Wonderful days

Great music and beautiful animation – that can’t be denied. Even though the animation has also its blemishes and although the re-rendered locations are impressive, the classically animated characters, mainly the facial expressions, are not so perfect. The mediocre screenplay about a post-apocalyptic society plays its part too. The most fundamental problem this movie has is the insufficient characterization of the main characters. The supporting characters are completely useless or, at best, lost in translation. The overall impression is saved by the final 15 minutes, which show at least some energy and atmosphere, but that’s really too little to make a movie good. (10/05/2005)

Gorgeous. What Ecoban offers in terms of animation or rendered environment, I haven't seen since Appleseed; otherwise, I truly can't remember such a spectacle. It is a shame then that the inconsistent story occasionally slips to the level of an interchangeable sci-fi tale. But then comes the final twenty-minute segment, which offers a perfect audio-visual connection between the image and the spirit of storytelling - and there is no defense against it. The ethereally fascinating finale leaves an overall impression on the border of excitement. (09/05/2010)

Anime is an East Asian type of consumer goods and an expression of mass culture, which has refined artistic technique but is usually hindered by routine, clichés, banal and even miserable dialogues, underdeveloped side characters and themes, naivety, and above all, pathos that is exaggerated to the point of absurdity. I find all of this to some extent in this film as well. Next to Metropolis, it is the second highly acclaimed anime that belongs to a genre that I should like, as well as the animated form of the work, yet the result is rather disastrous and is only proof that anime and I will never understand each other in the future either. I did consider giving it a second star, but the overly heroic ending convinced me that my ruthless condemnation was correct. Overall impression: 25%. (14/01/2012)

Sky Blue has a very good subject matter, a compelling narrative, a great soundtrack, and very good and engaging animation. Overall, a very good experience, although the final impression is spoiled by an attempt at a big wannabe poetic conclusion, which missed the mark by and large. Nevertheless, it was very respectable - 7.5/10. (29/11/2015)