Is it just because there were so few other Japanese CG family features around already? Was there not a big enough niche market to push this into? I’m still profoundly befuddled as to why such a wonderfully charming title as OBLIVION ISLAND didn’t even get a small, city-by-city art house theatrical release in America, and it’s honestly a little disenchanting to see that home video release hasn’t had more fanfare.
As I stated in my review, this movie shows everybody how to do a children’s fantasy adventure properly. Its example exposes so many other entries in this genre as the ho-hum, eye-roll-inducing bunk that they are. Maybe more importantly, it’s a splendid answer to that oft-discussed request for a good entry-level title to bring in anime novices. I showed it to my nieces recently and they thought it was "so awesome" that they wanted to call Uncle Tom right away to talk about it. I haven't been able to say about any other title I've reviewed here.
So maybe this is a thin silver lining to this gloomy little cloud, then. Hulu is offering the sub of OBLIVION ISLAND in its entirety, right now, and I've embedded it above. There’s no catch, so you have no excuse, now. Watch it above, be charmed by it, and then show it all the little kids and big kids you know.
Tom Pinchuk’s a writer and personality with a large number of comics, videos and features like this to his credit. Visit his website - - tompinchuk.com - - and follow his Twitter: @tompinchuk
I'll have to watch this for this weekend.