Friday Night Japanimation #4: Fireworks

Official trailer

Fireworks is an odd little movie about possibilities, young love, alternate realities, and whether or not fireworks are round or flat. Spoiler: Fireworks are round, flat, or something else depending on what reality you are in.

The basic premise of the movie is as follows. Norimichi and Yusuke both have a crush on their classmate Nozuna but, unbeknownst to them, she is going to be moving away due to her mother remarrying. As it is the day of the big festival, all three of them want to go see the fireworks. This leads to other boys in the class discussing whether fireworks are round or flat. Norimichi and Yusuke have a race in the school pool and Nozuna asks the winner, Yusuke, to go with her to the festival.

This simple premise is completely turned on its head as Norimichi is given the chance to do the race over through the power of a magical marble. As Norimichi tries to get the day right by rewinding time he comes to the realization that he is no longer in his world but an alternative possibility. However, neither he nor Nozuna care as long as they are together.

The movie is sweet and really hits you in the feels as you realize how one small change could have altered your own life. As you get older you live with a lot of what ifs and this movie shows you just how things could have been for these two which in turn highlights how you can't ever go back and change the mistakes you've made in your life. The ending of the movie leaves the fate of our main characters in doubt, which hammers home the idea that you can never truly know what could have been.

Like the Garden of Words, the message of this movie might go over the head of those too young to have so many regrets. For older audiences like myself, it will hit too close to home to not be moved. I highly recommend you watch this one with someone else, your significant other if you have one, and see if you agree on what has befallen our pair of young lovers as the credits roll.

I think we need a change from all this deep emotional stuff so next week I will be giving my thoughts on the anime series Girls & Panzer .While you wait, feel free to drop your thoughts below. Have you watched Fireworks? Do you like the style of these articles or would you like to see me do things in a more review format?