Thirty years ago, a new race of flame-wielding mutants suddenly appeared, destroying a large portion of humanity. These so-called “Burnish” have continued to appear at random, leaving a trail of death and destruction in their wake.
The autonomous republic of Promepolis is a thriving nation thanks to the incredible efforts of their leader, Kray Foresight, against the Burnish. A team of firefighters known as the Burning Rescue is tasked with stopping these horrifying monsters, using the most performant technology available thanks to their incredible mechanic Lucia Fex. Galo Thymos is an energetic young man, who considers Foresight his hero for saving his life and is the rescue team's most recent recruit.
A terrorist group calling themselves Mad Burnish has been causing havoc all over the nation. After an encounter with Mad Burnish leader Lio Fotia, Galo sets out on his fated journey to find the truth about these mutants, ultimately leading him to question everything he previously held to be true.
[Written by MAL Rewrite]
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Comentários
Zeniatus
My disappointment is immense and I've lost all hope in Trigger as a studio. Some background: I love Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann. I love Panty & Stocking. I enjoyed Kill La Kill. From what I saw: I liked Imashi's works. At the very least they were enjoyable. They knew what they were and what they were doing. Trigger as a whole I wasn't liking. I thought Kizunavier was a idea-centric story that eventually threw up it's hands and said: "This idea was contrived and stupid." But that was by Mari Okaba. She wrote IBO also. And I hated both shows. So it was her. Ithought Darling in the Franxx was terribly written. Character focused at the start, which is fine. But then turns story focused and brings in amnesia as a plot element and reveals a bunch of plot twists one after another before climaxing prematurely and leaving ejaculate everywhere to clean up.
I thought SSSS.Gridman was the same as Darling in the Franxx. More focused on the episodic character "fleshing out". Until they introduced a shit ton of plot twists and suddenly tried to make a sociopathic character seem victimized in the last 2-5 episodes.
Both shows also had a lot of references to other, better shows.
But maybe those were just one offs. Maybe Imashi will carry the studio. Maybe it's all Imashi. Maybe Promare is different.
It wasn't. Same plot twist cascade. Referencing other shows obviously because that's the only way they can piece together a film. Obvious pandering. The characters were ass. There's one character that is just there for plot relevance and to be the main character's squeeze. She does nothing. Most of the entire Fire Force squad does nothing. If the villain didn't do one thing, everything that he was doing would be reasonable. And the only reason why the world was still saved afterwards was because of an asspull that was only known to be possible after they fought. It's one of the worst anti-racism movies I've ever seen. Because it's so contrived to the point where it legitimizes the reasons why the Burnish are discriminated against.
It's a great spectacle though. If you only came to watch cool shit go down and cool fights to happen then this will be entertaining. I don't like the composer's works. The soundtrack is really carried by the singers and the two Superfly tracks. The soundtrack is mostly the singer's nice voice with a repetitive drum beat in the background. It does fit the movie so I don't think you'll be bothered by it if you don't care about the story.
I do. And this is only somewhat better than Gundam Narrative.
If you want better mecha stories I'd suggest re-watching Gurren Lagann, Gunbuster, Diebuster, GaoGaiGar, King Gainer, L-Gaim, Turn A Gundam, Iczer 3 and more.
If you wanted a better anti-racism film I'd suggest Remember the Titans. If you wanted anime I'd suggest Parasyte, Haibane Renmei, maybe Trigun.
Draculoid
While Gurren Lagann used drills and Kill la Kill used thread, Imaishi and Nakashima`s new “Burning passion” storyline takes the symbolism to the next logical step, using fire itself (and shapes) to drive the story forward. It`s both boldly new in appearance with it‘s bright colours and liberal use of CG yet immediately recognizable as an Imaishi work. While many haven’t been blown away by the studios output as of late, I think it’s important to realize how little this resembles your standard Trigger release. This film is their first in the almost 8 years the studio has beenrunning and a similar affair to Darling in the Franxx in that it is a collaborative work. How it isn’t similar, though, is that it isn’t shit and their collaborative studio, Sanzigen, are a CGI studio who work in the field of revolutionizing CGI use in anime. While some of collaborations mainly focus on background armies and mechanical parts, their standout title Bubuki Baranki from 2016 received praise across the internet for being the best looking use of CGI in anime to date and many claiming it to be the future of CGI anime. It’s clear with Promare they are wanting to take their highly praised CGI/cel shading anime aesthetic and combine it with the stylings of Imaishi and Nakashima to create the most traditional looking anime CGI project to date, and here I believe they succeed.
On the quality of the CG and integration, I personally found it fantastic. There were a small number of times the frame rate seemed only slightly off, but in the grand scheme I'm only making this criticism to be fair. For my personal enjoyment of the film it had very, very little impact. After seeing the film and following the discussion online, I want people to understand that enjoying or praising this film doesn't mean the individual is a fan of or sympathizer of CG integration in anime, but can appreciate a well animated, piece using it. For example, even though they are stylized vehicles, I love the cuts in episode 6 of Panty and Stocking with Chuck and Fastener fighting in their cars. It’s easy to dismiss CGI outright without actually analyzing what works and doesn’t in a scene, and with Promare, I’d say it almost always works. Also, even thought there is a lot of CG integration, there is a ton of purely 2D cuts as well. The conclusion to the fight between Galo and Lio among many others is entirely 2D and there are some seriously awesome cuts that people are going to see in .webms for a long time to come.
Concerning the story itself, it is a Nakashima Kazuki story through and through hitting all the right Imaishi notes. It begins setting up a very familiar chaos vs order story line but quickly begins to focus mainly on discrimination and instead of breaking apart order with progress and chaos, the idea of unity and rebirth. It's a very familiar story, but with just the right variation to the tale to make it feel fresh and relevant. It definitely moves very quickly, as it's covering a story that could easily have been expanded and made into a longer series, but as is, it works. I was all in, but can also immediately see where a lot of the backlash for this film is going to stem concerning the themes and criticisms of society present. This film is apparently going to be getting a more global release, and I implore you if interested to catch this film on the big screen. The visual story telling at play was fantastic and the film had my blood pumping from beginning to end.
