Uchiage Hanabi, Shita kara Miru ka? Yoko kara Miru ka?

This is the first time I’m doing a review. So lemme keep this simple. However I'm not a great critic 😅 Well about this anime, I have couple of good and bad opinions. {Caution!: Minor Spoilers ahead!} Story: The story is underrated but it’s fair to say that the anime adaptation was quite bad. I assume there are plenty of people who were introduced to this anime because of the MV ‘Uchihage Hanabi’. The story and its concept is nothing new to the audience, which is already spoilt by the music video itself. The movie comprised of the most irrelevant things like students trying to measure their teachers bust size, and guys debating whether fireworks are round or flat, that really had nothing to do with the story. Finally, a bunch of kids along with our protagonist ‘Norimichi’ then plan to watch the fireworks from a nearby light-house in their town to put an end to their debate/argument by determining true shape of fireworks. But amidst all this, Norimichi who subsequently falls in love with a mysterious girl in their class ‘Nazuna’ discovers that the girl wasn’t happy with her personal and social life because she has to move away with her mother and her fiancé; which is why she plans to run away from this town to get settled into Tokyo to pursue her career as a singer. For that, she decides to have a swimming competition with Norimichi and his best friend Yuusuke; with a condition that whoever wins will ask for anything from the ones who lost. Thus she chooses Yuusuke to go out with her to watch the fireworks during the Shrine festival because he came second, who later avoids going with her to the fireworks and decides to go out with his friends to firework show from the light house. This is when Nazuna gets caught by her mother who discovered about her running away from the town. Despite her rebellious efforts, she fails to escape from her mother. After witnessing all this, angry Norimichi throws a crystal like ball/orb with a regret that he wanted to be the one who could go with Nazuna to watch the fireworks and help in running away. The ball then grants his wish by reverting the time and showing him delusional “what-if” circumstances; this time it was Norimichi who won the swimming race and together with Nazuna he decides to run away from this town, who are then chased by Nazuna’s family and Norimichi’s friends. Later she reveals that she wanted Norimichi to win the race, and then also reveals that she actually liked Norimichi from the starting itself. And the story goes on with Norimichi using the orb multiple times after every failed attempt just to retrieve Nazuna. And the story goes on. To be honest, the story is well written; but the poor narration made the story look mediocre. Art/Animation: ‘Fireworks’ is an ambitious film, rich with metaphors and artistic choices that almost looked unrealistic. Great piece of art, but its CGI execution was terrible like some part of the movie felt like an old, conventional fairytale movie. Animation was good, but could have been a little better .It’s a shame that inspite of being produced by a big, well known studio ‘Shaft’, yet it failed to give it a proper finish to the animation and CGI part. Music: One word “Masterpiece”. If you’re quite disappointed with the story, then here’s the treat (music). Songs were soulful and worth of being listened to repeatedly! There are even some proportions of folks (like me) who were introduced to this anime by the means of music video “Uchiage Hanabi”. The music part is personally my favorite, especially the voice of Daoko feels ear soothing. Characters: Loved the chemistry between the main characters, who were the center of attraction. Norimichi was naïve kid who falls in love with a beautiful girl Nazuna. Who helps a lot in running away, always rooted and stood by her. Nazuna was cute, she’s an ambitious girl who wanted to live the life in her way. Yuusuke who was Norimichi’s best was the true asshole of this story, who assured Nazuna to watch firework with her then decides to not to show up, betraying her. The movie had some other characters like Nazuna’s mother and her fiancé, along with Norimichi’s rest of other friends who were desperate to determine fireworks shape (round or flat), some other characters like the class teacher and her boyfriend also a teacher played some minor role. There was barely a character development in the movie other than the main characters, due to the time constraints of 90 minutes run-time. Romance: What actually is the most prominent thing to make a proper romance anime? In my opinion, having a proper narration or a proper background story to justify the feelings developed between MCs/lovers is the most primary thing and makes the people adore your characters. You need to convince your audience to justify their relationship and making a significant conviction, so that it leaves a great impact among the viewers, so they could root their characters. The anime kinda lags behind in this aspect, due to the vagueness in establishing a proper love story between MCs. Other than that the two of ‘em Nazuna and Norimichi look adorable, and together they made a great pair. The movie has also made some wonderful attempts in increasing the closeness between the MCs. Therefore, an above average type of anime in terms of romance. Ending: This anime really had one of the most beautiful endings. The ending is ambiguous and purely based on