Revue Starlight: The Movie

"For every hero, there are trials; For every saint, there are temptations; For me, there's you" To me, Shoujo☆Kageki Revue Starlight Movie is truly the most impressive and creative movie in using visual presentations I've seen in many years. And even more spectacular, at the core, Shoujo☆Kageki Revue Starlight as a whole is a profound and heartfell messages of Kabuki Shoujo (Stage Girl), those who has sacrificed so much on the path to become the ultimate star. So because the movie is kind of bizzare and the story don't have the common structure, I won't talk about it here. Instead, I'll just tell you that itstarted right from where the series left off. And the best way to watch this if you're new and don't have time to watch the series, you can just watch the summary movie and head straight to this (although the series is great, you should watch it), for those who have watched the series, the summary movie is also a good way to refresh your memory and gain the best experience out of this amazing showing of visual and symbolism. So what is Shoujo☆Kageki Revue Starlight Movie represent? In my humble and honest opinion, it shows us the other side of stage girl. The one we never knew or we just forgot. They're in a way just another person, just like us. Before they are Kabuki Shoujo, they're just high school girls with a dream to take on a big stage. They have worries and just like us, sometimes worries led to mistakes. They have made many and strayed out of their ways. But as the burning passion for acting still light up their heart, through many acts in the movies, through the symbolic visual, they've finally realized their true ways. The stage is their home and their true calling. What an inspirational movie that was. Like I stated many times above, the visual is quite spectacular. But the osts is definitely on par with that. Many songs are epic in the battle scenes. While the others can bring sorrows to any viewer's heart.I've never seen such a balance between visual and osts in an anime before. Overall, I think Shoujo☆Kageki Revue Starlight as a whole is a series you must watch. Originality has been long lost in media over the last the decade. But rarely, there will be a show that shines a glimpse of hope and to me, Shoujo☆Kageki Revue Starlight is one of those shows.

First sorry for my english, but I really need to talk a about this movie To me Revue Starlight was one of the most underrated series. It used all its element to narrate the story, since the image, to the music, to the dialogue. It create a very enjoyable experience. This movie is all that the series was and more, a worthy sequel of this great story. Just like the series, it show us a very clear point where the normality breaks, since that point all becomes a journey of simbolisms, that rembember me to my favorites work of Kunihiko Ikuhara ( since theseries we could see hint of his influence), the diference is that here the message is less confuse and in a sense more literal because we know what is trying to say because we know what are the decisions the character had to take. Here in this movie we had a message that is constanty represented in other series or movies, but its the proof that is not what you tell but how you tell. It show us the travel of the character not only to the end of a time of their life, but the meaning of the ties that they have. A travel to independency, and to heal the wounds of the past. The revues are shown one after another with spaces where we could see the past of the protagonic duo, giving them a more depth personalities, than they have in the series. Again the story makes use of all its element, this time in a more ambitious way and with less limitant that the series had. SPOILER The first revue show us how will be the narrative of the movie, a little different from the series, it show us tributes to the movies and theater, joining the conflict of the series with this visual tribute. Maybe the more literal Revue is the first one with the conflict between Futaba and Kaoruko. With a wonderful character design during the conversation between them It show us a confrontation that we knew from the beginning what would happen. The break of a dependency that at first seemed one-sided, but soon we notice the how dificult is for Futaba to confront Karouko. The second show us the only character that have her madurity process at the series and now her works is act like a guide. This time Mahiru with their insecurities overcome, is Hikari´s guide, to finally stop to running away and face not only Karen, but her own self. The interesting thing in this Revue is that we have two parts clearly differentiated, being the second one a great tribute to horror movies. The third one is the most strange to me. Junna as the more reasonable character and Nana, maybe the most damaged character of the series. Starting with a very shocking scene from characters that respected each other, it give an end to Nana´s past wound provoked for her time loops. This end comes from a Junna that finally begins to overcome an inferiority complex and conformism, that not only help herself but Nana to finally let go the past. The fourth one, with Maya and Claudine, is visually my favorite, being a beatiful tribute to the theater. This revue is for me not other thing that a lovers oath. It show us the travel of these two rivals getting to know each other, and show each other their strongest side and the most vulnerable. The passion over the perfection For Claudine to finally stop seeing perfection as a goal (and at the same time see beyond her rivalry with Maya), and embrace her ambition for the stage , and for Maya to accept her most vulnerable side, to stop being god and accept that she can help being a human since she know Claudine . This revue not only show us the maturity of the characters, but also the beauty of the bond that they share and the beauty that they see in each other. This revue show us that the bond that this characters form is not necessarily something negative it also can bring out the best of them, it also teach them to accept themselves the way they are and grow up, Finally we have the resolution of our protagonist duo, the end of the bond that was the plot of the series, the end of the excuses, and the start of a new path, this time away from each other. For Karen finally separate herself from Hikari, to finally find her own dreams, and not a share one, to finally face the stage alone, with all the fears that she has but at the same time with all the opportunities I really enjoyed, is all that I wanted and more

