OP
340
- Thread Starter
- #1
SYNOPSISEquipped with his passion for diving and admiration for marine biology, university student Tsuneo Suzukawa tries his best to juggle several part-time jobs to earn enough money to study abroad. But one night, in a fateful accident, he meets a girl in a wheelchair, driving his current path into a detour.
The girl, Kumiko—who prefers to be called "Josee"—initially comes off as rude. Tsuneo, however, is then convinced by Josee's grandmother to take on the paid job to be Josee's caretaker. Despite being annoyed with her bossy demeanor, Tsuneo sees the opportunity to save more funds to support his academic dream. Nonetheless, after putting up with Josee's behavior for some time, Tsuneo tries to quit, only to discover Josee's dreams of traversing the outside world—to experience a life free from her crippling condition.
Changing his mind, Tsuneo decides to accompany Josee in exploring the wonders that the world has to offer. Through their time together, the two begin to realize that the traits that bind them may be vital toward fulfilling their respective aspirations
Art 9.5 - The movie had good art, though to movies like Garden of words, it pales rather averagely... Is what you'd think, the simplistic art is wasn't a drawback at all! It in fact made the movie much more... Real maybe, it gave an immersive feeling and it was also another factor of the amazing atmosphere it had.
Characters 10 - Now my favorite part of this movie... The characters. The main duo have amazing character development and character progression. A truly beautiful take on "growing up with each other" kind of development. What the movie is trying to tell us is shown through the growth of the main duo The main duo undoubtedly have the best dynamic out of any anime movie I've seen thus far, and their dynamic is what made us feel emotions for the two, and the dilemmas and struggles they face through the movie made it hit more hard because of that. The sympathy you can feel through the character's hardships are due to how real the characters feel. The side characters also serve a good purpose within the story, and are solid characters themselves.
Sountract 10 - Amazing soundtrack! the sound is also a factor of the realistic atmosphere it gave, the use of sound through each moment was fantastic! The emotional feel it gives elevates every scene, the music also interprets on how the characters feel.
Enjoyment 9.7 - I have never enjoyed an anime movie to this extent! well maybe, "night is short, walk on girl" is pretty close but still! The emotions this movie gave me... are really like none other. The beautifully executed themes, the immersive growth of the duo and their romantic moments and the overall purpose and message of the story.
The film starts with an accidental encounter between our two main characters, but the focus of the film is laid squarely on Josee, Tsuneo is only really focused on in the final third of the film. The film then carries on at a fairly quick pace, showing us an organic development of Tsuneo's and Josee's relationship. But the film goes out of its way to show the viewer its "secret weapon" the fact that Tsuneo wants to go and study in Mexico, giving the film a specific point where everything will have to end. This combined with some other events is what makes up the 2nd act of the film. The events of the second act are sparked by the death of Josee's grandmother, which leaves an issue. Does Tsuneo leave Josee all alone to pursue his dream or does miss out on this opportunity and stay to care for Josee? There isn't really an easy answer, especially that it is suggested that Tsuneo is developing feelings for Josee. But the world doesn't wait for Tsuneo, it moves on, people move on and make their own decision, after Josee finds out that she won't be able to be with Tsuneo she tries to cut him out of his life, she can't just say no to someone she cares for so she tries to irreparably damage her relationship and tries to radically change herself to become someone new. But this isn't what Tsuneo wanted and after Josee's wheelchair gets stuck in a pothole disaster strikes, Tsuneo is hit by a car.
The directing in this scene is very impressive, the paramedics rushing to make sure Tsuneo is ok, spliced with a completely black frame with only one central siren pulsating, the breathing with gets faster and faster, combined with the music the is quiet enough to put focus on the heavy breathing but still noticeable. The music swells up until a breaking point and then silence, all the sound is gone and it is just Josee crying in a bleak hospital room. The music starts up and the rain drowns out any other out, then Tsuneo wakes up. The reason I am focusing so much on this one specific scene is that it perfectly creates an atmosphere of panic, while the film has focused on death before the focus of the film has always been on Josee so to see that the focus of the film has been ripped from her was a welcome surprise. Some other cool directing tricks are used, mainly Josee entering the hospital but having her head out of the frame, only showing us her wheelchair, with other shots making sure to have tunes leg near the middle of the frame. It's small directing tricks like this that manage to convey information to the viewer without having the characters physically explain it.
This bit isn't perfect however, I've referred to this as the second act and that because the film follows the three-act structure almost to a tee. For those of you who don't know the three-act structure is one of the most simple ways of structuring a story. The first act is usually used for build-up or establishing the characters relationships, the second act refers to some conflict normally due to rising tensions throughout the story and the final act is the resolution. The reason I am bringing this up is because of the structure of this film the main conflict is resolved before the film actually ends, Tsuneo comes to terms with what has happened and is already working to improve himself. But because of the loose threads, the film has left a few loose threads it stumbles around before it can reach its actual conclusion, taking the viewer out of the experience. It sometimes feels as if the film is bouncing back between whether it wants a happy or sad ending. But while the ending of the films feels a bit confused it isn't enough to dampen the overall experience.
In the end, I say that this is a work that has good elements that are not further deepened ON PURPOSE, as it is not the focus of the film to be a Koe no Katachi, to tell about the daily life of a paraplegic and her difficulties, but to talk about a disabled person who feels UNABLE to achieve her dreams. It's two completely different things. What's more, what Josee does is enough, because when placed in the protagonist's vision and how the world treats her, you feel in your own skin what it is like not to be able to be "like" everyone.
Overall
The overall theme is pretty simple in that it is beautiful. It is about learning to pursue your dream, by running towards your goal. How Josee put it that how scary it is to reach for something... that dream of pursing something that just out of your reach is a scary thing. To have dreams that just seem too far out of reach. Some people can dream and pursue it with no problem, while others of us find others who has dream and we follow them making those our dreams.
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