audience interpretations. After the third and final time Norimichi uses the orb, he returns to the train and ensures that his friends and Nazuna’s family don’t spot them. The train changes railway tracks and takes them to a strange version of their town, which seems to be enclosed in a shimmering dome. His third wish earns him and Nazuna shelter in the suspended timeline inside the orb. The enclosed town where the young couple ends up in the orb. When the drunken guy mistakes the orb for a firework charge, it shoots upwards and explodes, and the dome shatters. As the pieces of orb start falling, Norimichi and Nazuna see the various odds/possibilities for their future. An interesting sci-fi, anime drama film that takes you to a roller-coaster ride of emotions in this exciting time-bending journey, along with ambiguous endings. Nice movie, but hardly you’ll find any change of emotions after watchin’ it. As the movie proceeds, some overwhelming plot awaits. Basically, its worth of being watched once or twice…And quite enjoyable one :) PS: The review is completely based on my sheer opinion and enjoyment. I’m not much of a critic. Hope y’all found it interesting <3

"Fireworks" is the BEST animated film that I have ever seen and it remains one of my favorite movies. While I am a sucker for any story with elements of time travel, there is A LOT more to the story that meets the eye. Time travel, while it definitely plays a part in the plot, is almost entirely insignificant to the overall plot and theme of the story. I think the real disconnect between the viewers who did not enjoy the film and the film itself, is the expectation of metaphor. You need to walk into this film expecting symbolism and metaphors - you need to think with a writer's mind. I suspect that the expectation of critical analysis is what pushed a lot of viewers away from the film almost immediately - decisions in the film likely did not make sense to such people and the plot seemed to go on complete tangents to those individuals as well. If I had to pin down the overarching theme of this film, it is about how far one is willing to go to accept love. The viewer is exposed to boys who are naive, childish, etc. The viewer sees that in a normal world (the first reality we see by the pool), there is no chance between Norimichi and Nazuna. We see reality shift however, and that if a leap of extra effort is made, the relationship is able to progress. Eventually love calls for a complete leap for the main character, delving farther and farther into the fantasy. Nazuna wants this leap of faith - this full embrace of her - and we see this during the "colorful" fantasy scene that turned a lot of viewers off. Eventually the love grows to the point, where the main characters are lost in the fantasy and reality is just a thing of the past for them. The story actually covers a lot and it really is one of those productions where you could write thousands of papers on all of the details and decisions made by the creators; ambiguity and depth is not something that is appreciated by most viewers at such an intensive level, unfortunately. While I would have liked to see some other characters get more screen time, such as the golfing doctor or the other boys in the film, I am also glad that these characters did not get more screen time. Most viewers have likely heard about multiple timelines and so forth, so having the doctor elaborate would have not only been a waste of time and overly upfront explanation for events, but it also would have put the wrong focus on the story. I feel like the boys would get too much screen time and possibly lose symbolic purpose if given more screen time. One complaint from viewers is that the boys just keep repeating the same message and are overly perverted, but I think the actions of the boys calls to the audience to think in the metaphorical and have fun with the idea of the film. The perverted nature of the boys also makes the audience see them as a symbol and not take them as seriously as the actions of the main character, which is a great contrast. STORY (9/10): The story is complex and requires an analytic eye. As I said, there are many fine details and decisions made that really make the story something else. One of my biggest qualms with the story were the drawn out flashbacks through scenes during the time travel. I just felt like it was wasted screen time and even though it was only a few seconds of wasted time, I still found myself wanting more with the extra time or with the sequence itself. I only had one other issue. Towards the end of the film we see this full acceptance of fantasy and the main character go from dipping his feet into the water of fantasy to jumping straight in. Unfortunately the last bit of the movie happens a little to quickly; it felt almost as if the final level of fantasy and even the fantasy world were a bit underplayed in the end of things. I think the last segment in the fantasy world could have dragged on a bit longer and been a bit more dramatic. ART (9/10): I am not someone with much of an eye for art (or rather one who has complaints), but the film was very pleasing visually. There was some 3D animation at the beginning of the film that did look a bit out of place, however, and I actually noticed it. Most of the time I am fine with 3D animation, such as in "Pokemon 4Ever" or in "Parasyte the Maxim," but I was really pulled out of the film for a brief second in the case