Touching briefly on the music, I enjoyed Sawano's soundtrack but a few tracks were a bit repetitive. He has a recognizable sound.. And the soundtrack of was most remenisent of Kill la Kill, albeit a weaker Kill la Kill. All things considered however, Kill la Kill is one of my favourite soundtracks of all time, so this is barely a criticism. The music wasn't a highlight of the film for me but still very enjoyable.
SuccHunter
Story: 7/10 The story is just 2 hours of studio Trigger clowning on themselves. With this movie, it's like they've become completely self aware. They're all but parodying themselves more and more with each subsequent work they put out, and strangely, they're better off for it. Yes, that's right. Studio Trigger is at its best when it's not taking itself too seriously. Remember Little Witch Academia and Darling in The Franxx? Remember how miserable and boring they were to watch? Yeah. Promare is the antithesis to all that. It's Imaishi's wake-up slap to Trigger, showcasing what made Gurren Lagann such a timeless classic. "Hey, you rememberthat?" He said. "Let's make more of THAT." He suggested.
That said, Promare's story is not exactly "Gurren la Kill" as some call it. It does come pretty damn close, though. It does just barely enough to differentiate itself from big bro Gurren Lagann and big sister Kill la Kill. Trigger knew comparisons to those two shows would be inevitable, and what did they do? They embraced the meme harder than anyone expected them to. And the result? A drug-addled haze of a movie. A cranium-busting roller coaster of pure fucking adrenaline and hype, but not much else. And you know what? That's all I ever asked for from Studio Trigger. As is standard Studio Trigger fare, the story is extremely over the top and convoluted - hopelessly so for a movie. This is the stuff that 24 episode anime series are made of, not a 2 hour flick. As a result, the story moves at an unbelievably breakneck pace. There is not a single moment to blink or look away. In every shot, there is always something going on, something flying across the screen as the camera pans 360 degrees. Anything that is explained is rushed through without a moment's pause, and anything that is not explained is brushed off in a very flippant and nonchalant manner. Actually, I'm making it sound worse than it actually is. When you're watching the movie, it just works. There is just enough plot for you to actually care about what's going on. There is just enough characterization for you to care about the characters, to want to see them triumph. In exchange for cutting some of these elements a bit short, the movie moves the plot forward and resolves things at such a rapid pace that our attention is held captive throughout the entire movie. And last but not least, this speed demon pacing paves way for the two most powerful ingredients in the Gurren la Kill formula: unending hype and escalation.
In Promare, anyone who's even half familiar with Trigger's and by extension Gainax's storytelling chops should theoretically not bat an eye at anything. But we do anyways. We cannot help but be drawn in. It's everything we've all come to know and love, cranked into maximum overdrive. It's no understatement to say that hype and adrenaline are the glue that makes the underwhelming story and characters stick. There's something strangely hypnotic about a shirtless man with spiky hair screaming about how he'll put fires out with his "burning spirit" as he smashes a button that makes his mech transform into optimus prime but with 6 arms and a giant firefighting umbrella. Escalation is the name of the game. The scale of the story and fights just ramps up and up into absolute pandemonium. That is not to say, however, that the story is bad, or that it relies too heavily on hype as a crutch. But let's just say that, if this movie was made by any other studio, it would have been laughed out of the theaters. However, because this is a Trigger animation, directed by the based god Imaishi, magic happens. Only Trigger can make something both so mediocre and so amazing at the same time.
Art: 10/10
Promare was one of the most visually and aurally intense anime movies I've ever experienced. It makes 99% of all other anime movie look like they were drawn on an Etch-A-Sketch by a dyslexic Parkinson's patient. Every single action scene was so hyper-kinetic; so dynamic but clear-cut and satisfying, that even if you think the story is shit, it's damn worth watching for just the animation alone. Imagine episode 12 of One Punch Man but stretched out to 2 hours. The camera has a will of its own and will change angles once every other frame when it's not doing overhead 360 degree pans around a giant robot flying across the map, smashing through 12 buildings before leveling a mountain as it kicks off said mountain to fly straight towards the space ship it was fighting. The best part is that you can always tell what was happening. Never did Promare lose or confuse me as to what I was looking at. Every single shot transitioned into another so seamlessly and coherently that I really felt like I was moving along with the action, felt every punch, heard every scream from inside the cockpit. In other words, the animation always put me at the heart of the action, a very subtle thing that can make or break action sequences. A lot of shows have amazing sakuga fights but tend to make a clusterfuck of them. Promare, however, never once dropped the ball on that front.
Also, I have not seen this much seamless and clever use of 3D CG since Houseki no Kuni. This is some of the best looking CG animation I've ever seen, and it unarguably enhances the experience in every way, allowing for some camera angles and choreographed movement that would not have been possible to convey with just traditional animation alone.
Sound: 10/10
Many major action sequences in Promare played out like an AMV, in that the action and music were synced perfectly to create a synthesis of the senses that was fun to experience. However, for AMVs to work, the songs had to be good. Preferably, really good. Did Promare's OST fit the bill? Yes and more. It was composed by the same guy who composed tracks for Kill la Kill. If you thought Blumenkranz or Don't Lose Your Way was good, look up "Inferno" and "Kakusei" on Youtube. At least, that was what I immediately did after I finished watching this movie. I'm still humming them as I'm writing this review right now.
There was not a single track that did not fit the mood or did not enhance a scene in any way. Every single track was in top form, especially the ones that played during the major action scenes. Remember the finale of Gurren Lagann with Sorairo Days blasting in the background, or that fight with the huge kaiju with a lot of guns from FLCL to the total bop that is Blues Drive Monster? Yeah. Same energy.
Enjoyment: 10/10
The only way my night could have ended better was if I also got to snort coke off the buttocks of an Amsterdam hooker while getting a lapdance from an actual anime girl. I also have a friend who waited 4 hours in line to get into the premiere and he said it was completely worth it.
