tromp.vernie - 2015-06-04 03:10:12

Story: 6/10 - Not the best recap.

The first and last 10 minutes are new, however, the remaining 70 minutes in the middle is a copy-paste recap of the first season. They say it's through the eyes of Rikka in the description, and her name appears in the movie's title, but it really doesn't contain another perspective. At the beginning of the film, Rikka simply states that she will retell everything to Sanae and Kumin, if that even counts as "her perspective," before a traditional recap begins. The main issue with the film, is that the 70 minute period isn't enough to recap all the significant events and therefore, lots of the drama and feels are left out. There are too many gaps in the recap that it takes too much away from the experience. It really is nothing when you compare to the journey that was season one. It also doesn't help that they spend a lot of time on a handful of unnecessary scenes instead of allowing more significant scenes a place in a film.

Animation: 9/10 - Great, you know, because it's 70% from season 1.

Subtitle summarizes it pretty well. If you thought season one looked great, this looks equally good, but the Chuuni-fight at the beginning (part of the 10 new minutes) looks especially great. Animation fits the show very nicely with great backgrounds and very well animated characters (to make them look and act waaaayyy cuter because we know that's part of the reason we're all here watching). 

Sound: 8/10 - Great OST, good voice work.

Can't say there's anything extremely remarkable, but everything sounds great with no problems whatsoever. Beautiful opening and ending themes with great vocal work to really bring the characters alive. Characters are teeming with spunk and charm thanks to a voice acting and animation joint operation. Not really much more to say.

Character: 8/10 - Carried over from season one, penalized because movie had potential to expand on the characters but didn't.

The movie description states it's from the perspective of Rikka, giving the impression that we were going to get to experience a more in-depth look at her own internal struggle throughout the season. But alas, there is no such perspective or additional look into the inner workings of any characters. What you get is a stripped down version of whatever developments there were in season one. Had a lot of potential to do more but failed to live up to it in favor of the lazier approach of reusing clips.

Enjoyment: 7/10 - Still entertaining nonetheless, but doesn't have much of anything refreshing.

A decent recap suffering under the weight of the time restraint placed on it, making it far less entertaining than the first season itself. The first and last 10 minutes are the most worthwhile, and really you won't be missing much if you just watching those and skip the rest. If you just came off from watching the first season, then this film won't have any real value aside from the beginning and end. It serves as a decent summary for any returning viewers and will prove to be more entertaining for them.

Overall: 7/10 - Decent recap with just enough new content to prevent it from being too dull.

It expects you to carry over the feelings from watching the first season as it is incapable of generating that many feels as a standalone product. The only real reason to watch, aside from the first 10 and last 10 minutes, is if you want decent summary after being away from the show for so long and/or wish to start season 2 (Ren). The last 10 minutes end by setting up the scenario for the second season (even though at this time the second season is already completed).