The Case of Hana & Alice

2015

1h 39m

IMDb RATING

7.3/10

159

YOUR RATING

Rate

POPULARITY

Play trailer

1 Video

43 Images

Animation

Comedy

Mystery

A Japanese girl struggling to fit in at her new school teams up with a reclusive neighbor to find out what happened to an upperclassman who disappeared under mysterious circumstances.

Directors

Shunji Iwai

Writers

Shunji Iwai(writer by)

Shunji Iwai(original story by)

Stars

Yu Aoi

Anne Suzuki

Ryo Katsuji

See production, box office & company info

Videos1

Trailer
Watch The Case of Hana & Alice [Official Trailer, GKIDS] Out on Blu-Ray™ and Digital on September 17!

Top cast

Yu Aoi

Tetsuko "Alice" Arisugawa (voice)

Anne Suzuki

Hana Arai (voice)

Ryo Katsuji

Koutarou Yuda (voice)

Haru Kuroki

Satomi Ogino (voice)

Tae Kimura

Yuki Tsutsumi (voice)

Sei Hiraizumi

Kenji Kuroyanagi (voice)

Shoko Aida

Kayo Arisugawa (voice)

Ranran Suzuki

Mutsumi Mutsu (voice)

Kaku Tomohiro

Teacher Asanaga (voice)

Midoriko Kimura

Tomomi Arai (voice)

Directors

Shunji Iwai

Writers

Shunji Iwai(writer by)

Shunji Iwai(original story by)

All cast & crew

Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

**The legend of Yuda.** It is a prequel to the 2004 film 'Hana and Alice' from the same writer, director. So I had to watch that before coming to this one and I found both the films were pretty good. Usually to watch a sequel, you have to be familiar with the original. But for a prequel, it's not necessary as the story wise it would be the original, despite not the first to release in the series or franchise. Either way watching both the films is good for the better understanding, and chronological order is the best way to go for. The formats are different, as well as the time gap between the two films. After all it was not a bad decision. This anime was like any other neat and cute anime you had seen. Yeah, I liked the smooth animation. The sketches were not very detailed, yet very detail in the motion presentation. If you are an anime fan, it will be a treat. I'm not saying it is the best anime ever, but surely a little gem and not be missed by the fans of the 2004 film. I don't know whether the final scene of this film and the opening of the other film are same (because of the different mood), but to me it looked like that way. This film is to reveal how Hana and Alice first met and become close friends. But it all begins with the Alice's new school's legend, the death of Yuda. Destined to meet Hana who was a classmate of Yuda, is now her neighbour. So their adventure begins to find new details about Yuda's life, but ends up with misadventures. > ❝I won't forget that pain as long as I live.❞ The perfect characters, I mean two young teen girls. Also a perfect storyline, which is about finding the truth behind a mystery. But it's not thrillerised as everything about the film suggest, including the title. Very much dramatised with lots of fun filled often tense moments. The first act was good, but it was the remaining film that keeps getting better till the final scene. I liked the second half of the film, especially the quest taken by Hana and Alice was simple yet entertaining. There are some off the track adventures, like for a brief moment an old man enters the narration, but that added an extra flavour to take us in a new direction. Soon it reinstates to its original path and that's where the ultimate friendship blooms between two title characters. It's always about a boy between them. Their friendship was tested in the other film over a boy, but here joining hands to solve the mystery surrounding a boy's death. Like the first film, the ballet had its part, though not a main draw, except being a part of one of the main characters. The original cast from the 2004 film rendered their voices for the respective two lead roles. So except watching it in the anime version, the appeal is almost the same. As per some sources, a manga series is following after this. But I hope the story continues with the third film, either in live-action or in anime. This is an under- noticed anime, but well appreciated. I really surprised of its quality and theme. For me, it's definitely slightly ahead of the first film and this my review briefs why. So surely worth a watch and I recommend it. _7/10_

Rangan26 May, 2017