Visuals: Beautiful background designs, creative character outfits, smooth and detailed animation. Sound: Catchy and unique songs, perfect performances from voice actresses. Fight scenes: Well choreographed, absolutely stunning to behold. Story: WTF did I just watch? I barely understood anything. As summarized above, the visuals, animation, music, VA performances, and action sequences were all perfect or close to perfect. However, much like the anime series, the story was cryptic and difficult to understand. At a high level, the plot is about the girls graduating and finding their own paths beyond Starlight and high school. The details, however, were very abstract and open to interpretation. The ending may also be unsatisfyingand abrupt for some people. If you watched the series, you should already know what to expect from the story though, so I'm not going to elaborate further - see it for yourself and come up with your own interpretation of the story! Everything else was beautiful. Overall enjoyment: 7.5/10

I decided to copy-paste one of my Letterboxd reviews to here cuz why not. I’ve watched this movie many times, and I keep trying to attack this movie. I keep trying to find an opening in its defense. But I just can’t. It’s ridiculously solid. This isn’t just what animation was made for, it’s what movies as a whole were made for. They fixed everything wrong with the show, not just from the character dynamics, but, well, everything. There’s so much about this movie to just geek out about. Everything, every part of the production is treated with care and is in such amazing coordination, the blocking isperfect, the film score is perfect, both composers and storyboarders made a distinct effort to work together on it and it’s just genius. The story is a perfect mix of both melancholic and spectacular, emphasized by just the right amount of different styles of abstraction from Ikuhara-esque, to Yamada-esque, to Takeshi Kitano, to golden age Nikkatsu, to imitation of actual Takarazuka stage play productions, f*ck man he even has a scene homaging Chariots of Fire, a 10-minute sequence that is legitimately just him geeking out over Mishima and Lawrence of Arabia, and a scene directly pasted from Mad Max Fury Road; to say Furukawa is just Ikuhara 2, and to say Revue Starlight is just about Takarazuka, these are both massive understatements. Furukawa is a nerd about movies and this movie turns people into nerds. He knows exactly how to use each element because he knows how to factor out scenes and reuse techniques appropriately. It works perfectly with the theme of the movie, that we don’t let go of the past and instead constantly borrow from it, and what it means to just be someone’s fan. And yet, Furukawa puts the aesthetic rather than story on the foreground, adhering strongly to an experience-centric philosophy, in which the trick is to make the core material simple, but the presentation wildly abstract and fun. The movie is drastically overflowing with repeating motifs, leitmotifs and rearrangements, and fun, interesting imagery. And for as unconventional as the movie gets with its format, the story still secretly follows rules of repetition and even a three-act structure. It’s a god-damn masterpiece. This movie did NOT need to be this raw- it’s the most speechless I’ve been coming out of a movie, and it’s the most fun I’ve had, and keep having- because every time I watch it, I enjoy it more, and I’m still studying everything Furukawa and the Starlight team put into this. I don’t get enough of it and this movie keeps remaking my passion for movies every time I see it. This movie isn’t just 5 stars, it’s overwhelming starlight. ----- “I think if a person can find a dream worthy of a lifelong commitment, that person is lucky. If one can find friends with which to spend one’s life, that person is also lucky. But also, a ‘lifelong friendship’ is not so weak a thing that it must be surrendered to one’s ‘lifelong dream.’ I believe that those who have the strength of spirit to commit their lives to a dream should also be able to make room for lifelong friends.” - Kunihiko Ikuhara (Revolutionary Girl Utena) more random thoughts from an earlier watch: docs.google.com/document/d/1-1G8ZOEE6nRxtlXNxT9v1-cyR6mk6Ro7MngvgiZraWU/edit?usp=sharing