I'll admit that I was a little wary of this anime at first due to its Korean origins. It's nothing against the Koreans, but I was used to Japanese anime, and not keen to change things up at all. The first time I tried to watch this anime, I even stopped watching because the art style was so different than that to which I was accustomed. Both of these impressions were very much in error. Having watched the movie in its entirety several times now, I can definitely say that this movie is not inferior in any way to its Japanese counterparts. The art style is wonderful, the voices are good, in all technical aspects, this movie is notably above the average anime movie. Story-wise the movie is certainly solid, with a post-apocalyptic society struggling with a significantly polluted world and dissension between its social classes. It also deals with love that transcends these class boundaries and the complications there-in. A definite good time, not suggested for younger children, though, as there is a good deal of violence that may not agree with younger viewers. A shining example of how truly good anime doesn't have to be produced in Japan.

"Wonderful Day" is mostly an exercise of style over substance: The plot has some interesting elements and a great atmosphere of melancholy...But sadly most of the story feels flat and forgettable (Despite some memorable and beautifully animated sequences) Kind of like "Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within", except that this movie is a bit less boring and it have better characters.The animation and the designs were pretty good (Despite some brief moments where the expressions in the faces of the characters turn a bit awkward) but overall, the combinations of traditional animation, CGI and miniatures have an incredible looking appearance. The sceneries are beautiful and the movements of the characters are pretty fluid and well done.If only the plot were as good as the animation...Well I guess it could have been a much worse...This could have been something preachy or emotionless (Like "Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within") Despite the boring and melodramatic parts of the story, "Wonderful Days" it's something worth watching, at least for the excellent quality of the animation.

Many people have commented that this film has a poor plot, but they rate the film highly anyway. This can be confusing, because it is difficult for a movie to actually be good entirely independent of the events within it.The trick to understanding this is that in many films with a bad plot the characters are trapped into acting in a grossly unrealistic and contrived manner. In Wonderful Days, the scenarios laid out, and indeed the physical environment are all laid out to create a predictable story arc.Unlike a number of other recent anime movies however, the characters are not contorted into an equally false shape. The behavior of the characters is not terribly surprising, and they are not necessarily characters of great depth, but such characterization as there is, is fairly well done. Particularly interesting is the use of stock anime characters, even including cute Pokemon type animals, in a meaningful and emotionally mature manner.The real strength of this film however, is in its animation/cinematography. Visually, Wonderful Days can be placed next to the best Asian animation like the Ghost in the Shell films. The artistic tone is well supported by the soundtrack as well, making it easier to appreciate the film if so minded.So to sum up, Wonderful Days is visually stunning, but fairly predictable and contrived. Intellectually, and in plot or character development the contrived and sentimental nature and construction of the film is difficult to ignore, but there is no question but that here, as well as visually, it is head and shoulders above Appleseed, or either of the Final Fantasy films. If you adjust your expectations accordingly, and take the precaution of watching the film with subtitles (thus avoiding bad dubbing) you will not be too disappointed.

Sky Blue is another formulaic futuristic sci-fi animated feature with an apocalyptic vision of mankind's fate in much the same mould as Square's cinematic bomb Final Fantasy:The Spirits Within. Like that worthless movie, Sky Blue serves up an ambitious central plot set in the distant future (2142?) after a global disaster, in this case a man-made disaster, and then proceeds to clumsily fumble with some important themes such as friendship, love, dreams and the environment through a poorly written story with a weak cast instead of developing the environmental message into a cohesive and engaging yarn like one would expect. Earth is in peril due to humans causing an ecological catastrophe that has blacked out the sky. The set up is familiar, borrowing the same formula as FF:SW. We have the last remnants of our species gathered in a giant, covered city with the entire planet now one big wasteland, a troubled 'hero' who drifts into strange dream sequences and battles against time to save mankind (in this case by destroying the city to let the sun shine through the clouds!?!) and a squad of 'lovable'(annoying and stupid more like) warriors fighting for the cause. There is even the crude tacked on 'romance' that is both completely unnecessary in such a film and undeveloped, but it seems filmmakers these days feel obliged to have a tacked on love story at the core of every non romantic film so I can almost forgive the scrip writers for this crime. Unfotunately there are no weird aliens in this film and the characters are amongst the weakest ever created - the hero, the girl (who's only discernible trait is having red hair) and the (oh so sci-fi animation cliché) villain are all devoid of personality and the script they deliver is weak, cold, corny and unrealistic - every line seems to be an explanation of the plot (which is so thin it requires little explanation) instead of any meaningful insight into what is going on between the characters. Another film from the orient that attempts Hollywood style story telling (for some reason) and fails miserably.Sky Blue was a very poor film indeed, however it will look great on a HD Widescreen display, if only for the backgrounds. A lot of time and money was invested in this project however there are some very noticeable problems with the animation (the only thing notable in the production). Shadowing is poorly done creating disappointing effects on bikes and the flying bike things, most moving objects don't look properly integrated with backgrounds. The 2D characters are the worst aspect of the film's animation as they all look too similar (and all appear pretty healthy, clean and well nourished considering there has been no sunlight for 100 years and there is no explanation about food supplies etc) and are horribly animated in contrast to everything around them, they look terrible against the lush 3D backgrounds because they just don't look like they fit in at all. In the English version the voice acting is the worst I have ever encountered in an animated feature, matching their animated characters the voice actors are wooden and emotionless adding to the general atmosphere of boredom. All in all Sky Blue is just a poor man's 'Spirits Within' without the A list voice talent. Sky Blue is at best mediocre as a visual spectacle, some backgrounds are eye popping, but overall it is nothing special and the plot is short, underdeveloped and predictable. Ghost in the Shell and Advent Children are superior in visuals and story. 4/10 - boring and uninspired, avoid.