Reviews

A quiet young high school student accidentally discovers that a popular classmate has a terminal illness. Awed by his unfazed reaction to the revelation of her short life, she starts to hang out with him. Knowing that her close friends would react over-dramatically like her family already does, she keeps it a secret from them since it would only make things harder for her. She finds comfort in the protagonist's detached personality because it allows her to be herself without being constantly reminded of death.

Characters with terminal illnesses have been used quite a lot in fiction. Unlike many of those, this movie doesn't rely on scenes of a physically struggling diseased person. What we get instead are lots of honest dialogues of two interesting characters as they bond and sincerely try to help each other.

The characters, the animation, and the colors are all simple but they all have a charm. Nothing stands out, but what is impressive is that the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. The storytelling really makes all the parts shine.

The movie and the book have the same plot, but the characters are slightly different. The core of their personalities are the same, but the way they talk and are shown in the movie feel more genuine. In the novel the protagonist keeps narrating the whole story and his thoughts and opinions contrast a lot to the reserved person in the movie. I prefer the movie by far. This is clearly a case of less is more.

This is an interesting little tale of how two teenage girls became friends. It has a very honest feeling in how the characters speak and move. Having lived in Japan, this movie really gives a surprisingly unexpected sensation of the everyday there.

What sets this movie apart is probably what bothers me. This movie reminds me of the Flowers of Evil TV series from 2013 since both are animated through rotoscoping (an animation technique in which animators trace over footage, frame by frame). This is a decent story, but it could have easily been done without animation. The animation gave some really pretty colors to some scenes, but in the overall it feels unnecessary. You could have told the same story with actors and the result wouldn't be much different.

The fact that it is animated will most likely be an important factor to attract and repel some people and it shouldn't. This is not your typical high school anime. It is a movie that happens to be animated. Just that.

All in all, a cute adventure of two girls living an unforgettable moment of their adolescence. If you are into teenage dramas and Japan, you might like this.