A fairly standard story elevated by great acting, aesthetics and existential themes
If you are familiar with the standard shojo romance tropes, all the elements are available here:
1) Extremely handsome somewhat older man who is a precocious genius/super competent, all the girls are after him. He struggles to communicate and has hidden man pain.
2) Self-conscious woman, somewhat struggling with her self esteem, a beginner in the field who attracts the man with her straightforward sweetness and emotional courage.
3) Enter random woman character who has no boundaries with the older man, is more his age, style etc. and makes our main character feel like she has no chance
4) Enter random male character who is sweet and straightforward like our main woman character, who is nice and good and a more appropriate match, but she just can't get into him.
BUT, if you do like this type of plot, this is a great version of it. What really makes this work is that all the characters really do feel like artists, living their lives in a small city in Japan. The cinematography and sense of place, the music, the dialogue etc. all feels quite perfect. While the voiceovers are a bit heavy handed, they are limited.
The themes aren't groundbreaking but are also very real: they are struggling with how to make art, how to inspire themselves in this modern world where everything feels meaningless, they are also struggling to invest in each other in relationships and in human beings where nothing seems very permanent or lasting.
And while none of this is ground breaking or new, I enjoyed watching this, got invested in the characters and was determined to see how it ended. I was transported by this slice of life more than I expected, and it's definitely worth a try.
If you are familiar with the standard shojo romance tropes, all the elements are available here:
1) Extremely handsome somewhat older man who is a precocious genius/super competent, all the girls are after him. He struggles to communicate and has hidden man pain.
2) Self-conscious woman, somewhat struggling with her self esteem, a beginner in the field who attracts the man with her straightforward sweetness and emotional courage.
3) Enter random woman character who has no boundaries with the older man, is more his age, style etc. and makes our main character feel like she has no chance
4) Enter random male character who is sweet and straightforward like our main woman character, who is nice and good and a more appropriate match, but she just can't get into him.
BUT, if you do like this type of plot, this is a great version of it. What really makes this work is that all the characters really do feel like artists, living their lives in a small city in Japan. The cinematography and sense of place, the music, the dialogue etc. all feels quite perfect. While the voiceovers are a bit heavy handed, they are limited.
The themes aren't groundbreaking but are also very real: they are struggling with how to make art, how to inspire themselves in this modern world where everything feels meaningless, they are also struggling to invest in each other in relationships and in human beings where nothing seems very permanent or lasting.
And while none of this is ground breaking or new, I enjoyed watching this, got invested in the characters and was determined to see how it ended. I was transported by this slice of life more than I expected, and it's definitely worth a try.
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