Overall: 10/10
Trigger is like that one loose cannon drunk friend that we keep hanging around because in his lucid moments he can be genuinely brilliant and awesome guy to hang around (i.e Kill la Kill, Space Patrol Luluco, Inferno Cop) but when he's drunk he's vomiting subpar material like it's stomach flu season (i.e Darling In The Franxx, Little Witch Academia). His latest flash of sober genius turned out to be Promare and once again we are reminded of why we keep having this love-hate relationship: all so that someday he would shape the fuck up and remind us all again of what made anime such a special medium in the first place, to allow such brilliant works of kinetic art to grace our eyeballs and such passionate screams of men vibrate in our eardrums.
MaskettaSenpai
Trigger, I think we need to go on a break. Now, I love the studio's punk-like, devil-may-care attitude. It was so cool to see an upstart animation studio so flagrantly try to play by its own rules, especially a studio with that Gainax pedigree. But over time I've come to realize it's less that I like what the studio has actually made, and more that I just like the attitude of the studio itself. I loved the original Little Witch Academia shorts and Space Patrol Luloco, but everything else has, at best, left me wanting. And nowhere is that more the case than Promare, perhaps the TriggerestTrigger production. It's a blend of themes, imagery, plot points, character archetypes, etc. that the studio has mined before squeezed into a 110 minute package. Here more than ever, though, it all feels so surface level.
The visuals are, of course, fucking sick, with this blend of 2D and stylized-3D that reminded me of Into the Spider-Verse's splendor. The opening ten minutes put it all on display in this kinetic and fun action sequence, but that's where it peaks because afterward the script completely falls apart. Goddamn is the dialogue so clunky and mechanical, all in service to a plot that's propelled only by inelegant exposition dumps. Goddamn is most of the cast utterly expendable, and the rest two dimensional (save the villain, at least). Goddamn does this feel like a 12 episode series crammed into less than two hours, with so much happening but very little having any impact. This doesn't even feel like its own film; this is like a compilation film for a show that never got made.
Wait, no, that show was made 12 years ago and it was called Gurren Lagann, but lifting Kamina's design and the entire set-up to the show's second half isn't enough to recapture the magic (and this certainly isn't the first time they've tried). So blatantly aping your past work just makes the shortcomings of the present that much more obvious. Perhaps I'm also just tired of idiot heroes saving the world from assured destruction by sheer force of belief, rather than letting the pragmatic villain have a point, because god forbid we let the characters wrestle with an actual moral dilemma.
The finale is a spectacle that's at least worth a watch on Youtube, but I was so disengaged by then that I could not enjoy it as much as I so clearly should have. It's a shame that such great direction and style and visual-sense are all wasted on a cruddy foundation - the script. I love what you want to be, Trigger, but until you seriously invest in the writing of your works (or Imaishi just goes full, Dead Leaves-style gonzo from here on out), I think I should be seeing other studios for a while.
NG_Chloe
Promare is like a slot machine. It will stop and then go go go! It starts with great action, right before it gives you your homework, because this film is a bit of a cramfest. It feels like a twelve-episode series that was turned into an hour and fifty-minute movie, because there's so much happening that it's mind-numbing. Nothing leaves an impact, because there isn't any build-up, and the slower scenes come out of nowhere like a checklist, this adds to the cramming again, because there's so much to check off, to the point where in-between the amazing actions set-pieces it feels like it's mostlyexposition about the characters and story, trying to cram everything in there.
But that's just the overall problem I have with this movie, it does try to give the indication that this isn't meant to be taken too seriously, by calling the robot that almost came out of nowhere, Deus ex Machina, which I laughed at, even if I realized they were simply lampshading the fact that their film had a deus ex machina. The film is well tied-together, it just would've been better if it were spread out better. If it had to be a movie, couldn't they plan for a series of films or add thirty minutes to the runtime.
As for the good, I liked Lio and his story, even if we only know the simple parts of Lio, which we don't know his backstory, but if they rewrote the film to be about Lio, than I would be loving this movie, because Galo isn't a bad character, he's fun, but I simply prefer Lio. The music is also fantastic, as expected of hiroyuki sawano.
The animation is varying. The CGI looks pretty good with ow they use it, but this is a movie, and for a film, the animation is a little underwhelming, if it's 2d animation, it feels like it was barely animated, and if it's 3d, it can feel unnecessary.
There is some tonal whiplash, I don't mind as much, because combining tones is important to me, but when this film with a Deus Ex Machina joke also has genocide, it could create massive whiplash. I know I'm supposed to take it seriously, but that doesn't excuse bad writing.
there aren't actually that many problems with this movie, though all the exposition, pacing problems, and twists that come out of nowhere make it hard to recommend it. It's not something I regret watching like Mortal Engines, Nausicaa of the valley of the wind, Tales from Earthsea or Rampage, but if you want to watch it, rent it if it's available. I would watch it if someone had it at a party for free
if you're wondering:
Story- 1
art- 4
sound- 10
character- 4
enjoyment- 3
Average- 4.4
personal rating- 2
Jakeman95
Overall, it was most certainly not worth the $12 I paid to see it... maybe $6. I wouldn't recommend anyone other than diehard Trigger fanboys go see it, cause, while it won't bore you, as the action scenes are plentiful, there's not much else to it. I went for pretty action... I got action... and a migraine from the plot/story. So, the art for the movie, which was the only good thing about it, was unique in a way. It was all this half 3dcg-like-ness thing, but it also had some traditional Trigger flare to it. I'll call it simple as it lackedmost detail and was inconsistent at times, but still okay. I can't complain about it, but it also wasn't impressive.
The music really took a back seat in the movie. I was hoping for some bangers like they have in Kill la Kill at least, but nothing really stood out. The songs in the fight scenes were lacking of any energy or umph and don't have the blood pumping vibe to really light you on fire... no 燃える
The characters were as flat as boards. Little to no character depth, little or no reason to care about them, little or no investment, and almost zero backstory. Galo was the most un-interesting character and wasn't even a stand-in that most uninteresting characters tend to be. The bad guy, Kray, at least had a goal/purpose in the movie, even if it was flawed. Lio had the most motivation for why he was doing what he was doing, but still, no background, no redeeming factors, no thing other than woe are our people.
