Sky Blue

If you like anime - pass by, because you will not find here any hysterically screaming teens, or girls, suffering from hypertrophy of the mammary glands, or pedophilia, or banal pretentious plot, no savoring of sadistic cruelty, no saucers-eyes, nor foolish dialogues. But you will see the melancholic aesthetics of perpetual rain - perhaps, Far East Asian, or possibly European, leisurely narrative pace and great music. Characters are terse, preferring to express their feelings in actions and hints rather than in dialogues. They do not need long speeches - they know each other and do not care about ignorant audience. Characters may not be fully fleshed out, but displayed well, without excessive caricature of Japanese animation. If you like anime, then you should know that "Wonderful Days" (or "Sky Blue") is not an anime, and certainly not a Japanese anime. The difference is felt both in style and in the cultural baggage and symbols - an Asian contemplation oddly, in the unique South Korean style, bonded with European culture. Here are Shua and Jay on the background of stained-glass window depicting Jesus Christ surrounded by angels, here are crosses in the cemetery, here are people in Venetian masks mingled with people in Asian masks, pacing in masquerade under an enchanting Asian music. The European Christian culture is seen in the "sovereignty" of the characters' personalities, chained not by collectivist Asian culture of shame but by internal Christian notions of good and evil, loyalty is given not to a group, but to what they think is right, characters are ready for sacrifices and redemption - even the most heartless and cynical of them. The drawing of pictures is marvellous, depicting gray melancholy atmosphere which suddenly, like sun appearing behind clouds, gives way to the bright beautiful images. All these are accompanied by wonderful music, the eternal rain and contemplative narrative pace. The fight scenes do not seem irrelevant - they are justified by the plot and are not too exaggerated. And the protagonist seems to have killed nobody. The plot is about sacrifice and redemption. About fidelity and love. It is also about that you can not build your happiness on the misfortune of others. So if you like anime, cyberpunk, Japanese culture, screams, tantrums and pretentious stupid stories, the "Wonderful Days" is not for you. But if you like South Korean movies, or if you did not saw or do not like them, but like animation, aesthetic pictures, contemplation, melancholy, beautiful feelings, romance, common sense, rain and good music, then perhaps you will be the best audience for this wonderful film.

What really took me aback in Sky Blue was the art style; it's almost a hybrid of anime and detailed, beautiful environmental artwork, sometimes even feeling as though some of the backgrounds and models are photographed. This felt slightly disorienting, with the great attention to detail in the backgrounds relative to the more blocky, slightly jerky animation of the characters, but also did the film some justice. The story itself was a pretty decent setup; a dystopian world where the privileged dominate the poor, with the less fortunate being cast away from Ecoban, a genetic city built to house and protect inhabitants from the extreme conditions on the outside. The setup was amazing, but I feel the film is so focused on many different aspects that the dangerous, cruel conditions outside are barely even hinted, aside from the beginning and end of the film. Most of the movie is action based, with a lot of shooting and chasing, between bridging moments that give the viewer an idea of what is going on. Whilst I loved this film, it missed out on a lot, and the out of sync lip motions also kind of killed the atmosphere (I wish I had watched in subtitles rather than a dubbed version). The story itself is pretty decent, with our hero attempting to override the city's power source in an attempt to eliminate the extreme dangers and achieve a "sky blue" condition. The story had emotion and good characterisation, but not a huge amount going for it overall. I would say it's worth a buy, but take that with a grain of salt; it's not perfect, but it does what it needs to.