Best execution of the worst storytelling ever?

you're wrong, many people don't think of it as a problem...

"No creepy bleeding poisonous organic carousel horses were harmed during the making of this game"

I have to disagree with you here. The point to the ether chat is to expose the thoughts and ideas of what "ether" is. Shunji Iwai once stated that some musicians use the word ether to describe their music. This film is his way of describing it. Also, I do not want anything edited out of this film, it was perfect as it is. Have another go at it, and watch it again with an open mind. Disregard the pacing, notice the imagery, the music, and so on.

i agree with the title of this post. as all the posts seem to say - the visuals are very good. i'm 2 hrs 25 min into the film, but unfortunately i stopped paying attention 25 min ago. i lost track of who was who, mainly because i keep thinking 'push push hoshino...push push tsukimoto' from ping pong. i kept thinking everyone was hoshino.

however, i plan to give this movie another chance some other time...the presentation is so nice that i don't really believe it's this boring.

AND GOD FORBID YOU EVER READ A BOOK!! OH NO WHAT TERRIBLE HORRORS SHALL BEFALL YOU NEXT?!

I also agree with the title of the post, but I disagree with the expulsion of the chat from the movie. Without the chat, Lily Chou-Chou wouldn't be what it is. The chat is what makes up the movie for most of the audience, and it's an incredibly original way of executing a movie.

I did, however, think that this movie was dead confusing by the end. It wasn't the storyline that confused me or however, it were the characters; I simply couldn't figure out who was who. I confused Yuichi for Hoshino a million times, and - not to sound racist but - it was probably because I'm not a native Japanese that I had trouble distinguishing between the characters.

I wouldn't say the movie was flawless, oh no, it really wasn't. But rather, its flaws make this movie perfect, at least, for me.

If life isn't beauty, then what is?

I agree to a degree - with such a potentially fruitful concept, this might have had the appeal to reach to a wider audience, the new generation of kids genuinely living through the internet. While I appreciate the potential power of slow-burning films, I feel that this one may be a little too esoteric for an audience who may otherwise have identified well with these characters.

My top 20 films: http://www.shompy.com/theeye23/l30156_ukuk.html

Worst storytelling ever??? I guess you must have watched every movie ever made to be able to make such a statement. Despite its flaws an incredible movie.