The plot was as generic and unoriginal as anything Trigger's done. MC powers his way unscathed through everything with willpower and help from Lio. I'm pretty sure they were trying for the whole "if your soul burns hard/bright enough, you can overcome anything", but it completely lost it's spark cause there's nothing for the viewers to get invested in. It was like taking a decent movie and just showing the action scenes *cough*Unlimited Blade Works movie*cough*. It's more or less the same plot as TTGL or Kill la Kill but with a new skin and nothing else. Hell, FranXX had a better plot, and we all know what happened there.
I'll be honest, I knew going into it that I wouldn't care for the story... but this was the lamest excuse for a story. Sure they pepp-... no, flooded it with references to their other series, but doing that isn't enough to actually do anything. There were plot/story holes throughout the entire thing... like the hole in the spaceship and what good is the ship as a spaceship now that it has a hole in it... Or the fact that thousands of people died when it fell and squished them... Or how they overcame the bad guy despite him being acknowledged as being stronger... Or how jarring, half baked, disgustingly obvious the comedy was. On top of that, everything was obvious as soon as the story got going for who was the good guy, the not-bad-bad-guy, and the actual bad guy were... it was honestly all completely cringe. And while I'm sure I've sat through worse, i'd rate it -3/10 if I could give negative numbers.
While I didn't personally care for Kill la Kill, at least it had solid characters, it had a fairly interesting plot, it actually got you invested, and above all, the bad guy was actually well done! The story was, well, as unique as the outfits, whether that's your brand, I don't know, but if anything, it appealed to people that may not like that type of plot. Promare, on the other hand, was a 4th rate story and honestly a mockery of Fireforce which happened to be airing the same time the movie come to theatres in the US.
To end with... don't even bother watching it...
Smugness
It is more TRIGGER eye candy, the CG and the art were stunning but that is all I can really say about it. The characters have been done better before in other TRIGGER shows and the story has been beaten like a dead horse. If you are a fan of the studio, go watch it, it shows how far they have come since Gurren Lagann animation wise, but I honestly cant help but to compare it to what has come before it. It falls into the trap that all TRIGGER shows fall into, and it disappointed me, and I went into the theater with noexpectations and I was still disappointed.
St_Arcus
tl;dr: It suffers from a total lack of plot, very poor character development, and under-saturated pastel coloring. *Light spoilers* Story: Lackluster at best. It's pretty standard of Trigger to have nonsensical plots that are driven by characters and mood only, and this is no exception. Their formula works best when they have good characters to back them up; however: Characters: Promare was too focused on being hype 100% of the time to allow a slow moment for character development. All we get is that the main character, Galo, is passionate about putting out fires; Lio cares about the well being of his fellow Burnish, and Kray is driven.Most of the other characters aren't even fleshed out enough to get their own trope, which feels like a waste.
Art: The character designs are excellent, but the backgrounds are very dull and cgi is plentiful. The cgi isn't bad by any means, but I'd prefer actual animation any day of the week instead of wide panning shots. An interesting choice was to use very light pastels for almost all of the coloring, which was a stylistic choice that I disliked due to the fact that things blended together too much in fast-paced action scenes. Even in the (rare) slow moments, it was hard to watch. I hoped this would be much less of a problem with home viewing, but the coloration in the BD seems just as washed out as in the theater.
Sound: I had no issues with the effects, but the music failed to properly emphasize the important moments in the movie.
Other: Throwing in obvious references just cheapened the movie for me as well, it used them as a crutch to get fans interested instead of innovating on its own. You can see that for yourself in a lot of the highly rated reviews here.
Boxwithcola
So, Trigger is back at it again with another action series. However, this time on the big screen in collaboration with XFLAG most known for the creation of the mobile game "Monster strike", which took Japan by storm a few years back. As a big Trigger fan I was excited to finally see this film. So much hype surrounding this film and the interesting cast and characters. The soundtrack is really great and is one of the big highlights of the film, which is perfectly combined with the extreme over the top action and mechs as one would expect from trigger. To further elevate the action, anextremely fitting art-style and good use of 3d cgi animation further immersed me into the world and Promepolis. (I'm glad Trigger is one of the very few studios that can properly use 3d cgi, as seen with last year's Gridman as well).
As much as I like the above aspects of the film there were some things that left me slightly unsatisfied. Firstly, leading up to the premiere of the film, Galo's group was very hyped up to play a bigger role than what they actually did in the film. I would also have hoped to learn more about Lio's group and the Burnish as well. I really wish that Trigger took the chance to do more character building instead of leaving most characters with little to no screen-time.
I understand that it was not possible to do for a mere 2 hour film, but it makes me imagine how much further potential the story and world-building could have had if it were a 12-24 episode anime series instead. The story is seriously great, which is why I wish I could get more of it.
Then again, I seriously doubt that an anime series would maintain the standards that the film had. The budget would be way much larger and I don't think there is any way that Trigger would be able to break even if they had the same level of quality as the film had. I guess my dreams will remain dreams...
Nevertheless, being Trigger's first full feature animated film I'm seriously impressed and I really hope that we will see more cinematic experiences from them in the future. So anyone who loves Trigger or action-packed over the top mechs, fighting and a seriously nice story please check it out!
McEpsilon
Alright, here goes! I'll start off my thoughts with, if you have a theater near you showing the movie today... GO! You will not regret your decision. Alright now to my thoughts. The animation is absolutely GORGEOUS! Their use of colored lines on characters rather than the standard black is stunning to watch both in and out of motion. The CG they used was fantastic, I actually think some of the fight scenes where it was used benefitted from it rather than having it take away as CG tends to. Overall this film at the very least is eye candy and an experience to... Well... Experience! Secondly,the characters. The main cast consists of 5 or 6 characters and they are all interesting, even if one of them in particular lacks the depth of the others. They're still a great character. Galo, the main protagonist is like Kamina from Gurren Lagann (because of course he is, thank you Trigger for giving us just a bit more time with him) but just crank him up past his standard 11 and hit a 12. He's so much fun to watch on screen and in the English dub I watched, he was voiced by the same VA as Naofumi from Shield Hero and his voice really is wonderful. Then there's Lio, the main antagonist. He has a lot of depth despite seeming very generic at the beginning. Are the characters in this movie predictable? No doubt. Does it suffer for that fact? Not one bit in my opinion.
