Movie Database ChäoS;Child: Silent Sky

[OmegaMeistro]

After the rushed adaptation of the SciADV visual novel, Chaos;Child that merely adapted the "common route" of the game, Silver Link proceeded to release an adaptation of the "True Route" of the game as a movie in theaters about three months after the TV series ended its broadcast.

It's always challenging to say whether a visual novel adaptation works when said adaptation has cut out a lot of details, so to provide constructive criticisms for this film, I'd have to frame it as if I have zero knowledge of the visual novel and have merely seen the TV series... which is not what the reality is. I'd probably have to be a Gigalomaniac to alter my perspective so drastically. And even if I apply logic to the question of whether this movie works without prior knowledge of the other heroine routes and the emotional investments that came with not just the cut content from those other routes, but the trimmed pacing of the "true route" this movie has taken... it just wouldn't feel like a sincere answer.

Because in order to claim whether as a standalone epilogue to the TV series, this movie works or not, I'd have to separate myself from the knowledge that at the end of the Kurusu route in the visual novel, there was a pretty significant scene that the TV series cut out, one that involved the heroine of this movie, Serika Onoe. I'd have to not only pretend that that scene didn't exist, but also pretend that it didn't contribute significantly on an emotional level to Serika's development in the true route. That would just be... disingenuous to the original story, in my opinion. It would be like cutting out Tony Soprano and Carmela's marriage struggles in season 4 and just rushed through to season 6, when they're reunited in harmony again. It's just... not the full picture and lacks the necessary perspective.

Serika's character beats aside, Shuuichi Wakui and Hana Kazuki's subtle developments here in this movie will also be equally confusing to anime-only audience in a very unsatisfying way, I'd imagine, feeling like there's an empty part of the story that's unsaid (because there absolutely is).

Initially, I was going to give this movie 3/5, but looking back and realizing how chopped up Wakui and Hana's characters are due to the lack of context, this movie just feels a lot worse in hindsight, let alone Hana's abrupt relationship with Hinae Arimura.

But I suppose if you really just want a conclusion of some sort to the TV anime, this functions as an ending of sorts. It's not completely confusing or jarring because it at least gives a decent resolution to Serika's arc (minus all the context surrounding said resolution), so it does the job somewhat.

My recommendation though? Just stick with the full experience of the visual novel. You'd appreciate the characters FAR more that way.