of "Fireworks." SOUND (10/10): The music in the film is amazing. In particular the song in the tunnel scene is ASTOUNDING. I knew the film would be a favorite right after this scene. The song plays with the plot, while the scene itself is extremely symbolic and creative. The lights on the side of the tunnel resemble the searching light of a lighthouse while Nazuna sings, after having recently talked about her lost father. This song alone really made the film for me. The song in the credits of the film is also really good. Overall there is a nice blend of playful and serious movie throughout the film. CHARACTER (9/10): As mentioned before when discussing the story, there are a few characters that I would have liked to see pulled off with more detail if at all possible without jeopardizing the story. While much of the character information is to be interpreted by the viewer, there may be some details that could have been given in a more upfront manner. Viewers probably thought that the main characters did not have enough detail, but I would argue that they were given the perfect amount. We do not need to know a lot about Nazuna and even the viewer needs to be willing to take the leap of faith in regards to her and her intentions. Whether she is a "good" or "bad" character is largely insignificant. Likewise, Norimichi travels when he does to go further into the fantasy and to mature into the love - a motive that likely confused or was overlooked by viewers. ENJOYMENT (10/10): Despite a few minor flaws, I REALLY enjoyed the film. I was constantly thinking and trying to decide the parallels being made in the movie. The film was also compelling and pulled me in. I think that I might even become accepting of some of the "flaws" upon watching the film again - better understanding some of the decisions made upon watching again with new insights. OVERALL (9/10): Really, I want to give this movie a 10/10 so badly. The creators attempt a VERY challenging film and do it exceptionally well. There is a clear intention of audience, great visuals, great music, a unique premise, and unforgettable scenes. I will never forget the scene in train with the singing and moving lights - the scene really took the movie above and beyond what I would have ever expected from a film. I enjoyed the film so much that I hold high expectations for it, however, and I just cannot give it a 10/10. I would probably give it a 96/100 or 98/100, but I cannot say t is perfect - I seek just a slight push more for that completeness the film approaches so closely. If you did not enjoy the film or have not yet seen the film, I challenge you to approach it one more time with a critical mindset and an expectation of the symbolic.

[Spoilers within] This movie requires a somewhat healthy dose of suspension of disbelief. Fantasy seems to fit better than Sci-Fi. I am aware of many of the reviews complaining about the plot being confusing or non-existent, but I would say that this might actually be due to missing out some subtle hints of what actually is happening. I won't go in-depth into reviewing each component of this movie and instead just simply provide my interpretation and let whoever reads this review make their own judgment. [[SPOILER STARTS HERE]] At about 00:54:00, where Nazuna was talking about her mother's marriages in the tram, we hear her mentioning her father disappeared and see a flashback of a man piggybacking a child by the lighthouse, the man floating facedown in the water, clutching the kaleidoscope sphere which Nazuna would find. After several retries in a couple of different alternate worlds, differentiated by the different patterns of fireworks, the drunk fireworks craftsman mistakes the kaleidoscope sphere for a fireworks shell and fires it into the sky where it is caught in a ray of light from the lighthouse and shatters, giving all who were looking a short glimpse of alternate worlds where different things could have happened in the millions of cascading fragments, and the weird hemispheric barrier collapses and we return back to the original world where the fireworks are normal. And at 01:20:00, Nazuna while embracing Norimichi underwater, says "When we meet again, what kind of world will it be?", before swimming and fading away. My interpretation: Nazuna's father, possibly finding out about a third man that would be the future third husband, took Nazuna on his back to the lighthouse and flung themselves into the sea in despair (a double suicide also briefly hinted on while in the tram). Nazuna is an apparition/ghost/spirit trapped within the kaleidoscope sphere that her father was clutching onto when he jumped, which possibly is also a manifestation of the father's wish of an alternate world where his daughter could be happy. After the drunken fireworks craftsman shatters the sphere, the world returns to it's original state and Nazuna is freed. Norimichi actually wasn't shown to resurface after embracing Nazuna underwater and was also missing from the school's role call. It could be that he remained in the world of the fragment he caught where he kissed Nazuna. [[SPOILER ENDS]] Some movies are made NOT to be understood, but rather, to be felt. The plot is intentionally left vague or with possible plot holes and instead invites the audience to feel the movie and craft their own interpretation. I think this is one such movie. The movie was rather enjoyable, leaving me with the warm fuzzies. I give it an 8/10.