Alright third thing is I want to talk about the audio, that being the voice acting and the sound track. First of the voice acting. The cast was all INCREDIBLE in terms of their VA work in the english dub. Standout performances for Galo (as mentioned before), Lio (voice by Johnny Yong Bosch aka Lelouch), Vulcan (A side antagonist but he was super fun, the voice really made you hate him and you were supposed to!) and also Gov Kray was fantastic as well even if I don't know his VA off the top of my head. Now with the stellar VA work out of the way ONTO THE MUSIC! The music absolutely sells this movie! The mood genuinely is portrayed 70% through the music, the animation style is incredibly expressive itself but the music just puts this whole movie to top tier. I loved every track, the transitions were ON POINT on every scene, and I've been listening to the OST since I watched it on Tuesday. The whole movie is incredibly hype inducing and I literally wanted to get up and clap at certain points. I definitely whooped a few times.
This entire movie was a love letter to all Studio Trigger fans. From the subtle "Matoi" reference to the random drill they bring out of nowhere. It is still a stellar movie if you haven't seen anything trigger but it becomes all the better when you get all the references and nods to their previous work. This movie has made a mark on me and I truly am a Trigger fan through and through after watching it. It made me feel like a kid again watching my Saturday morning cartoons. But for 2 hours straight. And the commentary from the studio before and after the movie really drove home how much love and effort was put into the making of this fantastic product.
MurderofCrows13
This movie is my new favorite movie. Disclaimer: I am not really a fan of Trigger's other works. I never finished Gurran Lagan (found it too bogged down in filler) and never got around to watching Kill La Kill. ~minor spoilers~ Story: The story explores the themes of global warming, neo-capitalism / neo-libralism, and minority identities in a way that is beautifully interwoven with the story and art of the movie. The themes naturally tie in with and reinforce each other. The pacing is brutal and fantastic. Aside from a few breaths of air, the story moves at a breakneck pace and doesn't bother to hold your hand. Yetit isn't confusing or hard to follow. (Except for one part which is lampshaded by the appropriate character and takes the time to explain itself more) the dialogue and story beats are tight - they explain / cover exactly what they need to and move on. There is only one scene (ice lake) that I felt like dragged on a bit long.
Characters:
The characters are extremely diverse in values, and all respresent different political philosophies. The heroes are extremely likable and are a joy to watch. I found myself extremely attached to the two leads. Watching them go down their separate arcs and develop together is a joy.
The villian is basically a white supremacist Elon Musk, enabled by a neoliberal society, and the movie feels particularly poignant in it's condemnation of him and his philosophy.
The side characters aren't particularly fleshed out but that makes them no less effective at their roles in the plot. Still, their personalities and values come across easily.
One criticism I have with the movie is one I have with most anime, which is that the women in the film don't play a huge role and the main female lead is boring. But that's kind of what I've come to expect.
Music:
The music conveys both mourning and triumph with masterful execution. The fight scenes are paired with enthusiastic music and the sound design makes the universe feel real. The voice acting (Japanese) is incredible and the actors convey the emotions of their characters expertly.
One particular track, lio's theme / kakusei, conveys his character / emotions while being an amazing song. I've been listening to it on repeat since I saw the movie.
Animation / Art / Design:
This is one of my favorite parts of the film. The design informs every part of the film, especially the theming, amazingly.
The color design informs the world: burnish are colored purple and in natural hues, reflecting their passion and connection to the natural world.
The Burning Rescue is given innocent blues and reds and the characters within it are given soft, curved exteriors, representing their purity.
The city / establishment is mostly given a unnatural, fake white exterior, mixed with the black hues and impossible size of the Freeze Force. This monochrome color palette contrasts with the Burnish palette and the burning rescue color palette in a way that is both meaningful and extremely stylish.
I would recommend pairing this movie with a blunt, if you have access to such. The art is so beautiful and awesome.
Enjoyment:
This movie came at a relevant time for many, including me. In a world where the the news cycle feels unrelenting and disturbing, this movie inspires hope and sincere kindness. In that way, I find it pays tribute to the genre of shounen, and it's enthusiasm. It gives me hope, even though the world feels weighted by climate change.
I loved the canon gay representation. The emotional bond of the characters is so meaningful. Huge props to whomever decided to just go for it, it makes the movie even better.
This movie is an emotional whirlwind, and I loved every second of it.
Gay/10
tigerine
Disclaimer: this is my first Studio Trigger work. I don't have anything invested in the studio's success or failure with this work. Promare is the one of the tightest, most information-dense anime features I've ever seen. When telling people to go see it, I warn them: "Don't buy that soda. Don't be hydrated. Because you cannot afford to miss anything if you have to go take a leak." No opportunity is wasted to jam information into your mind, so the best way to really absorb characters, plot, and story is repeated viewings. I have had three viewings and now feel confident in saying that Promareis not just a technical achievement, but a masterful combination of art and music with an incisive message.
It is typical of Western consumers to read any narrative about oppression as anti-racism. Promare is about oppression, but it is not about racism. The film's major artistic theme centers around a pink triangle. The Burnish, people who suddenly and uncontrollably burst into flames, are portrayed as both disgusting and misunderstood. The constant reminders that fire and passion are interchangeable are not an accident. Characters repeatedly state that it's not the fault of the Burnish that they burn the way they do. It's natural; they 'cannot live without burning'.
That the fights are fantastic can't be denied: these are world-shaking cataclysms, which threaten life itself. But it's not a big, jaw-dropping fight that changes the course of history. It's a quiet moment, where choices are made to forsake conflict for connection, to substitute cowardice for courage in the face of self-knowledge. To choose passion over control.
Let me repeat: Promare is NOT about racism. It is about veiled, passionate identities which society views as destructive, and society's attempts to control, subjugate, and finally harness those passionate flames for their own misbegotten ends. Promare speaks of the strength that men have to forge new connections even at the end of the world, if only we can be courageous enough to know ourselves.
