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Go! Anpanman: The Shining Star's Tear

Watching the first Anpanman full-length movie, I realized how much I know about this franchise without having seen a single episode of the anime. From the theme song, to the characters and some of the locations, watching the titular superhero and his friends try to help Princess Nanda Nanda find the Shining Star's Tear feels more like returning to a forgotten moment of your childhood than seeing a series for a first time. The extraordinary power of great character design and ubiquity, I guess. As a film, Go! Anpanman: The Shining Star’s Tear is a very solid adventures. It's chockfull of earwormy songs (I feel like I've listened to the theme song my whole life), great adventures, and some of the most relaxing and pleasant backgrounds I've seen in a while. They are relatively simple, but the warmth their matte colors exude feels almost restorative. In a weird way, they work like a lullaby, but the constant action and new environments never let you fall asleep. And what's best, though a children's movie, it isn't exceedingly childish and infantile. The themes of self-sacrifice, communal life and care, and endless positivity are explored with surprising depth and subtlety. I hope the remaining 35 movies continue in the same vein.