Ayako Kawasumi, Chiwa Saito, Eiji Wentz, Kirin Kiki, Miki Imai ...( see more  see more... ) , Shiro Ito , Takako Matsu , Tarô Ishida , Yo Oizumi

A meek child changes his ways in this anime adventure from Japanese director Koichi Chigira. Wataru is an eleven-year-old boy whose life is not as he would like it to be; he's not a good student, he's...( read more  read more... ) bullied by the girls in his class, he's painfully shy, and his parents' marriage is in trouble. The bottom falls out for Wataru when his father leaves town with another woman, and his mother is seriously hurt in an accident. Gathering what little courage he has, Wataru goes to an old house that's said to be haunted, hoping to make his way to another world where wishes can be granted. As it happens, Wataru has indeed found the gateway to the land called Vision, but the journey to the Tower of Fortune, where a magical being can restore his mother's health and his father's fidelity, is fraught with danger. Wataru must find new reserves of bravery and strength as he battles strange and dangerous creatures en route to the Tower of Fortune, but he also meets a number of valued allies along the way. Based on a popular fantasy story by Miyuki Miyabe, Brave Story received its American premiere at the 2007 Tribeca Film Festival.~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

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71% liked it

674 ratings

Unrated, 1 hr. 53 min.

Directed by: Kôichi Chigira

Release Date: May 22, 2006

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Flixster Reviews (98)


  • August 14, 2009
    Very enjoyable if a tad bit confusing. My first thought on the movie was that it would have been better as a series--but it turns out that's what it was to begin with. I hope to read it someday.
  • June 19, 2009
    "Brave Story" is a surprising film, somewhere between the masterpieces of the critically acclaimed masters of Japanese animation (Miyazaki, Kon, Otomo, Oshii) and the more anonymous and commercial stuff that inundates our TVs, though it is certainly much closer to the former. It ...( read more)belongs to the "Alice in Wonderland" genre, involving a character from our present world travelling into some other more fantastical dimension (in this case a world called Vision), and could almost be described as a cross between "The Neverending Story" and a console RPG. As such, it might have been very formulaic and completely irrelevant to the real concerns of flesh and blood human beings (which is what we mean by "escapist".) But it is not.

    Based on an 800+ page epic by Miyuki Miyabe (which sold more than six million copies in Japan), "Brave Story" is also much more than a derivative fantasy novel with magic, demons, dragons and the like. For its too main characters, Wataru and Mitsuru, are youngsters confronted with tragic existential issues, whose presence in the script is more than just a device to flesh their characters out, draw audience sympathy, or affect relevance. And however far-fetched the quest may seem, however outlandish the imaginary world, they become the locus for a true resolution of the psychological and philosophical problems of the heroes, rather than a way for them imagine their lives away.

    I believe that what Miyabe is doing here is using the device of the fantasy world as a metaphor for the egoist's vision of others: for what is it to be truly selfish, but to consider that other people's lives are somehow less real than yours? Mitsuru is the perfect example of the individual who is so focused on his own pain that the rest of the world has become transparent to him, something to be collaterally damaged in a quest for personal salvation. And this is precisely the trap into which the hero must learn not not fall.

    "Brave Story" is a rite-of-passage story, in which a self-centered child grows up through his interactions with the denizens of an imaginary world, and comes to realise what life is really about. The moral of the film reminded me a little of a quote I read recently on this site: "Life is pain. If anyone tells you otherwise, he is trying to sell you something" (actually, even if he tells you as much, he may be trying to sell you something, such as insurance or a house alarm, but this is another matter.) In this sense, "Brave Story" is not trying to sell you anything. It does not cheat with the true nature of reality, although of course, its worldview being pagan, it can only offer fatalism as its life-lesson, rather than submission to the will of an all-loving God, which is something entirely different.

    As for me, I have just ordered my copy of the original novel (available in an English translation from VIZ), even though I still haven't opened "Dragon Sword and Wind Child" or the last two volumes of "The Twelve Kingdoms" (one always feels one has time on one's hands at the beginning of the summer holidays.)
  • April 20, 2009
    I haven't read the book, but i did enjoy the movie. It moved along pretty smoothly and coherently, and I linked how it draws in role-playing game elements as part of the story. This is pretty simply, an enjoyable animated adventure.
  • March 1, 2009
    just another minimal anime
    but the thing is u can see creativity in this one as usual
  • November 3, 2008
    Brave Story is one of the best animated movies I've ever seen. Gonzo meshed together 2D & 3D animation brilliantly. The storyline is simple enough - Boy Goes Off to Change His Destiny & Learns Many Lessons In The Process.

    But it flows along smoothly, although I find some parts...( read more) rather rushed. Like most Animes, there isn't a real antagonist you could truly hate because everyone has a justified reason for what they do. This movie is about growing up and making sacrifices when you have to.

    I felt like crying when the antagonist died but found his own heaven in the process.

    The ending was left hanging even though it's technically a "Happily Ever After". I want a sequel!
  • January 28, 2008
    Childish, emotional, stylish, cute... loveable!
  • January 1, 2008
    Great cartoon with a very strong morale at the end of the story.
  • November 26, 2007
    i wanna see more witchcraft but the emotions and morals are great
  • September 17, 2007
    this is certainly one of the best animated movies i've watched so far. the theme song fits. the actors voicing reveals their devotion in the roles they were playing. the story moves u on with every sec it gets on. indulge urself in this brave story with wataru & his friends...
  • August 25, 2007
    fight ur own's nemesis....

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  • In "Chicken Little", Hollywood picks up the story of the brave little rooster and makes an action film. What actor voices Ace/Hollywood Chicken Little?  Answer »
  • I was in One Tree Hill, House of Wax, Lone Ranger, Freaky Friday, Home of the Brave, and A Cinderella Story. Which actor or actress am I?   Answer »

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