God the art and sound was SO beautiful, easily at least a 9, but the characters seemed... well, hollow would be the best word. I never felt anything for the characters. It only hit me partway through the movie that I was supposed to care about the character, and realized that they were getting into a romance. Plus they were kind of bipolar with their attitude. Changed personality faster than I can hit a ping pong ball to the other side of the net. However, I watched it because of the art and music so I'm... sort of satisfied? Maybe? I don't know. Gave it two extra points because of the art and music. So I would actually give it a 3 or 4 without the music/art, but a 6 with it.

Plot: C- *Normichi is a young boy in school who contemplated a choice that he makes which leads to a girl that he likes named Nazuna choosing his friend over him to go out and see fireworks with. So he finds a magic rock and throws it which gives him an opportunity to have Nazuna choose him over his friend and two of them go eloping for the day while having to hide from her parents and his friends. I don't like that the rock throwing magic contradicts itself with how Normichi was unaware that his first throw changed the race results and he acted as if he never remembered throwing the stone before but when he throws the stone to undo/change other things, he remembers everything else that happens including the first throw. But not only that, this film tries to put too many ideas into 90 minutes and it's a bit of a mess. Visuals: B *The animation style is super pretty as are the character designs. However, it felt almost creepy how the artists tried so hard make "main girl" look so cute with all of the super slow-mo and close ups of her eyes. Voice Acting: A *No issues here with the dub. Every voice was good. And main girl's singing voice was beautiful! Film Score/Soundtrack: ***My favorite track: "Train song" Super pretty song that comes out of nowhere and lets us escape reality with a fever dream of beautiful colors. Easily my favorite part of the film. Characters: C *I feel like I hardly know anything about the characters. Main girl wants to elope because her mom is remarrying? Is that it? Her new fiance seems super nice. My mom's boyfriend after my dad never got me super cute cupcakes like he did for her and I never ran away haha. Although, it did seem excessive for her to grab her by the arm in public and drag her home. The main character was devoid of personality and was just a giant pushover to the girl and his friends. And the main thing I know about the kids is that they are horny kids that want to know whether fireworks are round or flat. Cringeworthy Anime Moments: A male protagonist that doesn't know how to act around a girl that he likes so he is willing to elope and get away from his friends no questions asked despite not having any reason to. Not just an anime trope, but it is super annoying when characters fall for each other this quickly especially in the case of "girl" who has barely spent any time with "boy" due to her not remembering the timelines before the magic rock throws. Opening Titles: Final Verdict: 4/10 *I am disappointed in this movie. Fireworks has a cute premise, beautiful animations, and good voice acting. But they need another 60 minutes to give us some backstory on main girl with her mother, main boy with his friends and how he is treated, and lastly, we need the two to have more tine spent together. This feels like a rushed project that could have been something special

The only good thing about this movie is the music. And occasionally the art. I'd hesitate to even call this a "by the numbers" production, because I don't think it even reaches that level. It's like it has all of the elements it needs to be moderately successful, but never properly develops or explores any of them. Worst of all, a lot of the time, this movie is just plain fuckin' boring. I realise the average rating for this movie on MAL is less than 7, which is basically the same thing as holding up a big-ass sign with the words "Stay the fuck away!" haphazardly painted in jet black, but I also saw the words "Shunji Iwai" on the staff list. But, unfortunately, he was not the director. He only created the original story. I can only hope that SHAFT somehow mangled the production so much to the point that it ended up like this, but even I don't think SHAFT has that much disrespect for source material, given their tenure. So maybe the script sucked to begin with. For those not in the know, Shunji Iwai is a pretty fucking cool director, writer, editor and occasional musician who did a bunch of movies in the '90s, 2000s, and a few less in the 2010s, but they're still pretty fucking cool. He wrote and directed my favourite anime, Hana & Alice (2015) and my favourite live-action film, Hana & Alice (2004), the former of which resembles this project in a number of ways. But the difference is that Hana & Alice was a lot better, a lot more interesting, and had a whole lot more to say. Both of them. But I've gone three paragraphs complaining about how bad this movie is without going into any detail, so enough of this bullshit. Fireworks is a love story. I think. I'm pretty sure. I promise I didn't fall asleep while I was watching it, and I was paying attention, honest. But for a love story, there's no build-up, and there's no pay-off. Fittingly enough, this whole movie is just a bunch of "what-ifs". What if we knew why these two guys like Nazuno so much? What if we knew why Nazuno likes any of them back? What