A new animated film titled The Summit of the Gods, which is based on the manga series of the same name by Jiro Taniguchi, might end up becoming your next anime obsession.
Netflix has by far been the most popular and in-demand streaming service despite the emergence of several competitors like Disney Plus and HBO Max, if only through the sheer force of its universal output, continually offering new content in every visual medium from across the world.
To that end, Netflix has also paid special attention to the world of anime and its immense following over the past couple of years, the result of which has been the release of popular works like Castlevania, Dota: Dragon’s Blood, Arcane, and feature films such as The Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolf.
Of course, this new anime film hasn’t breezed through the ranks of the most-watched titles on the platform, as projects such as the ones mentioned above usually do, but The Summit of the Gods has managed to attract unanimous critical acclaim, currently sitting at 100% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes with 29 reviews. The audience score of 85% isn’t too shabby, either.
Almost every critic praised director Patrick Impert’s film for its utilization of animation to immerse viewers in the nitty-gritty of mountain climbing, while others also applauded the story for its sense of intimacy. Empire Magazine called it “stunningly well-crafted and smartly adapted,” while Polygon wrote: “Imbert makes sure the audience feels every misstep, every crumbling foothold and loose piton, every trembling and overtaxed muscle or fraying rope.”
The Summit of the Gods tells the tale of Makoto Fukamachi, a Japanese journalist who comes across an enigmatic mountain climber called Habu Joji. Fukamachi believes that Joji possesses George Mallory’s camera, the historical mountaineer who attempted to conquer Mount Everest in 1924 but disappeared in the effort. Through their shared effort, the two become more involved with each other and come to uncover the mysteries of a bygone age.
