vlabadie - 2014-06-13 04:18:32

The Laws of Eternity is a PSA, wait no, a documentary...wait, that ain't right either. Well either way It is a very very subtle and anticlimactic movie about spirituality and it is spoonfeeding us about the laws of the the spirit world. Where do we begin? Oh well here, a quick overview.

A college kid name Ryuta went to a museum in New York that is dedicated to Thomas Edison. He along with his friends discovered there that Mr. Edison tried to invent a phone that can connect to the spirit world. Of course since this is anime he and his dubious friends along with a hot girl tried to materialize the said phone and put it to good use. The 'spirit phone' did its job and it received a call from, among everyone else, Thomas Edison himself. Mr. Edison said that the spirit world is in danger and only he can save it. Although still dubious after all the commotion, Ryuta and his friends take on the perilous journey to the spirit world anyway. Why? Cause this is anime, that's why. What did they find there? Well, its 1 hour and 2 minutes of some slightly plausible stuff based on psychological studies, historical figure throwbacks, and plenty and plenty of religious and moral BS. Let us go back to that later for I want to talk about the rest of the anime first.

The characters are cookie cutter tropes. Ryuta is the "overly nice guy" cliched type and he is very charismatic. I found my self rooting for him in the first half, but later as I found out, he is not exactly the most significant person in this show since he is a mere observer. The more important one here is the token hot chick Yuko. She is the "very spiritual" person here, coming from a catholic school and all. She is the actual one who sets the plot in motion due to her "faith". And then there's Patrick and Roberto, the typical friends who are there to keep things abit interesting since Ryuta and Yuko are in their own little worlds for the latter half of the movie. The other cast are...well...just there for exposition and some anime style powerbanging at some point. There are plenty of really recognisable historical figures here beside Thomas Edison but I won't spoil it for the sake of the readers. Not that they are interesting or someone to look forward to in an anime movie like this to begin with.

Production quality is quite strong in this one. Very vivid colors will splash your screen making the spirit world feel very alive. Everything from the gorgeous setting to tiny details like water particles and wind are very noticeable. Animation of characters is not compromised as well. I would say that this is the strong point of this movie.

Sound is not compromised too. The overall BGM and the vocal songs are very well done. I would starkly say that its one of the best OST in an anime film I've heard in a while. I've watched the english dub and its surprisingly well done. All characters are given justice by the voice actors and you can pretty much tell that the translation of the dialogues are well put. I would say that the production value for this movie is summed up pretty well.

Now what do I think about it overall? Well quite frankly, its a chock full of BS. The first half of the journey seems plausible especially about the spirit after death scenarios. As the movie progress it rears it ugly head very very fast. Its a journey of spirituality, sure, but to tell us that science and spirituality goes hand and hand is just over the top. All the cheesies element of 'spiritual' PSA are right here; Angels, reincarnation, karma, the similarities of different religion, and even the concept of heaven and hell. Speaking of heaven and hell, this is where all the BS parts come together. There are prominent figures in history all over the course of the movie and the movie tells us that scientist and social workers are angels and antitheist philosopers and nonconformist war leaders are demons! What the eff'?! Seriously. I could have believed in the "level" of the spiritual worlds and "levels" of hell, but to put your own bias here by putting prominent people in history and assuming that they are in heaven or hell is just beyond comprehension. Add to the fact that the journey to hell ended up into a childish powerlevel battle makes me cringe so hard. And take note, "faith" is not equal to "truth". And no, they are not superpowers either! Arg. (I want to spout lots of foul language rigth now but I'm trying my best to right a formal review, okay?)

Overall it could have been great if they are not shoving their theist principles down our throats. Heck even if I am still a catholic I would really put down this movie for good. I would not recommend this to anyone. Its not boring, but its not sensible as well.