Morphimuse
*NO SPOILERS* Ahh, Promare. Having finally watched the movie after over 9 months of anticipation, I was more than prepared to have my mind blown by Trigger, Gurren Lagann style. Instead my mind was lightly scrambled, DiTFx style. Lets go in depth, shall we? STORY: 2/10 What story? Promare's story is so non-existent that the writers try to mock it within the movie itself. "HA! This would make it funny" Well, it wasn't funny. Every second is an absolute info cram and you're done if your feeble mind can't keep up with the geniuses over at Trigger. The main object of the story, The Promare got avery unsatisfactory and rushed explaination. The overdone action overshadows any chance Promare had to develop it's story.
ART: 9/10 Credit where credit is due, Trigger blew it out of the park with the graphics and art of the movie. Truly orgasmic. Nothing they haven't done before though.
SOUND: 7/10 The soundtrack aint bad, with Ashes and Inferno being my favourites but is it something I will remember and keep with myself for a long time, nah.
CHARACTERS: 4/10 "Too many cooks spoil the broth" and that saying is more applicable than ever in Promare. What looked like an interesting array of characters were let down by poor writing. No one apart from the two MC's and the villain gets any development and are used more as pawns for flashy entrances. I would have loved if they had explored the dynamic between Ignis and Vulcan more but eh.
ENJOYMENT: 6/10 While my review definitely comes off as more negative than I intended, I still had a fun time watching it. I was a bit let down of course but for what it's worth, it's some good mindless action.
OVERALL: 6/10 Promare is just Trigger playing to their USP and I would have been all down for it had they not decided to pin all their hopes on flashy cell shaded graphics and wild, nonsensical plot twists.
WhiteWolfKiba
Promare is the latest movie by studio Trigger and my hype was pretty high on this one. Promare was released in US theaters earlier this year, but it's getting a SECOND screening now which is like unheard of for anime movie premieres over here. I kept hearing rave reviews for this movie but when I finally saw it I was pretty disappointed and I have to give it a 3/10. I really don't get the hype for this movie? The story (3/10), hahaha, what story? It starts out as a simple ripoff of Fire Force, which is a firefighter anime also out this year. Humans arespontaneously combusting and turning into monsters called "Brandishes" which our super fire fighting squad has to fight (sound familiar?). Except our firefighters use mecha that look VERY similar to the Gunmen in Gurren Lagann, by the same director. How come when a male character pilots the mecha he sits upright in the cockpit but when it's the girl she has to lay down with her butt in the air in a very suggestive pose like pilots in Darling in the Fraxx? Don't think too much! This is a very "turn your brain off" movie. Except it kinda isn't at the same time? The pacing is so rushed and out of control, I left at one point to grab something from the snack bar and when I came back if felt like I'd missed 20 things, I kid you not! The end of the movie is really rough, with plot twist after plot twist to the point where I legit didn't know what was going on. Something about making sure the Brandish don't use their powers or else the earth's core will blow up, but then they use their powers anyway and somehow everyone is fine after the explosion?
The characters (3/10) were pretty bad too. Just a collection of cliches, it doesn't help that their character designs are ripped from other anime as well. The main guy looks JUST like Kamina from Gurren Lagann (and has the same personality), and he even has a love interest who looks just like Yoko (except she has pink hair instead of red hair, thanks for putting in a tiny bit of effort to change it up). I'm trying to think of something to say about the girl besides "she's the girl of the team and kinda Kamina's love interest" but I legit can't think of anything. Oh, there's tons of shots of her butt in the movie! So she served that purpose I guess...I actually enjoyed the scenes of the Fire Force---crap, wrong anime! Uh, the Fire Force working together, like the scene with the epic quintuple fist bump, wish we'd gotten more scenes like that. Lio Fotia, the leader of the Brandish, is kind of a bro and I wish the movie had been about him. His team is pretty sympathetic once you realize the Brandish are actually treated pretty unfairly by society. There's a great scene with a Brandish pizza maker where the movie briefly turns into a commentary on racism, but we never dwell on this topic long enough. Not enough over the top explosions I guess! The villain, oh man, this movie is so damn predictable! I called the villain twist as soon as they introduced a guy who's always smiling. But then there's a twist where the villain really IS trying to do what's good for humanity? Except there's another twist where the villain is REALLY REALLY a villain, and you find out one new detail about him that makes no sense at all. Do you see what I meant about this movie having too many twists?
The art (3/10) wasn't bad per se, but it rubbed me the wrong way. Some visuals were really good but others not so much; I'll never forget the scene where they used a CRAYON DRAWING behind the main character! I know it was supposed to be "stylish" but it just came off as cheap and lazy. The art sometimes uses faded color palette like in Ninja Slayer (same studio), and that was a style I had a problem with in THAT series too. Character designs (as well as mech designs) are heavily recycled from Gurren Lagann and Kill la Kill AND Darling in the Franxx, and I never thought the art was strong in those shows. It also comes off as lazy because this studio just keeps "referencing" aka copying previous shows. Do something different! The soundtrack (7/10) was pretty good, and that seems to be the one thing we can always count on for a Trigger show is head-banging music. They even had a cute sing-a-long after the movie at my screening and we all participated cuz the theme was so good!
My enjoyment was below average (4/10). I will admit some of the action scenes were quite good, but when I can't connect with the cliche characters or the incomprehensible story, that action can only hold my attention for so long. I started seriously nodding off in the latter half of the movie when I realized I just couldn't follow the plot anymore. So yeah I was pretty disappointed and cannot fathom why THIS anime movie of all things got a 2nd screening. People really loved it but I can't see why. It's good some good fight scenes but there are like 50 anime movies I'd rather rewatch before this one.
InfiniteSoda
First of all, let's get out of the way what Promare isn't. Promare isn't a movie that's going to make you invest yourself in the plot. The plot does its job of setting up conflicts, but it's nothing to write home about. Very Imaishi-esque, though. Promare also isn't going to make you care about the characters that much, because only a few of them have any major impact on the story and are extremely similar, if not identical, to characters from previous Trigger works. What Promare is is Hiroyuki Imaishi's knack for over-the-top, adrenaline pumping fun at its finest. To those familiar with him, it'ssomething only he could conjure. For those who have never had the pleasure of indulging in his work before, enjoy the ride.
