u/archydragon

These movies don't really have much in common. Yes, they are both Japanese and were produced in roughly the same time (released in 2021 and 2017 respectively), and they both touch the topic of people leaving our lives in one way or another. It's just I watched them one after another this week, and was deeply touched in sometimes unusual way, so wanted to share some of my thoughts.

I'll try to keep it without heavy spoilers, I promise, but if it's still sitting in your watchlist, tread carefully.

We Made a Beautiful Bouquet

To put it short, it's one of the best depicturing of close relationships I ever saw in media. And clearly top-1 about how to end these relationships.

The characters and dynamic between them is very believable, I can personally relate to sometimes terrifyingly big chunk of their shown experience. Believability gets to the level that while observing some mistakes they make, I don't catch even a glimpse of "what the hell are you doing". Indeed, if these mistakes weren't made, maybe their relationship didn't succumb but without mistakes there is no life experience, and all these mistakes are believable, that's how people might behave, not just screenwriter's whim.

That terrifying relatability I mentioned: I really saw myself in both characters. Being hardcore nerd, very deep into your dreams and desires but at the same time trying to not lose contact with reality and its needs. And when the reality is too much, how do you and the closest person to you handle it? This particular part when Mugi admits that because of being too tired of work, he totally lost interest to almost everything he ever sincerely enjoyed, hits damn hard. Good that he noticed it, and there are clear hints that he learned a thing or two from this burnout, and hopefully it won't happen again to him in future.

And the breakup... I'm certified hater of the social stereotype "ex = asshole", and it was so nice to watch something openly denying this stereotype. It's hardly possible to do a breakup totally without any damage but if you're two emotionally mature people, you can do it without hitting bridges with nuclear blasts. It takes the mentioned maturity to openly admit "it doesn't work between us anymore", and no lesser quantity of it to acknowledge "right, it doesn't". To get over all the fear of uncertainty of being single again, of not having someone caring always next to you, even when this is nothing more than a memory by that time, and you drifted way too apart. But the characters made a choice to focus on good things which happened when they were really close, rather than on issues which caused the drift. It has nothing to do with toxic positivity, as no issues were denied. It's mature and healthy.

With all my love to my ex partners, we're not together anymore but I'll carry good memories we made together through my life. This is the promise I won't ever dare to break. Wherever you are now, I hope all of you are doing good. Wonder a bit if the movie did same impact on me if I wasn't single at the moment of watching :)

P.S. The scene "Will you be my girlfriend?" is so beautiful to me and probably takes a special spot in my cinematic memories. Pure warmth.

Hanagatami

I used to watch a lot of anime some years ago, and adaptations of some Nisio Isin novels, Bakemonogatari and Katanagatri, are still in my heart. Partially because of not very usual but captivating visual style. And when watching Hanagatami cinematography, one of my core thoughts was "if whoever tries to adapt Bakemonogatari to live action, they'd should hire these guys". It felt exactly like this, eerie, dreamlike.

The whole movie actually feels very dreamlike. Like everyone tries very hard to not let the horrors of the ongoing war to swallow them entirely. And not in a way "if I ignore it, it will go", no; when Sakakiyama brings news about Pearl Harbor bombardment, he is anything but excited, he is anxious, almost terrified. The arc about the uncle who hid his sickness to get enlisted, and ended up dying in war, feels anything but heroic. Well, it's Nobuhiko Obayashi, so if anyone had other expectations...

All characters possess so much depth so I probably won't try to analyze them in details yet. Maybe after I rewatch at some point. Their relationships are intriguingly confusing, who shows interest to anyone, what kind of interest, does it even have a chance to be mutual? Mina clearly serves the anchor, the center of the group but it doesn't feel that she actively pursues that role and sometimes feels not very comfortable in the spotlight. Kira probably is the most ambiguous.

On the topic of people leaving: it's also very complicated for characters here. Many of them lost someone due to war. Sakakiyama's parents are on another continent, what a stress for a high schooler. Go on, jump. Terminally ill Mina who barely started her life in this realm, barely started making caring friends. The teacher. Aso, who loses all his jesterness.

This "review" seems to be much less coherent than the previous one. Well, complexity of this picture lays in different scope, and I find it interesting just trying to reflect how both of them touched me so deeply, even in such different ways.

Life goals: ride a horse at night along the shore with your best friend when you're both naked.

My weeaboo life phase has been left in fairly distant past but Asian cinema still holds its strong position in my heart. Thanks to some boutiques for the possibility to embrace that love.