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Just finished it blind for the first ever time. It’s definitely one of my favorites. Simple plot, simple story, a lot of charm and memorable characters. The idea of the movie simply just being about a witch creating a delivery service creates a lax atmosphere and low stakes. Characters are pretty well rounded and all feel like they belong in this world. The conflict was unexpected to happen in movies like this but also a compelling one. I almost want to see more of the movie by the end. Wish there was an 11/10 option just for this movie. Beginning, middle, and end feel like ... they belong together unlike Spirited Away where things kinda start happening all at once near the end in my opinion. Others will most likely enjoy this and probably put it on the higher ranking of Ghibli.

Future Arc takes every rule of Danganronpa, breaks it and crumples it to dust. The main draw of this franchise is that the murders aren’t completely random or due to some arbitrary no-no. The draw is that they’re usually a result of the paranoia of being trapped in a room with no guarantee of escape eventually driving somebody, anybody to drop the first body. This showed that the death game beginning was an inevitability and further introduces the idea of despair. Future Arc was like “hey, we heard you like this format! Let’s disregard it!”

The next issue is that no one knows jack shit about ... all of these new characters, who ARE you people?! Chisa was the only well developed character who’s new. Now she’s dead. Everyone else besides the 4 from THH and Monaca are nothing characters whose death really didn’t amount to anything. The most fleshed out characters aside from Chisa are Rurika and Seiko, Izayoi not so much. They actually have a history and dynamic, but they too fall into the trap of not having much to do and not getting to know them. Compare this to the games where every single character, including the ones who die in the first chapter have a semblance of a personality that gets shown off for a little bit even if they were minor characters. We learn from Sayaka that she’s anxious, gets stressed easily, and feels bad for what might’ve happened to her group. We learn that Teruteru is incredibly perverse and also is very devoted to his mother that he loves dearly. We don’t learn much from Rantaro, because he’s kind of a red herring type character. What else is known about Ruriko, Seiko and Izayoi? If Future Arc got that at least down, I’d have less complaints. Hell Despair Arc right before it gets this down pat, and that’s supposed to be a short Danganronpa 2 prequel.

Last but not least, the plot is completely unfocused like what the fuck is actually happening here? Began with people suddenly dying and then all of a sudden there’s a sword fight between Yu Narukami and an old dude and also the silent one is secretly the antagonist from UDG and SUDDENLY, Komaru. Oh and surprise surprise, everyone from THH survives, who would’ve GUESSED? I think the only good thing I can actually say about this is that it looks cool with a slick artstyle befitting of the games and also that it explains Danganronpa 2’s aftermath a bit… I guess.

Overall, not recommended. Quite literally at that because Future Arc doesn’t have any semblance of bearing on the games or their lore. Like the games Mega Man Star Force 2 or Phantasy Star III, you could completely skip it and nothing would change. Even the UDG sections aren’t worth your time besides seeing Makoto actually interact with his sister.

Plot goes by faster than a Cocomelon video. So much happens in a short amount of time for no rhyme or reason without really getting to know the world or characters much and suffers for this. Why is Earth called Capricorn? How did Taku fall OUT of the planet? Why is Capricorn glowing and why is that aspect important? How was Taku just so casually accepted when the entire world is anthropomorphic animals, shouldn’t there be a little more fear or inquisitiveness at this fact? They just treat him like he’s always been there. This movie should’ve been way longer, so many aspects to flesh ... out, cause it has potential. Will also give it extra points for being the rare isekai where the lead actually goes home because that is shockingly rare.