torrent:It's really hard to talk about Beyond the Clouds without spoiling (for the record, I feel NFO and AniDB both spoil in their descriptions... as they both use the same description), so I'll stick to what happens in the beginning. What's implied, but not really discussed in detail, is that Japan underwent a split after they lost the war, and Hokkaido became the land of Ezo. A great tower was also built but its purpose was unknown until decades later. In the present, however, three friends enjoy a summer together. Two of them, Hiroki and Takuya, have constructed a plane over the years that they plan to fly eventually, to see the tower and the island of Ezo. Sayuri and the two make a promise that they’ll someday fly to the tower on the plane, but then, Sayuri mysteriously disappears, and life goes on for the two boys. That’s about half of the movie, with the other half being a few years later. Without spoiling, I’ll just say that the movie goes into some pretty scientific stuff and explores physics and other advanced topics.
Beyond the Clouds is not for everyone. It’s not only slice of life, but it’s really, really slow slice of life. In addition, the topics covered are very intelligent and scientific, and probably would be best enjoyed if you have a strong science background. Granted, I didn’t find this to be a bad thing. I enjoy slice of life series, slower series, and things that are intelligent, though I do admit it was a bit much even for me. Still, the story was superb, the execution was good, and the flow was decent, so I still gave it an 8.
As far as genre or mood? Well, it’s definitely slice of life as I mentioned above. Furthermore, there’s a subtle but very moving romance that occurs, which will definitely remind you of Hoshi no Koe. There is essentially no comedy, no action, and very little that happens between characters except talking, but it’s a great quiet ride nonetheless.
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