Big Fish & Begonia (2018)

Wonderfully offbeat film!

Self-important, over-dramatic, uninspired.

Gripping story with well-crafted characters

A film with more than the usual spoiler issues. Talking about it in any detail feels akin to handing you a gift-wrapped present and saying, "I hope you like it -- It's a thriller about a diabolical secret experiment."

An emotional masterpiece, Big Fish & Begonia is an artistically magical and thought provoking piece of anime. The animation is beautiful. I felt as if I was watching a classic painting come to life. The story is unforgettable. Each scene left my heart yearning for the characters to succeed. The story follows a humble, brave girl name Chun who dedicates her life to help a kind boy, Kun, who gives his life to save hers after she travels from her magical to his human world. She goes to great lengths to bring him back and gives him all her love and care. However, when a variety of obstacles threaten Kun's survival, Chun risks everything to save him. The animation is mystical and brings Chun's fantastical land to life. The characters from Chun's world are unique and their strange characteristics bring a special quality that is unlike other films. Many characters have a quirky addition such as antlers or a completely other-worldly face with multiple eyes. These subtle additions enhance the fresh and original elements the film specializes in. The backgrounds and scenery take the animation to the next level. The water and ocean play a huge role in the film and the animation transforms the water, displaying its beauty and importance. At night the ocean reflects the sky, its stars and the sublime hues present; while during the day it is almost invisible and many objects look like they are floating through air. One of the most notable animation feats is the scenery. In many favorite parts we see Chun running across landscapes and the camera captures her world in the most artistic way.The emotions of this film left me in awe, showing the friendship and love these characters are capable of. In every scene, I was either smiling or in tears because of the sacrifices they make for each other and for each others' happiness. The music enhances the mood of these scenes with a mysterious and peaceful quality. The messages of Big Fish and Begonia are: 1. If your conscience is clear, it doesn't matter what others think and 2. Follow your heart. I give this film 5 out of 5 stars and recommend it for ages 14 to 18. Reviewed by Sahiba K., KIDS FIRST! Film Critic. For more reviews by youth, visit kidsfirst dot org.

The comparison with Ghibli is inevitable here. This movie is simply not on par with Ghibli. But the visual and the music score were both close! The story is good, but the script falls a little short. A bit exposition heavy, a few too many plot devices, eg. the bit with the 2 headed snake served purely as a plot device. The design of the fish Kun is tonally inconsistent with the rest of the world. It was never explained why the fish caused apocalypse. The characters, they live in a magical world. But some of them are wise, and timeless but some of them are as prejudiced and fearful as the humans whose lives they govern.Now, on to the good points: Great visual! one of the best looking anime, of course not as organic and detail rich as Ghibli, but beautifully put together, brilliant colours. 3D and 2D elements are seamless. The music score is not as memorable as, again, Ghibli, but fits the tone very well. Tonally, the story is very sincere, like the best Ghibli movies, and innocent.The dialogue is a bit stilted at times, but quite good overall.I don't think this movie is being released in the West anytime soon. But when it does, I hope they get some proper translators.Overall, great first attempt from the studio, recommended.

Da Hai (Da Yu Hai Tang), an animation that can easily impress you with fantastic graphics, yet it's seemingly simple plot can hardly be understood thoroughly without background knowledge of ancient Chinese culture and myth.--------Here may involve some plot detail, watch out--------The story outline appears to be a girl (Chun) trying to get back the life of a boy who saved her. However the real No.1 actor, is the boy behind Chun, another one of "the others", Qiu, who has the ability to manipulate water.Chun has the ability to manipulate the growth of Hai Tang (Begonia in Chinese), which was once named "Beauty of the Nation" in traditional Chinese poetry. However, her fight against the society of "the others" is in no way fragile as the flower. Instead, the power of will is so strong that can overcome obstacle from authority, natural disaster, and familiar bond. Guess that's why she is name after a 16,000 years old tree, Chun. Qiu was Chun's childhood friend. And he has always loved Chun secretly. The love was so strong that he would give up everything including his freedom of eternity to exchange the happiness of Chun and her beloved one. Started from a young boy who just become an adult last year, Qiu even dare to steal the sacred mask that is used to connect fairy-land and the human world. People always say until death tear us apart as a promise between lovers. But the cruel separation between Qiu and Chun was even beyond the dimension of life and death--Qiu has to observe, manage and maintain the spiritual library(known as Tong Tian Ge, the pavilion to the sky) that over sees the spirits of everyone. That is to say, though deeply in love with Chun, Qiu has to watch her life and death and there is little he can do about it. The worst thing is not that you don't know if you can get what you want if you try, it is the desperation that you know for sure you can never get what you what, and yet you only can sit and watch the last thing you want to see from happening. What will Qiu become? Like the sneaky predecessor, the "trader"? or getting "mature" like everyone else in the fairy-land?That, is the only thing I really really want to know.

I had the chance to see "Big Fish and Begonia" in the cinema yesterday. I was a little bit disappointed. Liang created a beautiful fantasy world and quite an original story background. Also the animations look fantastic. There are indeed many things to like about this movie. So it's all the more of a shame that the story is not very well told. Cuts between scenes always seems to come at the wrong moment and a lot of the characters and dialogues are redundant in regard to the main story. A lot of the movie is just a chain of depictions of cute little details in Liang's fantasy world. It feels a little bit like he tries so hard to be Miyazaki that he forgets all about the plot. Because of this, it's hard to get a feel for the movie. Which is a shame because it had a lot of potential. I hope that Liang's future works will try less to be Miyazaki and dare to be more Chinese. Although this movie may not be great, it might well be the start of a new age in Chinese animation cinema. I recommend this movie to people who are hugely into Chinese cinema and/or animation films. Otherwise, wait for something more worthwhile.