Xiong Che standing against the background of a blue sky, holding a knife and grinning with teeth is the most iconic scene in this movie. But the reason why this movie is not as good as Totoro, which also has an iconic image, is the plot, as most people complain. Many plots are rushed, with insufficient foreshadowing, which makes people feel confused all of a sudden. Especially the plot related to the girl Feng, she is the same age as Lian in the human world, but her existence seems to be just forcibly pushing the plot, she and Lian do not interpret the theme of "growing together". Originally, the theme of Jiutai and Xiong Che growing together was well laid out from the middle, and then inexplicably became the theme of "two people can succeed together".
Another special point is that Mamoru Hosoda can make the footage of anime movies like live-action movies, and also incorporates many elements of Japanese culture, including Japan has eight million gods, and all things in nature can be gods, so Xiong Che Can be transformed into anything. The film states this at the beginning, probably for the international market as well. In any case, Mamoru Hosoda has maintained the style of family movies and spread traditional Japanese culture.
Finally, let’s talk about Beluga’s symbolism. Beluga is “fighting against himself”, and ichirohiko has also become a whale, but Lian and his inner darkness are not really fighting. In the end, they even give in and need someone else to wake him. up. So this metaphor for the beluga whale is not so apt. Maybe it's just a form of having ichirohiko appear in the human world and cause some tumultuous destruction.
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