[Weeb’s Pick]

Weeb has been 3 for 3 so far with anime films for Movie Night; he is truly living up to his nickname. I appreciate this, because I still haven’t seen very many anime films (or shows, for that matter), and it’s always a blast to dip my toe into unfamiliar genres. Frankly, that’s the best thing about movie night. A lot of these movies, I would never have watched otherwise. (Looking at you, Videodrome.) When Weeb came downstairs with a DVD case and put this movie on, I knew nothing about it, not even the title. So, I was completely taken aback after the first act when I realized that this movie was for me.

Something I’ve learned during my journey of watching and rating films is that the target audience for a particular story is probably the most influential aspect that will factor into your enjoyment. If you’ve ever wondered why the critic and audience rating scores on Rotten Tomatoes can be so drastically different, this is why. My beloved housemates and I can have quite differing tastes (no one has as many gold-rated picks on this blog as me, of course), so I’m often not the target audience for films that we watch together (remember Boss Level?). Off the top of my head, the best picks from other Goblins that I was a part of the target audience are: Psycho Goreman, Shaun of the Dead, Skinamarink, The Menu, and Possum. And as it turns out, there are only three other movies that earned gold ratings from me (so far). Maquia is one of them.

This beautiful anime tells a grand tale across many years, focusing on themes of motherhood and mortality. The story of Maquia stretches across a lifetime, amidst war and colonization. Our titular character is forced out of her home during a fierce attack and she finds herself at a caravan that has been ambushed, a newborn baby crying in the forest the only survivor. Despite being young and alone herself, Maquia decides to save the baby and take him in as her own. From this point on, we follow Maquia as she learns how to be a mother to her son, Ariel, and grapples with the immense length of her life compared to his.

Maquia: When The Promised Flower Blooms brought some very complicated feelings out of me that I usually like to shove down until I can’t even smell them anymore. It also built a fascinating world to set this story of motherhood in that I really enjoyed learning about. Overall, Maquia serves to teach us many lessons about what being a mother truly is, and drives home the message that life is beautiful because it is fleeting.

Rating: 📀 I loved this movie.

My best friends and I (known affectionately as Goblin House) have a regular movie night where we all sit down together and watch a movie one of us has chosen. Most of these reviews will come from a Goblin Movie Night, so they will be tagged with the nickname of the Goblin who picked the movie.