Promare is very much like a reimagining of Gurren Lagann. It has the same sort of absurdity and ever-intensifying conflict. Even the main character, Galo Thymos, is pretty much a carbon copy of Kamina, both in design and personality. There are many little nods to both Gurren Lagann and Kill La Kill throughout the movie, something I appreciated as a fan of both series. Like both Gurren Lagann and Kill La Kill, Promare has a central theme: fire. The theme of fire and firefighting really didn't grab me that much from a storytelling standpoint, but it does provide for some kickass action sequences and quirky visuals.
The art in Promare is very stylized but I enjoyed it. The color palette used a lot of purples and neon blues, and it was refreshing to see something different on screen. The CG is about what you'd expect from an anime film, as is most of the 2D animation. The budget definitely went into the action scenes, which are intense and fun. The movie has a good portion of action and shouldn't leave you bored for very long, if at all. Character designs are hit and miss; some characters look like slightly altered versions of past Trigger characters, like Galo and Kray Foresight. Others, such as Lio, are more original. The other members of the Burning Rescue are interesting but for the most part feel underutilized. I know only so much can be done within a two-hour movie but many of them just show up to support Galo with little screen time and dialogue themselves.
Hiroyuki Sawano's sound direction is awesome. His score melds perfectly with the scenes and really gets you hyped in the moment. For me it was probably the best part of the movie and it really elevated the visuals to new heights. The voice acting isn't anything especially noteworthy but I did enjoy Matsuyama Kenichi as Galo. He put a lot of life into that character.
Personally, I went in to Promare with no expectations and came out satisfied. Promare won't blow you away but it's a fun movie to watch and delivers a healthy dose of absurd action as only Trigger can produce. Some may complain that it's too derivative of previous works, but for me that adds to the charm. Hiroyuki Imaishi has turned his style into a science all his own. If you like his work, definitely don't miss out on this one. If you want something fun and exciting to watch, I'd recommend Promare wholeheartedly.
Chrismas95
If you’re familiar with TRIGGER’s over-the-top craziness, you’ll feel right at home with Promare. If you’re not familiar with it, I think Promare will be even more of a fun ride for you. The entire second half of the movie had spectacle and constantly escalating circumstances up the butt, and that’s not an exaggeration. I’m not fond of spectacle exclusively for the sake of visual eye candy, so you’ll be happy to know that Promare pulls it all off with meaning. It’s hard to overstate how wild Promare gets. I left the theater feeling satisfied and pumped up for hours, and even just thinking aboutthe movie gets a spark of that excitement going.
Obviously, Promare isn’t all action. While it literally starts with an action scene, the movie takes time to set up its factions, themes, and setting. (And man, the somewhat futuristic setting filled with purposeful technology is cool and makes me want to be there.) You can see where the plot is going (and the themes are obvious), but it feels like it’s by design so the movie can set up the conflict timely before blasting into the aforementioned second half (where I found the enemy’s motive really neat). And when that second half hit, I constantly felt like I was in the climax…only for stakes to keep escalating further and further and even further. Constantly throughout the movie, something would happen that made me think, “Well, I gotta see how THIS ends,” and it just kept giving me more questions before answering them all.
The art style admittedly takes some getting used to. I wondered if I would even like the movie during the opening firefighting scene since the 3D, weirdly-shaded characters and environments were so off-putting. However, not long after, it went from looking weird to gorgeous. The purple and blue flames of the Burnish are particularly striking, and the animators do some really cool things with them. Characters are super expressive, perfectly lending to the wild situations they’re in. The animation itself is very pronounced, and it often has this “start and stop” quality that I love in fights. An example being a character spinning a weapon so fast it blurs then suddenly stopping it. It has impact! Very rarely are there bits of “silly” animation that TRIGGER does that I’m not too fond of.
The soundtrack is stellar, punctuating the action and large-scale events particularly well. While most movie soundtracks tend to only go well with the visuals and tone of the movie, Promare’s music tends to be enjoyable when listening to it alone. It doesn’t have the same flare without the visuals, so I wouldn’t listen to it without watching the movie first.
I share the same complaint many people do: the synopsis and beginning of the movie make it seem like the focus is on the firefighting team, but they barely get any screentime. They’re a likable group, so it’s a shame we don’t get to see them cooperate often. The focus is definitely on a handful of characters with everyone else being support, but it’s fine because they made that handful . It makes me think about if Promare were an anime that fleshed out its cool ideas/characters more instead. It probably could’ve worked as one (and I would definitely be interested in it), but it’s obviously a movie so it can rapid-fire all the hype moments at you without losing steam.
Promare is balls-to-the-walls intensity with animation and music to back it up, but still has a plot to give it all a good reason to happen in the first place. Seriously, it lives and dies on its blood-pumping thrills, and as someone who tends to not like when things get too weird or crazy, I loved what they did with this a lot.
JordanJoestar76
TRIGGERI enjoyed it. The amalgamation occasionally made me feel like I was watching [actually-good] video game cutscenes mixed with anime at times.
SOUND:
I had a shift change for work thus I pre-purchased tickets for the dub day instead of sub. The voice acting was oftimes atrocious/tryhard but during important moments, it was...sometimes good. Thankfully, one of the protagonists are written as a reckless Eren Jaegermeister type, so idiocy fits with him. The other hero is thankfully more convincing, especially when infuriated. MUSICALLY-speaking - very unique style, which is reminiscent of KLK but also far more pervasive. It always blended in well with the mood though, and at times, found myself wanting to move to it. Regardless, though I enjoyed the music, I LEFT the theater 2hours ago (and still hear it as I type this review) imagining KLK music, because it was similar, but less catchy than KLK, logically since it was shorter than a series; having less aural reoccurrences.
