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A comment after watching Shikioriori/Flavors of Youth

!!SPOILER ALERT!!

Three stories in three different places in China. I think the anime film's "faithfulness" in trying to depict Chinese settings is 70%, 60%, 65% for the 1st, 2nd, 3rd stories. The directors of the 1st and 3rd stories are Chinese folks who actually were born and were once living in places in China, and the director of the 2nd story is a Japanese yet I think this Japanese director (from CoMix Wave Films that once made Kimi no Na wa.) did his homework.

The 1st story, "The Rice Noodles" in Hunan:
- it gives me the most echo, ... because in my area there was a long-time snacks shop of my favorites had closed and it was a pain in the throat for me to see it being changed to a boutique shop
- while the 「食」 "Food" has very important meaning in Chinese culture, I want to emphasize that, the people with whom I once ate the food are the most important to me; everytime I eat the food I remember the people I miss, for example, my late aunt....her food once connected me and her....something like in Kimi no Na wa. how Yotsuha's grandmother said "I make the rice balls, and you eat them, so you and I are connected."
- the 「三鲜米粉」 "San Xian Rice Noodles" in this anime film is not my type of noodles; my favorite noodles is 「越南牛肉河粉」 "Vietnamese Beef Rice Noodles"
- 「米粉」 was originated in Hunan, this is partially the reason why I gave it a 50%+20%=70% "faithfulness" of Chinese settings
• 「米粉」 and 「河粉」 are both called "Rice Noodles", yet 「米粉」 is much thinner while 「河粉」 is thicker and flatter

The 2nd story, "A Little Fashion Show" in Guangzhou
- it gives me the most shiver, because in my work place there are a lot of age discriminations and work pressures which lead some people to their personal dilemmas
- while the 「衣」 "Clothes" has very important meaning in Chinese culture, I want to emphasize that, there is a Chinese saying 「上流社会有下流人，先敬罗衣后敬人」 "High people have low quality, people respect your Clothes first then your own self next", it is not uncommon, mostly in old times, to see some poor people do their best to earn a good looking Clothes to pretend they are rich people in order to get some respect from the others
- the cruelty in the business world was idealized by making the Fashion Show Manager a super nice guy in this anime film
- the Guangzhou city view in this anime film was not bad, yet the story could actually take place in any cities, this is partially the reason why I gave it a 50%+10%=60% "faithfulness" of Chinese settings
- the sisters kind of remind me of the Mitsuha and Yotsuha in Kimi no Na wa., when the younger sister seemed to be more mature than the older sister
• I didn't need to use Japanese translation again when I read the Chinese words on the mobile phones, what a relief

The 3rd story, "Shanghai Love" in Shanghai
- it gives me the most Shinkai feel, because of its similar intro, scene views, flashback, camera angles, characters, props (audio cassette tape & Chinese biscuits metal container), plot, climax, ending....all these elements made this last story the best one
- while the 「住行」 "Living & Travel" have very important meaning in Chinese culture, I want to emphasize that, living out of hometown due to school or work, is a big thing for folks to consider in China. Traveling back to hometown on national holidays like the Chinese New Year is the most important "event", folks can fight for travel tickets for real, it is like a big time immigration move. This is called the 「春运」 "Spring Festival Holidays Traveling" phenomenon in China.
- OK about a month ago I found about the 「小雨转晴」 label on the audio cassette tape, I guess the director 李豪凌 Mr. Lee may have actually probably read the 「小雨转晴」 short story by 非翼洋
- the ending is very nice! I mean, it really shows how 「小雨转晴」 "sky becomes clear after a light rain" can be happening!
- the audio cassette tape, in my opinion, works kind of like the braided cord in Kimi no Na wa., where all four characters kept giving and returning the props which once connected/disconnected them all
- I have never been to Shanghai, so I have no idea about how faithful the film's Chinese settings are for this one, this is partially the reason why I gave it a 50%+15%=65% "faithfulness" of Chinese settings
• by the way, the old maths. test paper makes me smile again

Oh in the Chinese version, there are three dialects you can listen to, because all three places -- Hunan, Guangzhou, Shanghai -- use different dialects.

At last, I think this time the "Japan x China" animation production work is not a failure at all.

P.S. oh don't miss the after credits roll scene!

I read the manga version many many years ago.....since then I forgot the name of that already, I tried to search without a clue for long. Once in a while, I came across with this anime version and recognized the plot and the characters. Thanks to the awesome Internet (and MyAnimeList), I could finally put my long-time search to an end.

This anime version is somehow different than the manga version, and I am not going to include so here.

And I want to say that, this Ai City anime kind of makes me like the bad guys more than the good guys, which is ... a rare case to me.

Despite the fact that Ai City was made in the 1980's, there were some revolutionary sci-fi ideas being added to make this a unique classic.

Lastly, I just want to mention again that, I was able to retrieve the manga name of Ai City, all because of my discovery of this anime version.