/10 |
| Production-Values: | 7/10 |
| Setting: | 7/10 |
This just got fansubbed by Licca Fansubs of all people (along with another awesomely underrated movie which YOU NEED TO CHECK OUT, PSGELS!!!).
Firechick: which one do you mean? That happy birthday one or the Licca movie?
Happy Birthday: Inochi Kagayaku Toki is the one I’m talking about.
I finally saw this. While I do agree it’s rather generic and could have been better, I thought some moments were really nice, especially where the citizens come together and help Toshiko in her times of need. It shows that the worst of some can bring out the best in many, which, surprisingly enough, happens in real life more often than you think. I also liked the twist in the little baby seeing the airplane before everyone else.