if we knew what kind of person Nazuno was? What if we knew what kind of relationship this friendgroup of guys had? What if we knew anything about this small rural town aside from the fact that it's small and rural? What if we knew anything about Nazuno's relationship with her mother aside from the scarce one-liners we get when Norimichi pushes her for information? What if we had any clue as to whether the whole thing was a dream sequence or meant to be taken literally? What if this movie actually had an ending? You get the picture. Or maybe you don't. I sure as hell didn't. I came out of this movie with a whole laundry list of questions and a scrap of toilet paper with some haphazard answers scrawled across it. Any answers, information, backstory, character development or whatever we do get is flimsy, predictable, or established in the first 30 minutes! We spend most of the damn movie waiting for Norimichi to catch up with us because we heard this one thing this one teacher said one time! I honestly don't get what the point of revealing that was if they try to make it out like a mystery the entire time, but we already know the answer. And that's another thing: the plotting in Fireworks is poor. I kept waiting for this moment of clarity when I could finally understand who Nazuno really was. An hour and a half later, and I'm drawing blanks. The only things we get to hear about Nazuno is that she's a victim of circumstance, and she's dreaming for something better, and oh yeah, she kinda likes this boy for some reason but we're never told why. That's not a spoiler, by the way; in the first 20 minutes, it's made pretty clear Nazuno likes the attention. But by the end of it, I still couldn't tell if she was just manipulating whoever was convenient for her own purposes or honestly had those feelings. And it's not my fault I don't know. Ambiguity should only ever be the fault of the viewer for not paying enough attention to be able to firmly pick a side. The reason that Nazuno is such an enigma despite having what must be half the screen time of shots of her looking cool and beautiful is because she hardly ever talks! And when she does talk, it's so inane you can't get a picture of where she really stands on anything aside from liking Norimichi and not liking her family. She has such a cool character design, but it's wasted on a shallow character. Right, right, back to the plotting. It starts off okay, and they establish that tonight there's a fireworks thing going on at Moshimo (ha-ha) Shrine, and Nazuno has this cool crystal-looking thing that can apparently do some convenient supernatural bullshit. Sure, okay, setup good. And then it's just a bunch of vignettes that don't really say or reveal anything we don't already know. The dialogue's okay, I guess, but the interactions between Norimichi and Nazuno are boring as hell. There's also some engineered drama in this film that never gets properly resolved or even addressed. Norimichi literally closes his eyes and covers his ears when the drama seems like it's going to unfold. He doesn't even want any part in it, man, just let me have my girl and ride off into the sunset! The drama's okay and believable, but it's only real purpose is force two unlikely characters together so the plot can get moving. Which it doesn't. It gets put on a train for half an hour and we end up right back where we started, and also now fireworks are round apparently. That's exactly what watching Fireworks is like. It's like reading a run-on sentence that you're not quite sure where it began, where it's going, and if it's actually going to end or whether it'll just stop in the middle. A lot of things just sorta happen in this movie because they're expected, I guess? There's no plot cohesion, there's no resolution, there's no real link from the previous scene to the next, especially since it keeps retconning itself whenever things get inconvenient. I suppose I have to talk about the characters now. There's only really two good characters in this movie, and one of them, unfortunately, is Norimichi. This is purely because he gets the most screentime of all the characters (being the protagonist and all), so we get to see a lot of what makes him tick. Clearly, Shunji Iwai's character writing is still on the ball when it has time to breathe. He's kind of an idiot, but he's also kind of a pussy, too. His character traits are well-defined, we know what he wants (da girl) and we know what he'll do to get her (punch anybody in his way into the ground). His emotions are expressed really well and you know where he's coming from when there's a tense moment. He's a good protagonist, if a little bland and boring. Next, there's Yusuke, who is another de-facto main character, purely because the film seems to want to treat him like this but kinda ditches him halfway through. He also wants da girl, but since he's loyal to his friends unlike douchebag Norimichi, he's totally willing to be a dick to her if it'll get her off his back. And he's also perfectly willing to be a dick to Norimichi for not being a dick to her. Oh, and he's the only other character we ever get much of an inkling into his backstory of as to why he is the way he is. He has a pretty enjoyable personality when he's not being a dick, some of the best lines, and also the most interesting arc, if you can call it that, because the film provides the viewer enough information to piece something together. He's also got a pretty cool character design. I already spoke about Nazuna, and there's nothing to really say there anyway, so let's talk about the rest of this dude's friend group. We've got nerdy dude who wants to prove he's right all the time, sporty dude that wants to prove he's cool all the time, and shotacon who likes his teacher maybe a bit too much. They give some hints that there's a little more to their characters, and their dialogue is the best in the movie, but that's …

