It’s divisive. It’s art-housy, raw. Not your typical teenage drama.

Sadly, I never read this manga growing up. That said, I am particularly drawn to stories told like they are being plucked straight from memory. Disjointed, discombobulating, disorientating, raw, awkward, missing pieces...
It isn’t the “shoujo” trope of first-love-meets-high school girl emotions.
This piece of work ‘feels’, not tells. And that’s not for everyone. It’s not necessarily an “easy” watch. You can’t just throw it on and have the story handed to you. The pacing will mess you up, the missing information will misguide you, our preconceived/preconditioned notions on how a coming of age story is told will leave you confused. To enjoy this kind of movie, you have to enjoy engaging in your own thought process and emotions while watching, and not everyone enjoys this. However, I do. While others have commented that they felt that the plot was flat and not well executed, my personal opinion is the exact opposite. The plot is driven by the dialogue and character interaction as much as it is by the nuisances of the cinematography, which is opposite what we are used to (often the cinematography reflects what is being told to us, rarely does it become nearly a character in-and of-itself).

It is more art-house than pop-ish drama. It is more painful and tragic reminiscence than a love story, and it is more a ‘true’ love story than the candy coated romance that we see more often. It’s like reading a classic novel that on the surface is one thing, but when you begin looking at the authors use of allegory, it reveals itself to be entirely something else.

One thing I severely did not enjoy was the use of Pachelbel Cannon in D Major as a major theme. That is 100% opinion and personal bias towards it, rather than a critical look at the meaning of such a piece in this work.

This is my first review; I felt obliged to leave a review because movies like this - major backing, stand out cast, but unconventional, tend to get pushed aside for most except the most cult-y of followers or art-ish types. Some people will not enjoy this kind of movie, some will be confused and disappointed by this kind of art, and yet others will feel the exact opposite. Obviously enough people connected enough with a mode of story telling like to, well, tell the story like this. And at the end of the day, it’s all just a matter of opinion.

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