Drifting Home Review: A Charming Adventure

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Seven children, a deserted apartment building, an unending body of water, and just one objective: return home. This summer’s coming-of-age tale is Drifting Home. Check out this review to see what it’s all about!

Drifting Home Overview

A fantastical coming-of-age tale, Drifting Home was created by Studio Colorido and produced by Twin Engine and Netflix. Burn The Witch, Colorido’s take on Bleach’s spiritual successor, and the immensely popular A Whisker Away are among the company’s Original Net Animations (ONAs). The film is helmed by Hiroyasu Ishida and is titled Ame wo Tsugeru Hyouryuu Danchi in the original Japanese. The anime films Penguin Highway and Fastening Days were directed by Ishida.

Drifting Home

Drifting Home Review- The Plot

Sonny Boy, which I’m astonished to be bringing up again, took the top spot on Leisurebyte’s selection of the best anime of 2021. The program was a surprise inclusion on many fans’ top anime lists and received nominations for the Anime of the Year and Director of the Year categories for the Crunchyroll Awards (For what it’s worth). It is safe to assume that the show won many people over despite not being a popular option, including this author. It’s simply a superb animation that deserves far more acclaim than it is receiving.

Why bring up that episode right now? Well, for one thing, The Drifting Classroom, a horror manga, serves as the source of inspiration for both of them. The basic idea is the same—a group of children are stranded in an infinite abyss from which they are powerless to escape. Due to one of the kids’ emotional outbursts and their need to go through their mental obstacles to leave that situation, both incidents are set off. Essentially coming-of-age narratives, both of these tales show these young people how to accept change.

So, the crucial query is: Is Drifting Home a good film? Most definitely, it is. Although it has several shortcomings that we shall mention in a moment, overall it was a really satisfying experience to go through it. The film had a clear vision that it maintained throughout its duration and conveyed a very thorough and satisfying tale. The author worked hard to make his vision as consistent and linear as he could because he had a clear idea of what he wanted to see on the screen from the beginning.

The film placed a lot of emphasis on topics and kept the numerous themes it had chosen for its characters. Some of the issues that our major characters battled with throughout the plot involved growth and learning to accept change. They lose a very important person to them, which damages their relationship with one another. The way the movie showed you acting toward someone you believe you have wronged but lack the will to do anything about was incredibly accurate. Although I’m delighted it did, I didn’t anticipate a show with kids as the main characters to go this deeply into the human psyche.

Despite being spoken in a language other than the one most of us use, the conversation in this instance felt like it was being naturally spoken by the characters. The conversation was straightforward, which may have contributed to the fact that they were all children, and also assisted with the movie’s immersion. It also helped that the children were able to offer poignant conversation without coming off as annoyingly cheesy. Although not as much as one might expect, there was certainly some cringing present.

The other important element of Drifting Home was loss of attachment or detachment brought on by grief. Grief is difficult for grown people, but we’re talking about kids here. A wonderful analogy of what life is like for someone who is mourning was Natsume’s attachment to the apartment building, the only thing that still roots her. It worked really well as an animated figure that could react and respond to the children’s pain with empathy that the show established a full character on Noppo as an embodiment of attachment and grief. For what it was, this movie was pretty sophisticated.

However, not everything in Drifting Home is sunshine and flowers because there were quite a few issues with it. The movie’s pacing was the most obvious problem since it just went on and on for a lot longer than it needed to. Some scenes went on longer than they ought to have, characters weren’t given enough time to grow, and whole scenes ought to have been left off the final cut. This problem also affected the conclusion. Although it was majestic, emotionally appropriate, and thematically fitting, it went on far longer than it had to. The experience was largely excellent, despite it.

Drifting Home Review- Animation and Music

The characters in Drifting Home are a real mixed bag. Although some of what they do is beyond foolish, you have to be forgiving because they are supposed to be youngsters who don’t know any better, which is what I attempted to do. Even if most of them eventually learn how to be wiser and make better judgments, the tagline for this movie should be “horrible decisions.” It is difficult to put into words how aggravating it is to see someone repeatedly commit the same mistake, especially after being warned repeatedly about the repercussions of their conduct.

This is one character in particular, Natsume, who is the main female character of Drifting Home. It may seem nitpicky at first. She needs to mature a lot because she enjoys making mistakes. in fact, quite a few. ones that will be disastrous for everyone, including her. Thankfully, she learns the lesson the movie was attempting to teach her by the end, albeit it did require a lot of significant plot development. She wasn’t exactly a good character, but she wasn’t a complete moron either.

Drifting Home Terrified

Kosuke can’t be given much attention because his only traits were his ability to yell and his dislike for everyone. Although a lot of that might be excused by the fact that he is young, the result is nonetheless difficult to see. He doesn’t have much to do in this story besides appear on screen and save Natsume from the traps she digs for herself, yet he manages to do it well and is still a likable protagonist. He himself has some lessons to learn, which he does wonderfully.

The remaining cast members are adequate, if somewhat underwritten. They nonetheless have important roles to play in the narrative, and their unique personalities give the otherwise lifeless scenario a lot of life. The main supporting character, Reina, is a tad clichéd but nonetheless entertaining. Yuzuru and Taishi, the other two boys, are also respectable. Noppo, though, is a little underwhelming. One would anticipate him to be a much better character given the type of part he had in the film than he actually was. He wasn’t horrible; he was simply so bland and dull. Well, not everyone can be successful.

The production quality of Drifting Home was excellent, as is the case for the majority of episodes that are released these days, especially on a platform as significant as Netflix Anime. Very skillfully animated were the amusement parks and floating homes, as well as the few fast-paced scenes at the end. The movie had a cool filter applied that gave it a sea-like air, which was appropriate for the environment, and the character designs were also modern. Is it finally the case that every animation is so excellent that the only thing you can say about stuff like this is, “Yeah, It was up to the mark, I guess?”

On the other hand, the music fell flat. It simply lacked the seriousness that one would anticipate from something this ominous. There was pleasant music present, without a sure, but it wasn’t the kind of music that would stick in your memory after the credits had finished. The vocal insert songs, particularly the city pop track that played in the middle, were excellent. A very forgettable collection of music, other from that.

Verdict

As endearing and a well-written a film as you are likely to discover on Netflix is Drifting Home. The topic and animation elevated it above what most people would anticipate, even though the tempo and music weren’t particularly noteworthy.

You can watch Drifting Home on Netflix!