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After reading so many bad reviews about this movie, I decided to give it a chance. The end result? It is a lot more than what people make it to be.

Please note that I have not read the manga; this review is based purely on the movie.

Firstly, this is a Shaft production; if you are not familiar with works from Shaft, you will not enjoy the art style and transition of the movie. If you watched the Monogatari series, you'll understand what I mean.

Secondly, if you like movies that wraps up nicely and tells you everything, this movie is not for you. To really appreciate ... the story, you have to dive a bit deeper then "just watching it." Listen to the songs and connect pieces/hints throughout the story.

Thirdly, this is not a straight forward story. People refers to the "Uchiage Hanabi by DAOKO" AMV claiming that it depicts the majority of the story. That is not the case since it left out the ending which effectively is glue that put everything together. What you see is not the be-all and end-all; thinking that AMV is the story does the movie extreme injustice since it so much more involved.


The movie's story follows a young boy on an adventure with a girl he likes. A simple basic story with the boy able to travel back in time. Nothing unique on paper, but there's more to it than time traveling. What's important is the fact you follow a boy. You have to ask yourself why is it that the movie follows this boy and not any of the other ones? Who is this really a story about? On the surface, it is very simple to an extent you can call it basic, repetitive; but that's just the surface. The movie doesn't end when the credit plays nor does it end after the ending. That's because after the movie "ends" is when you realize the story only begins. Piecing together what happened, you will realize you only witnessed ending and that for the rest of the story, you are the story writer.

One note that I want to make, while "Fireworks" is probably one of the most notable song from the movie, "Forever Friends" is also amazing; not because it is great and all (which it is), but because it is another story within a story. Most people probably didn't realize that in the movie, there are at least 3 nested story within one movie. And it is because of the songs and artwork that enable such feats. What you see is one story, but the song and artwork tells another story.

Don't be fooled by the bad reviews, take time to truly understand the story and only then will you truly appreciate movie to its fullest. Listen to the songs and remember that there's more to the story than you think.

I end this review with this question: How many times do you need to repeat a moment until it is prefect? Is perfection truly the answer to life?

p.s. For those that wants some clues to look for on the first watch, here are some suggestions as you watch it:
- What if the story was from the girls' point of view? What about from another's boy point of view?
- The pool scene in the beginning and the abrupt cut, it's not as abrupt as you think it is.
- There are parts of the story where the girl says certain things are impossible; are they really?
- Pay closer attention to the art work midway to the end of the story.
- Obviously pay attention to the ending and the dialogue
- If the ending scene in the school doesn't make sense, rewatch the ending again. Understanding the school scene at the end is an important milestone to understanding the story.