KEWL GRAPHIX:
I already enjoy Trigger, so though there were a few times that I was like "uhhhhhhhhh this is lazy af and not fun to look at", for the most part, it was EYE CANDY, especially being an 80s fan and MUCH of the film's color scheme involved clashing blue/pink, green/purple, etc. Loooooved all the on screen Japanese basically bleeding into the background yet being visually on the foreground juuuuuust the right amount to stand out but not take away from any scene. Especially in the latter half once it became more common. Also thoroughly enjoyed the spinning camera feel at times, as if they were filming 2D characters...with The Wachowskis. Lio's designs, fire, stylish Japanese lettering, and the mechs were undoubtedly my fav aspects of the art. Less fan service than both KLK/TTGL, and less profanity than P&S, but just as much crazy, cartoony physics as they always feature to contrast a fairly mature plot.
PLOT:
Simple, but with twists like everything Trigger seems to do (which is fun imo). Very socio-political, metaphorically-speaking. Certainly relatable/understandable as I'm a minority in numerous ways. Touches on xenophobia with a mixture of environmental awareness.
CHARACTERS:
Mostly dry/generic to me. Likely the most tame aspect of the film.
REWATCHABILITY:
If previous Trigger works are some of your favs, you'll likely want to see it again. I know I want to [sub next time forsure]. Especially for a certain scene...<3
angelafraid
I was pretty disappointed after watching this, to be honest. I don't want to be over negative, there are some good things about this movie that I liked. I admire that was an anime (one of the first I assume) that played in American theaters and I really loved the art style. That being said, the amount of things that seemed out of place, unnecessary, or that I thought could've been done better greatly outweighed the good things I enjoyed. Some of those things include: -I thought Galo's character was very one-dimensional. He seemed to only have one motivation (and a lousy one at that) thatentire movie that seemed to almost contradict itself in some parts. I think it would've been better if he strayed from his first motivation at the beginning of the movie and found newer and stronger ones over the course of the movie as a sort of character arc.
-I think the Kray Foresight also had quite a lousy motivation. He seemed to not want to deal with the under-arching problem at all and purposely tried to think up excessively convoluted ways to deal with it. He didn't even really seem like the type of villain to just want as much chaos as possible so I'm not sure why he went to such great lengths in the first place.
-The soundtrack wasn't very good. The few songs there were were amazing, don't get me wrong, but there seemed to be only around maybe five songs total? All of the fight scenes had the same song in the background which got annoying after a while. Also, music is an amazing way to express the feel of a scene, fight scene or not. Not all fight scenes have the same motivations or the same stakes so it really threw me off at some points to have more life-and-death fight scenes have the same bubbly pop song in the background as the more light-hearted fight scenes.
-The very brief romantic scenes, I think, were completely unnecessary. I think the movie would have flowed better, especially in certain scenes, without the semi-romantic, almost- kiss scenes that distracted from the background information.
-The color scheme was a bit off, I feel. A lot of the scenes felt very flat with the colors. There also wasn't a lot of variety with colors, it seemed to stick with the same blue/purple feel with hints of green. I feel like a lot of the scenes would have stood out more, especially in the more "rage/angry" type scenes if they drifted a little off of the blue/purple and delved more into red/orange. I understand the want to not make the fire red/orange in its natural state, but keeping it the same color throughout the movie, no matter the person wielding the fire's feelings, made the scenes less powerful and emotion-inducing.
-Lio and Galo should have had more bonding. Not even in a shippy way, I just feel like with such important roles they played together, they didn't have a lot of scenes to talk out their differences or understand each other better or care about each other as partners/comrades as they should have. I feel like it would've been a much better movie if they invested more time into fleshing out the characters and the character's relationships.
I think that wraps up most of my thoughts, I didn't put all of them 1) because some of them I would need to spoil the movie which I don't want to do and 2) because it is very late when I am writing this and I am very tired. This review saying what it says, though, I want to make it clear that I do not think that people aren't allowed to enjoy or that they can't think the movie is good. I wrote this based off of my own experiences and tastes and I understand that they may differ from other people. I am in no way a professional, this was merely to express my thoughts and feelings regarding the movie and how I experienced it. You are free to disagree as you wish.
towelgirl21
Did you ever want to combine Gurren Lagann with Fire Force and TOTAL SENSORY OVERLOAD and put it on a big screen for nearly 2 hours? Well Promare is your dream come true! As for me, I didn't like it. The story is super predictable. I took notes as I watched it: "I bet that guy is evil." He was. "I bet that guy has [SPOILER REDACTED SECRET]." He did. And of course, aliens. Always aliens. The story is just really thin, and some of it is revealed by a long awkward exposition conversation after the first action sequence. The heroes are sitting around eating pizza andthey casually speak paragraphs about how the city was founded and science and blah blah. It was unrealistic to say the least.
The art is fantastic. In addition to the Trigger style, there were a lot of sweeping city shots and big mecha battles. There was CGI, but it was actually good and blended in well with the 2D animation. The quality doesn't drop in parts either: it's great the whole time. There is so much flashing and exploding and rapidly changing bright color that you shouldn't watch it if you're epileptic. You'll start breakdancing.
The sound was also good. Lots of explosions mainly. And yelling. A few cool inset songs to amp up badass fights.
The characters were okay, at least the ones they didn't totally ignore. Galo the hot-headed yelling firefighter guy did exactly what I said, and was kind of fun to watch. Lio the cool-headed guy who looks kind of like a woman and can burn things because he is a fire person (Burnish) had a little more to him: he was moderately peaceful (for a terrorist) but could be pushed too far and nearly was. Epic team-up time? Epic team-up time. The rest of the firefighter squad? Forgotten. I mean, there's a scene where Lio and Galo and a female squad member are in an underground lab talking to some scientist about the whole conspiracy / coverup and they all just ignore her like she's not there. Seriously, the scientist goes "I'm so glad you two came along to (do thing)" and I'm like, "Girl Whose Name I Forgot is right there, man! Three feet from your face!" She later went and relayed the information to someone, but at least acknowledge her existence, like damn. Well, I guess she was in a minor subplot which was so obvious that it carried no emotional weight. The bad guy... was the bad guy. He was a bad guy. That's all I can really say about him.
The movie was self-aware, I'll give it that. If it hadn't been, I would've knocked a point off of my rating.
I never felt excited while watching it. Maybe I'm just dead inside, I dunno.
My recommendation: watch through the first 20 minutes or so, and if you don't like it, you won't like the rest of the movie. It has no chill.
