Fireworks (Akiyuki Shinbo / Nobuyuki Takeuchi)

[Philip J. Fry]

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Official website: Japanese / English (US & Canada) / English (UK & Ireland) / English (Australia & NZ)

[Philip J. Fry]

This movie was originally marketed heavily as work from the producer of your name. and it's easy to see why, not just visually (this movie is visual porn), but by the heavy use of one of Makoto Shinkai's recurrent themes: The everpresent "what if?"; several characters heavily feel as if they are not fully taking advantage of life, to fall in love to be someone, that is, until they are presented with a chance to literally time-travel and change things. However, as usual in this kind of stories, things never quite go as planned.

Unfortunately this lends to a plot which feels at times muddled (with a bit of a Gainax ending here) which isn't helped by a set of characters that at times are not that engaging and at worst, feel more like plot props, which robs a bit from the film's romantic climax. Still, if you are a fan of animation in general and oure visuals, this is worth a watch.