‘Children Who Chase Lost Voices’ Blu-Ray Review – Dazzling Fantasy Epic Is A Bold Step For Makoto Shinkai

From Makoto Shinkai, the visionary director of Weathering With You and Your Name., Children Who Chase Lost Voices From Deep Below is an epic fantasy adventure in a world of ancient gods. Asuna is an introvert who prefers spending her time listening to a radio left by her deceased father. One day, she hears an odd song that resonates in her heart unlike anything else. It leads to a chance encounter with a mysterious boy, who transports Asuna to Agartha, a land of legend where the dead can be brought back to life. Compelled by the song and the boy, Asuna journeys through the mythical lands, but hostile warriors and ghastly creatures will stop at nothing to prevent Asuna from uncovering the secrets of their world.

For thoughts on Children Who Chase Lost Voices, please check out our discussion on The Video Attic: 

[youtube https://youtu.be/Vf-LEddKM0w?t=424]

Video Quality

Children Who Chase Lost Voices arrives on Blu-Ray from Shout! Factory and GKIDS with a knockout 1080p transfer. This was previously released on Blu-Ray from Sentai Filmworks, but I do not have access to that disc to compare. The jump in animation quality from 5 Centimeter Per Second is not as apparent as his previous effort, but his command of the art form only continues to intensify with each project. No digital anomalies pop up as a “fly in the ointment” of this animation. Every background and character are as pristine as intended. Black levels never even hint at any compression artifacts or digital anomalies across any of the gradients. 

The tantalizing colors on display are captured with great nuance and depth within this transfer. The character designs are closer to the works of Miyazaki than any previous effort, but there is still a distinct Shinkai stamp on every element. This high definition presentation provides so much detail to admire. The textures of the character designs and the environments are awe-inspiring as the film provides so much depth that transports you into this world. Every environment is packed with so much detail that you will want to pause and explore the frame. This Blu-Ray presentation gets an A+ from us. 

Audio Quality

The Blu-Ray comes with a DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio lossless track in its original Japanese and dubbed English with optional English, English SDH, French and Spanish subtitles. This particular story strikes a good balance between the gentle dialogue-driven scenes and the thrilling moments of action that get your heart pounding. Dialogue renders with great clarity without being overburdened by the lovely score or any other environmental sounds. The track becomes fairly lively at various points during the story in a way that engulfs the room. There are also some subtle nature effects in the rear channels that make the world feel more three dimensional, but not in a way that is distracting. The emotional score is always a winner when it comes to fidelity. The low end gets a solid workout when it gets called into play. Fans of the film should be thrilled by this release. 

Special Features

• Audio Commentary: Makoto Shinkai And Staff (Animation Director, Art Director, Music Composer, Asuna’s voice actress, and the main theme’s creator) provides a very enlightening commentary track in which they discuss the themes of the story, the process of creating this detailed animation, inspirations for various aspects of the work, how the music was developed, the challenges that arose during production, memorable moments and much more. 

• Interviews with Staff & Cast: A 56-minute assortment of vintage interviews with Shinkai and the three main Japanese voice cast members in which they discuss distinct traits of the characters, the casting process, what it was like working with one another, funny moments from the production, favorite moments within the story, how they feel after watching the film, what they wants the audience to take away from the story and more. 

• Making Of:  A 45-minute documentary which begins with Shinkai talking in front of a crowd on opening day about how different this film is from his other work before going back and seeing how it all came together including the development of the story, the elements from his life that influenced the narrative, the character designs, working with his animation team, the creation of a whole new world, the music composed for the feature, and more. 

• Japanese Promo: A five-minute look at the film which plays a bit like an extended trailer. 

• Japanese Trailers: A two-and-a-half minute collection of three trailers is provided here. 

• Works Of Makoto Shinkai: A 13-minute piece which highlights Shinkai’s work from Voices Of A Distant Star to Weathering With You. 

Final Thoughts

Children Who Chase Lost Voices is a film that finds Makoto Shinkai expanding his horizons with his narrative and animation style while never losing sight of what makes him so special. He may have raised the stakes, but his themes will still touch your soul on a profoundly personal level. This feature is his most broadly accessible up until this point with memorable characters and a command of direction that makes you feel in the hands of a master. Shout! Factory has released a Blu-Ray with an undeniable A/V presentation and a wonderful selection of special features. Shinkai is truly one of the most inspiring directors currently working, and this film is a great starting point. Recommended 

Children Who Chase Lost Voices is currently available to purchase on Blu-Ray. 

Note: Images presented in this review are not reflective of the image quality of the Blu-Ray.

Disclaimer: Shout! Factory has supplied a copy of this disc free of charge for review purposes. All opinions in this review are the honest reactions of the author.