The Wonderland

• Directed by Keiichi Hara
• April 26, 2019 (Japan) / June 2019 (AIAFF)
• Based on the 1988 children’s story Chikashitsu Kara no Fushigi na Tabi (Strange Journey from the Basement) by Sachiko Kashiwaba

Voice Cast

• Akane-Lisa Reimold
• Chii-Allegra Clark
• Pipo-Jackie Lastra
• Zan Gu-Ben Lepley
• Doropo-Jennifer Losi
• Prince-Zach Aguilar
• Hippocrates-Frank Todaro

A girl lacking self-confidence meets a mysterious alchemist and his student who are trying to save their world.

While a beautifully done film, there is just something lacking in The Wonderland. It touches on themes of confidence and destiny with an undercurrent of water rights of all things but fails to completely pull itself together. Or maybe it is because it starts silly and never really gets beyond that.

The movie starts with the main character of Akane faking being sick and then going to school and not wearing some homemade hair pins which is apparently a source of great stress to her as well as irritation to her ‘friends’. Maybe it’s because I’m a guy or maybe it’s because this was made in another country, but I don’t get that. Then the issue with her tepid friends is quickly forgotten and never mentioned again.

This movie quickly gets into water rights as Akane and her older friend Chii (who is framed as her aunt but that relationship kinda goes by the wayside) are transported to a weird place courtesy of the alchemist Hippocrates via a portal in Chii’s basement that is suffering because of a lack of water. This magical place is not nearly as green and colorful as it once was because the current ruler is not managing the resources well. Points for trying to deal with resource management.

They keep taking about Hippocrates being an alchemist to the point you cannot forget about it. I cannot think of one instance where his skills in alchemy come into play in the plot. Then again I guess a reason for him to know about travel between worlds was needed and being an alchemist was as good as any in their minds

Apparently Akane is destined to be the Goddess of the Green Wind and save a troubled fantasy world where times moves much quicker than here. She is the return of a girl that came there 600 years prior. I’m not sure of the math but about an hour passed in our world in comparison to the time that passed in the story. I guess one could assume her mom might be the previous Goddess since she sent her daughter to Chii’s shop to pick up her own gift. How impersonal…

The characters border on superficial or just weird. Their interest or personal investment in their situation is more like it is all a thing to do and not a significant series of events for them. They are not creations of too much depth. A puddle on the sidewalk is so much deeper.

Our Goddess of the Green Wind fails to end the story as a goddess or even in a way that one could perceive of her as great. Her mentor was supposed to be an Obi Wan Kenobi but does little to guide her. He’s aloof and bordering on disinterested despite taking an interest in pushing her to become the Goddess of the Green Wind. And Akane’s purpose ultimately is to force the local Prince to accept his destiny. That makes this film HIS story and not that of Akane.

Akane never gets a moment to shine and you never get to bond with her. The narrative is constructed so that you forget she is supposed to be important. And she is ultimately there for someone else and not herself. And does she even gain self confidence by the end?

Chii spends a great deal of time looking for interesting things to sell at her shop on the assumption she will get back sooner rather than later. Huh? She is meant as comic relief, but it is all just so weird and not in a good way. She adds nothing to the story.

And they drop in a whole subplot involving a former friend of Hippocrates student Pipo. Their friend is working for the film’s mostly forgettable villain Zan Gu. Great name but as threats go he is rather inconsequential. Until I started writing this I forgot he was even a character here. Zan Gu is a visually interesting character but he really is the only one that gets to that despite the freedom allowed by a fantasy world. Not that it looks bad, but everybody is pretty standard in appearance.

The Wonderland is an interesting idea largely undone by not actually being the story of the purported main character. Despite some interesting ideas it fails to become something special. I think this is one of those things you can just skip.