Children Who Chase Lost Voices

aka: Journey to Agartha
Japan 2011, 116 minutes
Dir. Makoto Shinkai
In Japanese, English with English subtitles
Rating: [M] Fantasy violence
Genres: Foreign Cinema, Science Fiction / Anime

Aroview: This eye-watering love letter to the godfather of anime, Hayao Miyazaki, not only replicates, but in many ways surpasses Studio Ghibli's greatest hits.

Inspired by the likes of NAUSICAA and LAPUTA, dir. Shinkai (5 CENTIMETRES PER SECOND) has applied his thematic maturity and intimate attention to detail across a vast otherworldly canvas befitting of his reputation as one of the new visionaries of Japanese animation. Veering between imaginative spectacle and rich emotion and pathos, the epic story centres on an optimistic young girl who discovers a gateway to another world beneath the earth's surface, where the promise of resurrecting her deceased father tantalizingly awaits.