Lonely Castle in the Mirror - Blu-ray Review

[Michael Scott]

Lonely Castle in the Mirror



Movie:
Video:
Audio:
Extras:
Final Score:



AV NIRVANA is member and reader-supported. When you purchase an item using our links, we might earn an affiliate commission.
​

Movie
I’m going to admit that I hadn’t heard of Lonely Castle in the Mirror until I got the press release from Shout Factory a month or so ago. Nothing stood out from it when watching the trailers, but I DID notice that it came from Keiichi Hara, who is best known for the fantastic Miss Hokusai and the bizarre Summer Days With Coo (both which I reviewed previously), so I immediately stuck a bookmark in my calendar for the September 26th release day for home video and promptly forgot about it again. That is until this week when a disc showed up on my doorstep from Shout Factory and reignited my curiosity once more. It didn’t seem like it was anything special by the trailer, but the pedigree of Keiichi Hara was enough to make me wanna watch it. Luckily for me, the trailer turned out to be the weakest part of the experience, as Lonely Castle in the Mirror turned out to wildly exceed my lowly expectations and give us a touching tale of growing up in middle school in Japan, intertwined with a heart breaking fantasy story that tights the myriad of emotions together into a lovely tapestry of nuance.

Middle Schooler Kokoro (Ami Touma) starts out on the wrong foot in her newfound school when she’s made the target of the most popular girl in the class. Bullying starts out simply as is the case with Middle Schoolers, with the class queen stealing Kokoro’s best friend, only to goad her into a situation where Kokoro can “date” her boyfriend, all culminating to larger and larger attempts to unnerving the poor girl until a mental breakdown ensues. Refusing to go back to school, Kokoro hides in her room and cries her eyes out, wishing upon every wish imaginable that her life would simply end and she could vanish into nothingness. That is, until her bedroom mirror begins to glow and pulls her into another realm.

The castle is run by the Wolf Queen (Mana Ashida) who has brought not only Kokoro, but 6 other middle schoolers in order to find a mysterious missing key. They are allowed to look for the key at their leisure, but they MUST adhere to only being in the mysterious castle from 9am to 5pm Japanese time, or else they will be eaten by a live wolf. No questions, no mercy, just being eaten alive. However, the person that finds the key will be given a single wish that only can be granted to them. After the wish is granted, the 7 students will go back to their original origins, and forget about what has happened during their time in the castle.

This all seems somber and completely urgent to find the key, but the 7 students instead use the castle as a sort of clubhouse, or an escape from the drudgeries of middle school and those that pick on them. Kokoro herself is happy to oblige, forming bonds with the other 6 pre-teens, simply happy to no longer be bullied at class. But as the months go buy, the children soon discover that there is something unique about each of them. Something that is out of the ordinary, and very well may explain why each of them was called into this magical realm, and what their end goal is really all about.

Naturally I’m not going to spoil anymore of the story, as this twist that the children uncover is sort of the key to the entire thing, and it’s not exactly fair of me to go too much deeper into it. The film is best watched with as little information as possible, but needless to say, this goes from a simple slice of life coming of age tale, to something much much more, with the final half an hour effortlessly tying everything together in an absolutely tear jerking way. And for once the ending is actually sweet instead of bitter sweet (something Japanese dramas have a tendency of leaning towards), not to mention I realized that nearly 2 hours had gone by without be checking my watch once.




Rating:

Not Rated by the MPAA




Video:

Shout’s digital encode (master given by GKids according to all information given from Shout Factory, they’re simply the distributor while Gkids is the one striking the master) looks great, with a wonderfully organic image that reminds me of the old fashioned hand drawings of old, only shaken back to reality when you watch a character run and notice that odd “CGI” look to them. Colors are rich and vibrant, with duller tones in the real world, while the simmering flame red/oranges, yellows of magical stairs, and mahogany of castle woods pop in the fantasy realm. I did notice some banding in the darker shots (not unexpected) and Shout continues using their ALMOST CBR bitrate encode that hovers right around 35-38 mbps. All in all, a very pleasing image that shouldn’t tick anyone off except for the banding.









Audio:

Shout Factory releases the disc with the obligatory 5.1 DTS-HD MA tracks in both the original Japanese and an English Dub that actually sounds pretty good. I’m usually VERY much a purist when it comes to audio tracks, but the English Dubs of the 1990s and early 2000s are no longer the norm, and much more nuanced and finely honed dubs exist that replicate the thematic elements of the story so much better than they used to. That being said, my purist self still prefers the Japanese mix (both tracks sound nearly identical except for dialog) and it’s a real beaut too. The film has lovely score that pretty much is constantly flowing throughout the mix, as well as heavy dialog centric bits that drive the rest of the sound into the mains and center channel. However, the surrounds and LFE channel get some nice workout with the shuddering slam of gigantic castle doors (there’s a bass punch to those slams that is just devastating) and the eerie howl of the flame flickering wolf that stalks those that don’t exit the magical realm by 5pm. Again, a superb mix that is going to put a smile on your face.












Extras:

• Art Gallery
• Trailers

Final Score:
​

Originally based upon a novel by Mizuki Tsujimura, Keeicha Hara and Miho Marou craft an elegant tale of heartbreak, suffering during those formative middle school years when hormones and cliches rein supreme no matter the nation, and a lovely fantasy element that adds a lovely flair to the entire endeavor. You may bask in simple elements of children having fun in a slice of life dramedy, revel in the action of the fantasy, and smile wistfully at the screen when the final hidden twist in the film reveals itself and suddenly causes the viewer to realize just how everything was intertwined from the very beginning. Honestly, one of my favorite films of the year so far, coming in as 2nd best animated film since Belle. The Blu-ray looks and sounds amazing as always from Shout/Gkids, but sadly the extras are extremely anemic. Still worth a great watch.


Technical Specifications:

Starring: Ami Toma, Mana Ashida, Yuki Kaji, Takumi Kitamura, Minami Takayama, Sakura Kiryu
Directed by: Keichi Hara, Takakazu Nagatomo
Written by: Miho Maruo, Mizuki Tsujimura
Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1 AVC
Audio: English: DTS-HD MA 5.1, Japanese DTS-HD MA 5.1
Subtitles: English SDH, English, Spanish
Studio: Shout Factory
Rated: NR
Runtime: 116 minutes
Blu-Ray Release Date: September 26th, 2023

Recommendation: Great Watch

 

[tripplej]

Thanks for the review. I also have not heard of this one. After reading the review I am interested so will check it out.

 

[Michael Scott]

on a side note. I want to emphasize that there was a LOOOOOOOT of things I wanted to talk about in the review, but I simply couldn't being that they're integral to the plot. There is a TON of nuance and symbolism in the film that is absolutely gut wrenching when you start peeling back the onion layers. Stuff that would make for fantastic discussion, but also give away too much plot in a simple review.


The meaning of the wolf itself
the meaning of the 9 to 5 hours that they could stay
the wolf queen's mask
Aki and her link to everyone

etc etc etc.

Needless to say that the film is INCREDIBLY dense, with a ton of fantastic nuances that make this a multiple watch film.

 

[tripplej]

Thanks for the heads up.. I will check it out. I suspect overcoming the bully with internal bravery as well as empthy are the keys here, just from reading above review. Kids can be cruel and some kids just can't handle it and drop out of school. Very few, can overcome and fight back.. Anyways, will check it out. Thanks.