The art behind this movie is amazing.The design,the colours,the backrounds,the little details all top notch!But where was the plot?
We see two kids getting really close as friends,falling in love with each other and then facing the difficulties life puts in their way.At least,that's what you would expect after that slow first part.To see what happens next in that love story.Will it be tragic or things change in a surprising heartwarming reunion?But nothing....
After the struggle of meeting after a year of separation,Takaki moves away.You expect to see them thinking about each other,maybe experiencing temptations of falling for someone else,who's physically closer to them,but no....We don't see Akari anywhere.It's like this is not about her anymore.We see a very sweet young girl who falls for Takaki,but is very shy to confess her feelings,so he lets him leave the island without giving "their thing" a chance.He is obviously caught up with something,we see him texting so you think that Akari is on the other side of that cellphone and that,at the end of the school year,they would as planned meet...maybe?....But no...again!!He texts to nobody.He sits all alone,no friends,no girls,writing texts about dreams with a faceless girl,sending them nowhere and wastes all his time on this island.And we get to experience this in a very slow way.
In the end I wonder,what is this movie about?We do not end up with two lovers.We do not see their difficulties,they just move apart.We do not see what happens in their lives.And the few hopes I reserved for part 3,crumbled to dust in the end.Again we only see glimpses of Takaki in various different places and clothes and backrounds,on a balcony,in a station,on board a train,walking on a pavement etc.,and some even smaller parts with Akari.She suddenly wears glasses.Did she try to contact Takaki?Cannot be sure,we see her using her cellphone,speaking of the letter she wanted to give him back when they were younger but not sure.We are always moving back and forth,past-now,dreams-reality,thoughts-feelings in an abrupt way so it was kinda hard to keep track of what had actually happened...Did they ever meet again?No....
So despite their supposed great feelings,no effort was made,from either side,to meet again in contrast to what you have might expected.So they just let go of each other.Akari apparently got engaged,we see her wearing a ring and all,and Takaki ended up a loser.Dirty house,depressed,all alone,no job and all that for a girl he did not even try to find at any point during his entire life.Certainly life is what happens while you are too busy making plans,but still,after a certain age,using the given technology and keeping in touch,they could move closer to each other,they could try for the same(or close- by)high schools or universities or at least try some kind of contact,anything at all would be accepted by me.But none of that....
So did I miss something here?Was there a greater deep latent message behind all these slow mini-stories with the many and various backrounds,weather conditions and deep silences?I think not....I believe this movie tried to portray what happens when life gets in the way,when you are just not that lucky and the circumstances become almost impossible for your desires to become actual things and parts in your life.But it leaves too much stuff on the viewer.You have to assume they split apart and lose all contact,you have to assume all other things in between,you'll have to have similar experiences in your private life or seen or heard about similar stories in order to get it.Is it sad?Yes,of course it is sad...Because I assumed most of the story in a very sad way.Was there any romance?It's supposed to be a romance/drama story but for the most part we just see beautiful landscapes and people moving through time in silence.Silence can be quite deafening some times,but when a story consists mostly of silence,can be rather tiring to me.It gets a 6/10 from me.Because of it's beauty I am lenient.Besides that,I really like the second part.It displays perfectly how fears,shyness and lack of "perfect" moments can scar you for life,if you don't have the guts to "grab life by it's horns" as they say.A younger part of me could relate to the surf girl.I can say that it actually hurt me a bit.Other than that,I found myself expecting something that was never delivered.Too bad...cause there was a great potential.And before you hastily try to object,think about this...What do we know about the protagonists?What Takaki and Akira like?What are their dreams and desires for the future?What do they want to achieve?What defines them as unique personalities?What do they do or eat or drink or think before they sleep?Do we know any of these absolutely necessary things in order to have an image of a person in your mind that clearly separates them from everyone else?......The answer is again "No".....And that is certainly a really sad thing about this movie.
I am not sorry for my not popular opinion.To you,reviewer who said"I'm sorry for my unpopular opinion",don't be...
