A high school movie, done with a very nice touch. The characters come quickly to life, and while their types, relationships and paths are familiar, there is an obliqueness to how the film moves them around, often denying us the expected outcome in a way that seems entirely designed and indeed structural, right down to the unresolvedness of the ending. Being Japanese, it naturally called to mind All About Lily Chou-Chou and Battle Royale for me, but it's far lighter than either of those, albeit still serious-minded in its focus on its (impressively large) roster of characters. There was something very pleasing about it that's hard to define, but I liked it a lot.
(w/ Andreas - part of the Japanese Film Festival)
(w/ Andreas - part of the Japanese Film Festival)
