Reviews

Honestly, kind of mid and somewhat confusing. We spend the first thirty minutes of the film seeing all the cruel stuff that Ishida and his friends do to Shouko. After this, Ishida is bullied relentlessly by his classmates (for some reason???). Then a bunch of stuff happens, some actually interesting, some not. It leaves me wondering why this film has such a high rating, it felt like it took a long time to go almost nowhere. I think it would've been better if Ueno was cut out after the first interaction with her when they were grown; and it would've been better if we learned more about Shouko's life for her to do what she did towards the end, it would've been more impactful I think.

Ueno's character also really bothered me. She continued to be a bully throughout the whole film yet somehow kept getting invited back to hang out with Shouko and friends???? Why was she even AROUND. And then at the end she mentioned Shimada and Hirose did something I can't say for spoiler reasons... but then WE NEVER SEE THEM AGAIN????? Why even mention it????

I also have no idea if Ishida and Shouko are lovers or not. It felt like it was meant to be, but also had scenes that contradicted it? So I'm left unsure. Vague to avoid spoilers, but there was a scene that Ishida initiated that should have upset Shouko, but didn't; so I feel like they should have left out what Shouko said earlier for that scene to actually hit hard instead of it being like "well why is she happy about this, this could've been a cute confirmation that they are." For those who have seen it, I am referencing Ishida hearing moon and Ishida forming Shouko's hands into a certain sign.