Who should see it: Interested in story that closed space and feelings. Or People who have seen Mari Okada's past works.
(+) Fantastic Art Work
Produced by MAPPA. The worldview, the description of the steel mill, the expressions of the characters, everything was wonderful. If you've seen the trailer, Fantastic Art work continues from beginning to end. If you know MAPPA, I would recommend watching the movie.
This story is set in January 1991. I'm glad that the scenery from my childhood has been clearly captured in a movie. Example, Beverage vending machines and shopping streets.
(+) music
In addition to fantastic art work, it was a wonderful music. It expresses a closed space and feelings. It's close to the character. And, Miyuki Nakajima's ending theme song is wonderful as a closing song for the story. Even if it's translated into another language, I hope it reaches as many people as possible. This is a song that hopes to overcome many things and move forward strongly into the future.
(-) difficult story
It was impossible for me to understand everything about the setting of the story the first time. (I found it cathartic, but my thoughts remained confused). Looking at Japanese reviews, many said that it was difficult to understand. I read guess in many reviews and finally understood the whole story.
(+) The actions that result from the feeling of love are strongly expressed
After understanding the overall story, I watched the movie again. An atmosphere filled with the feelings of many characters. The actions that result from the feeling of love are strongly expressed. Run through that atmosphere with strong force towards the ending. The second viewing was satisfying.
How should I introduce this movie? If I were to compare this movie, I would think of "Kumo no Mukou, Yakusoku no Basho". The reason for this is not only the character, but also the area is closed. However, this movie is more damp, dark, and horror-like.
Some Japanese reviewers have tried to understand this work from Mari Okada's past works and her autobiography, "From the time I couldn't go to school until I wrote Anohana and Kokosake". If anyone wants to know more about the work, look for it. You can see that the director's personality is too strong in this work.
It's good things that the director's personality is reflected in the works. The problem is that the story and setting are difficult to understand.
I wasn't sure whether to Recommended or Mixed Feelings, but I decided to recommend it. I don't think it's a movie at the general public. Is there any value in a movie if you can't understand it in one viewing? However, if you are interested, I recommend watching this movie. It has strong power. I'm sure some MAL will rate this movie highly. I hope that more people will see it and the discussion on the forum will grow.
