Journey To Agartha
Released By: Manga Entertainment
Rating: 12
Running Time: 116 Mins
Audio: English & Japanese DD 2.0
Release Date: Out Now!
Reviewed By: Sandra Scholes

Considered by some to be the next Miyazaki, Makoto Shinkai, this fantasy movie's director reminds us of previous movies like 5 Centimeters Per Second and The Place Promised in Our Early Days with the look, high production value and meaningful characters. There is also a look of Dinotopia about it.

The story involves young Asuna Watase whose father is no longer living, but she lives in relative comfort with her mother and has a pet cat called Mimi. She gets under her feet quite a lot. When she isn't at school she likes to go to her secret den to have lunch, but one day she meets a young boy called Shun who rescues her from a dinosaur type bear on a railway bridge. She finds out he is from a place called Agartha and wars a crystal around his neck on a thong that wards off creatures. Or at least that is what it seems like at first. When she hears later that a boy has been found dead near a river, he turns out to be Shun, and her world is forever torn apart. Later, his brother comes looking for his crystal as it is valuable, and is a key that acts as an opening to a gateway to Agartha. There is more depth to the story that takes Asuna through a series of events that lead her to Agartha.

When you see the world Asuna lives in as beautiful and picturesque, you wonder why she would want to be; elsewhere. Like all young children, she is curious about far off places and the possibility of magical lands. She sees her life with her mum and friends as ordinary and seems to long for something better. The one who could take her to this land of Agartha is her school teacher Ryugi Morisaki who has his own interest in going there.

Asura is the perfect young heroine who goes on an adventure of her own. Discovering Agartha is more perilous than she realises, but that is the fun of the movie. She sees the environment and animals that bring the viewers into the movie's plot while the graphics and animation blend in perfectly. The story is quite fast moving for a movie that is similar to Miyazaki's style, as his movies tend to be a lot slower in pacing. Makoto has gone one better to provide viewers with a rich and in depth anime experience.

Bonus Material: Actor's Interviews, Hello Goodbye and Hello, Behind the Scenes of Agartha, The Journey of Makoro Shinkai and Trailer 1 and Trailer 2.

Verdict: Agartha is an enjoyable foray into the unknown that will last with viewers forever.