Lonely Castle in the Mirror

The beginning of the series didn’t manage to catch my attention. The heroine does enter a mysterious and magical new place, like when Alice falls down the rabbit hole. However, it doesn’t make you care, there's no magic going on, it only serves as a backdrop for the story. Similarly, a few other characters show up for obvious reasons, but the film doesn't tell you much about them. There are a few hints here and there, but all the revelations are left until the very end, but there is no lead-up to them, and the first two-thirds of the film just drags on and on. There are very few situations and moments that make me feel anything, and apart from Kokoro, there's no one to root for. The themes are powerful, but the only time I felt unease was in the scene where the main character's classmates "came to visit".  The last third of the film is paradoxically very good, it shows that the story is well-thought-out and everything is nicely interconnected. It even managed to get to me emotionally at times. If the film was shorter and denser, and the atmosphere was built up from the very beginning, it would have been great. As it is, it's kind of okay. What’s more, I guessed two of the three big secrets right off the bat, so most of the big bombs that were dropped at the end didn't quite hit where they were supposed to. What the film has going for it are the visuals, A-1 Pictures did a great job. As for the music, however, it was only slightly above average, which sums up my impression of Lonely Castle in the Mirror as a whole - slightly above average, a 6/10 at most. (03.05.2023)