Aura: Koga Maryuin's Last War

Seiji Kishi is an interesting director. But rather than go into a couple paragraphs about him, all you need to know is that he’s a great director when it comes to comedy and a pretty poor director when it comes to everything else. However, as of late, Kishi’s really hit a new low by taking a really interesting story and slaughtering it with his poor directing. With his half-assed video game adaptations being his biggest felon, it’s no surprise that people have been panning him. Aura’s a different story though. This time, Kishi takes a not-so interesting story and actually brings it to life with prettygreat direction... and it's not a comedy either... it's a drama... (Say whaaaat?) Being a film with only 80 minutes, I believed this shaped Kishi up just a little. There’s no random sidetracking, no rushing to try to get to the meat of the story, no chopping transitioning and none of those odd “gaps” we often see with Kishi’s series. Aura is deliberately paced and the direction is dead on with what it wants to achieve. I might argue that the direction is a little too dead-on; some small breathers to focus in on some smaller moments would have been nice. But overall, Kishi’s directing is great from the beginning to the end of the film and it’s his directing which brings Aura’s generic story to life. There is honestly nothing we haven’t seen before about Aura. It’s a more mature look at what a victim of chuunibyo suffers from, but everything plays out like a typical highshcool bullying story. There are no twists or turns. Everything can be seen coming from a mile away. Yet the story still works well and it’s not simply due to the directing. First off, the dialogue is certainly well written as there’s this genuine sense of realism in which the main characters speak that many will be able to resonate to. But secondly, the drama is simply well done. I was expecting the drama to either be Kishi’s usual lifeless crap or something along the line of Mari Okada’s overbearingly blown out melodrama. Instead, Aura’s drama falls perfectly in the center. Everything feels natural. Angst and conflicts are perfectly and realistically presented instead of a cheap means to manipulate the viewer's emotion. The drama is sweet, it’s sincere, it’s heartfelt and it’s heartbreaking. Unfortunately, the drama could have been more powerful too. Whether it was simply the writing itself and simply because the film was too short – I take blame with the latter – Aura felt just a little lacking. It takes its generic story much further than most and turns it into something great, but not amazing. The characters are likeable and easy to sympathize with, but are far from being anything spectacular. Its major themes and the romantic relationship between our lead couple did hit many notes with me but ultimately they don’t feel fully developed to truly became powerful and thus it just misses the mark of being truly remarkable. Because honestly, I found the final scene where the male lead confronts the female lead at the tower of desks to be absolutely brilliant and it would have been more so if we were given just a little more development. Final Verdict: Story – Generic but is brought to life by good directing, unfortunately due to the length of the film the story does not feel fully developed Characters – Likeable and easy to sympathize with, but like the story, they lack full development Setting – A nice theme that would have been stronger with more time to develop Production Values – Far from being outstanding, the artwork and animation are still both pretty. The music, on the other hand, is pretty damn good Do I recommend?: I was contemplating giving this an anime a 7 or an 8 and while technically speaking, I believe Aura only deserves a 7, I’ve got to take my own personal enjoyment into account with my reviews and give a 8 (yeah, yeah I'm a sucker for this sentimental bullying kind of stuff). Regardless, I’d recommend to give Aura a try. It’s short and sweet, and while not as profound as it could have been, Aura still tugs lightly at the heart strings and it sure left me with a big smile on my face after the film finished.

It was fine. Characters were taking stuff so seriously that I figured it would lead to a bigger conclusion then, "Life kinda sucks some times, AmIRite." There were subtle hints that there might actually be a conspiracy here. The teacher was kind of an ass, the girl can copy voices too well, the family acts kinda suspiciously when Ichirou comes home, and Ryouko built a palace out of school desks in an afternoon. For a while I was thinking maybe the main character actually seriously hurt someone with his chunni tenancies, or maybe attempted suicide. That could explain some stuff more clearly. Instead he gotbeaten by his parents for having an imaginary girl friend. Don't get me wrong, I can see how that would be traumatic, but for me that comes off as a massive over reaction. Cultural stigmas don't translate well, I guess. Oh yeah, and the R+ rating was forced in there, for a blatant fan service scene.

My first review, sorry if there are lot mistakes but it really deserve some review so let's just get into it. Story : 8(Very Good) I can't call it's masterpiece because there are still lacking of information and depth but it's really expose how society judge people who different and it portrait them really well, this type of story already used by some anime out there like chuunibyou but this one portrait it better than I think it would be.. Art : 7(Good) Art quality for movie is not something stand out or I should say it's just mediocre since it's created by A.I.C but some moment of moviereally stand out so I will let out for art quality Sound : 6(Fair) There aren't any of sound really stand out during the movies except for the ending which bring me goose bump. Character : 8(Very Good) Love both MC, the main male probably look more realistic to me and the main female just cute the way she act around. Enjoyment : 9(Great) I really craving for this type of anime so it really hook me up from the beginning until the end. Overall : 8(Very Good) If you have really high expectation for this one you must be disappointed but this movie give us some enjoyment from rom-com and some drama here and there. If you craving to watch some good romantic comedy anime you probably enjoy this movie, so give this one a shot

I suppose the closest title you could compare Aura to would be Love, Chuunibyo and Other Delusions in that both explore a male lead trying to move on from his middle school days as a chuunibyo and encountering a girl his age undergoing the same delusions of grandeur that he went through in middle school. Unlike the mentioned TV anime that is more light-hearted and comical in its focus on Yuuta and Rikka, Aura explores the chuunibyo issue in a more realistic bent as Ryoko and other chuunibyo like her in their school are social outcasts who face frequent bouts of bullying. Ichiro's past asa chuunibyo in middle school is a dramatic one full of similar issues as Ryoko's as he tries fitting in with others while getting dumped with the task of looking after Ryoko as she goes through her delusions as a chuunibyo. Throughout the movie, Ichiro finds himself conflicted with how to handle Ryoko as his attempts to protect her from bullying lead him to face pressure from both the chuunibyo seeking his support and the normal crowds wanting him to butt out of their hazing on the chuunibyo students. This drives the developing relationship he has with Ryoko throughout the movie which does come off as a natural one thanks to the gradual changes that both their characters undergo. Aura is not without its faults though. The climax to it borders a bit on the absurd and pushes believability quite a bit with how one of the major characters in the film could set it up, as well as the visuals to Aura looking more on par in quality with a TV anime than a movie. But perhaps the biggest issue I took with Aura had to do with how it addresses its chuunibyo issue. While more realistic in exploring the issue, the film suffers the same fate as Love, Chuunibyo and Other Delusions in that it chickens out with how to resolve the chuunibyo issue and the moral it pushes with conformity and regarding more unique traits as a bother may not sit well with Western viewers since the Japanese culture mostly values group over individual social dynamics. While I did have interest in the more realistic direction that Aura addresses the chuunibyo issue, it still suffers in lacking a satisfying resolution to the situation and having a rather ridiculous climax with Ichiro and Ryoko's situation. The film as a whole is still mostly enjoyable for the character development and chemistry between our two leads, but the finale of the film will not be one to satisfy everyone.