All respect to the likely progenitor of its genre, but it’s a little too light. I know the characters more by what instrument they play than any identifying characteristic, and the final performance doesn’t carry emotional weight the way that Linda Linda Linda does.

Speaking of Linda Linda Linda, that film successfully uses the premise of the end of year festival to tell a story about relationships. This one is just about the music and the performance. Which is fun! The running “and a boy” gag is great. But after this wrapped, I rewatched the last ~10 minutes of Linda Linda Linda and teared up a little. This has no comparable moments.

Shoutout to the fansubber for translating the Japanese haiku well, while also maintaining an English, syllable-based, haiku structure.

Screened for a couple friends who’d only seen Chan’s American work. Doing an important cinematic service.

Because I was watching with friends who’d never seen it, was particularly attuned to length and pace, and there’s just so much that gets neatly packed into 100 minutes. I kept thinking “surely they must be heading to the mall now”, but no, yet another excellent setpiece first.