We see two kids getting really close as friends,falling in love with each other and then facing the difficulties life puts in their way.At least,that's what you would expect after that slow first part.To see what happens next in that love story.Will it be tragic or things change in a surprising heartwarming reunion?But nothing....
After the struggle of meeting after a year of separation,Takaki moves away.You expect to see them thinking about each other,maybe experiencing temptations of falling for someone else,who's physically closer to them,but no....We don't see Akari anywhere.It's like this is not about her anymore.We see a very sweet young girl who falls for Takaki,but is very shy to confess her feelings,so he lets him leave the island without giving "their thing" a chance.He is obviously caught up with something,we see him texting so you think that Akari is on the other side of that cellphone and that,at the end of the school year,they would as planned meet...maybe?....But no...again!!He texts to nobody.He sits all alone,no friends,no girls,writing texts about dreams with a faceless girl,sending them nowhere and wastes all his time on this island.And we get to experience this in a very slow way.
In the end I wonder,what is this movie about?We do not end up with two lovers.We do not see their difficulties,they just move apart.We do not see what happens in their lives.And the few hopes I reserved for part 3,crumbled to dust in the end.Again we only see glimpses of Takaki in various different places and clothes and backrounds,on a balcony,in a station,on board a train,walking on a pavement etc.,and some even smaller parts with Akari.She suddenly wears glasses.Did she try to contact Takaki?Cannot be sure,we see her using her cellphone,speaking of the letter she wanted to give him back when they were younger but not sure.We are always moving back and forth,past-now,dreams-reality,thoughts-feelings in an abrupt way so it was kinda hard to keep track of what had actually happened...Did they ever meet again?No....
So despite their supposed great feelings,no effort was made,from either side,to meet again in contrast to what you have might expected.So they just let go of each other.Akari apparently got engaged,we see her wearing a ring and all,and Takaki ended up a loser.Dirty house,depressed,all alone,no job and all that for a girl he did not even try to find at any point during his entire life.Certainly life is what happens while you are too busy making plans,but still,after a certain age,using the given technology and keeping in touch,they could move closer to each other,they could try for the same(or close- by)high schools or universities or at least try some kind of contact,anything at all would be accepted by me.But none of that....
So did I miss something here?Was there a greater deep latent message behind all these slow mini-stories with the many and various backrounds,weather conditions and deep silences?I think not....I believe this movie tried to portray what happens when life gets in the way,when you are just not that lucky and the circumstances become almost impossible for your desires to become actual things and parts in your life.But it leaves too much stuff on the viewer.You have to assume they split apart and lose all contact,you have to assume all other things in between,you'll have to have similar experiences in your private life or seen or heard about similar stories in order to get it.Is it sad?Yes,of course it is sad...Because I assumed most of the story in a very sad way.Was there any romance?It's supposed to be a romance/drama story but for the most part we just see beautiful landscapes and people moving through time in silence.Silence can be quite deafening some times,but when a story consists mostly of silence,can be rather tiring to me.It gets a 6/10 from me.Because of it's beauty I am lenient.Besides that,I really like the second part.It displays perfectly how fears,shyness and lack of "perfect" moments can scar you for life,if you don't have the guts to "grab life by it's horns" as they say.A younger part of me could relate to the surf girl.I can say that it actually hurt me a bit.Other than that,I found myself expecting something that was never delivered.Too bad...cause there was a great potential.And before you hastily try to object,think about this...What do we know about the protagonists?What Takaki and Akira like?What are their dreams and desires for the future?What do they want to achieve?What defines them as unique personalities?What do they do or eat or drink or think before they sleep?Do we know any of these absolutely necessary things in order to have an image of a person in your mind that clearly separates them from everyone else?......The answer is again "No".....And that is certainly a really sad thing about this movie.
I am not sorry for my not popular opinion.To you,reviewer who said"I'm sorry for my unpopular opinion",don't be...