I went into Soraao expecting something like an Ano Hana 2.0 with the whole adolescent melodrama with ghost/spirits vibe that its trailers and synopsis portrayed the movie out to be. I wasnt too huge of a fan of Ano Hana and so I was very very pleased to see that Soraao was not Ano Hana 2.0. Soraao was a movie that amidst the clearly fictional elements of the plot told things as they are and as they should be. It was a complete film that knew its goals and direction and never lost sight of that the whole way through. The most pleasant surprise of the movie for me was its direct and clear communication and understanding between characters. We have Shinnosuke and Akane in their early thirties Aoi and Shinno in their late teens and Tsugu in primary school. With such a wide age gap I expected that somewhere along the line the age gaps would come into play to create miscommunication or the general you wouldnt understand vibe would come into play as a way to create some sort of tension or conflict that needs to resolved. Yet throughout the movie the characters were very clear with their feelings and their position. When the boat was rocked Tsugu firmly lets Shinno know his personal feelings for Aoi. When Aoi points out that Michinko has feelings for Akane Akane gently explains that even with that knowledge there are things that are understood but must not be said. When Aoi confesses her feelings for Shinno she clearly though with passion exclaims what Shinno shouldnt do in the moment. The characters understand each other and themselves and because this understanding is a very clear given in this movie the Soraao team was able to explore some deeper and realer aspects of relationships which was the real meat of the movie. My favorite aspect of Soraao was its masterful use of unspoken dialogue and parallel plots to drive the movie. We are never explicitly told why Shinno existed as a physical spirit in the first place but we are able to figure that out ourselves by following Akanes decision between making kombu and mayo/tuna onigiri throughout the story. A seemingly light plot point that did not hold much weight in the beginning ended up allowing the viewers to understand in addition to the main plot that Akane had decided to give up on her future in Tokyo with Shinno because she loved her sister more. The moment Akane exclaims that perhaps she will make mayo/tuna onigiri next time Shinno disappears and we the viewer understand that his existence was a consequence of Akanes decision to support her sister over pursuing the life she wanted with Shinno following their parents death. These sorts of stories underneath the stories allow for the thoughts of the Soraao team to hit hard like a onetwo punch. Its like Okada Mari and Tatsuyuki Nagai took a good look at what worked in their previous films and threw that in to Soraao. And when the Soraao team couples these sorts of working aspects with a soundtrack that dynamically adapts to match the tension and mood of scene its a total K.O. for me. All in all I think Soraao was a very pleasant movie saturated with delicate thoughts and interactions. Its characters knew who they were and who others are and their nononsense approach to communication allowed for the genuine expressions of love and understanding to take hold of my own heart onions may have been cut during the film. This one is third movie I recently watched with Okada Mari listed as key staff member of the production and all three of them had that delicate touch of complexity that I am really fond of. Id like to believe that is due in part to her involvement and so I will be on the lookout for other anime and movies that she may be a part of in the future. If I really had to put my totally unnecessary critic glasses on I guess something that didnt really work for me at times was a few awkward transitions here and there not too huge of a fan of fadetoblack transitions and we never really got a good chance to understand why Shinnosuke ended up the way that he did. The movie was a bit cookie cutter at times when it came to plot progression as well but those are all really really minor and unnecessary points of distaste though. I really enjoyed Soraao so taking into consideration how I have rated other movies in the past that have impacted me positively I give this movie a 90/100.