So I have finished watching this movie yesterday and all I could say is that it is a good movie. It might not be great but it was still a good watch. Also, please don't be afraid to watch it. Story = 7 The story is very easy to follow for most of the parts but I think the thing that made the people confused is the ending. The ending part is told in a different manner that is why some people were confused with it. You only get a hint of what happened not the actual outcome. Art = 9 We all know how good Shaft is when it comes to the animation and art. The background is really great and very pleasing to the eye. But the reason why I didn't score it 10 is because of the background, it is missing some liveliness. It is like the characters that were introduced (and the students at school) were the only people in the setting. I know that Shaft also does this in the other animes that they have already worked on but why not try something new in this movie and make it livelier? Sound = 8 The OST were pretty nice and the ending song sung by DAOKO and Kenshi Yonezu is pretty good and catchy. The only thing that I didn't like is the voice acting of some of the characters (mostly Norimichi). In some points of the story the voice acting doesn't feel natural and it fails to express the emotion of the character. Character = 7 The characters were easy to remember and understand except for our main heroine. I think she needs a better introduction because even after watching the whole movie it seems like she is still shrouded in mystery. Enjoyment = 7 I enjoyed watching the movie. Trying to predict what would go wrong and what would the main character do is pretty fun. The amazing background, although it was somewhat lifeless was pretty picturesque and the animation was great. Overall score: 7.6 (8 if estimated) So like what I have said earlier, please don't be afraid to watch this movie it is good and a worthwhile watch. And that ends my review Thank you for reading it.

SOME SPOILERS AHEAD (not that you should watch this movie) Uchiage Hanabi, Shita kara Miru ka? Yoko kara Miru ka? is a stupididly long name that works perfectly fine as a movie title (the original source material) but in this day and age it sounds pretty dumb as an anime title so I'm just calling it "Fireworks". When the PV's of Fireworks came out, I was quite delighted to see studio Shaft taking on a non-Monogatari movie (other than that movie with some magical girls that doesn't exist) and I was quite eager to watch it considering the fact the PV's looked and sounded fantastic. When the movie finally came out so did a plethora of reviewers and anitubers coming out to decry the movie and that let me down so much I didn't bother watching it. After all this time after finishing up a degree and watching pretty much the perfect anime movie (Liz to Aoi Tori) I wanted to give this a try and see if the low score on MAL was justified. Oh boy. The main problem (out of many) about the movie is that I'm never given any reason care about the characters and, therefore, the narrative in which they are in. Motivation is a key aspect in character-driven pieces such as this one and Fireworks manages to either do too little or mess up the things they actually tried in. None of the characters are interesting in an sort of way and I feel the anime tried just too hard to be experimental in its approach to characters. Things like the scene at the pool near the beginning and the scene in the tram near the end had fairly important scenes where the characters reveal their motivations and let their unique characteristics shine...or at least, that's what I think the movie wanted to do. The dialogue is just so bland the characters never have anything important to say despite heaping a large amount of exposition. Just a tip for writers- just giving the character a sad backstory and then let that roll isn't enough. You have to add some meat to the lives of the characters and allow them to make reactions and thoughts to the situation around them. Case in point, our female MC - Oikawa Nazuna - is trying to run away from her family situation. We know that her mother is marrying for the third time. We can infer that Nazuna is not fond of this. But why does she do the things she does in the movie? We're not shown anything about her life that makes her so depressed. I'm not joking when I say they show less than 2 minutes of screentime with her at her home. This makes all the actions she does in the course of the movie seem incredibly infantile. In some ironic twist this is actually used to some good effect in the afore mentioned tram scene where she nonchalantly states she might have to work in the nastier parts of society using her body to make a living. This shows that she clearly doesn't know about these sorts of things and is still, in fact, a child. But enough of the praise I'm here to rant. So the movie doesn't do any favours for our female MC. This isn't helped by the fact her personality is incredibly flat and she receives absolutely no development in the movie. So what about our male MC - Shimada Norimichi? Honestly, I don't even know when to begin with this character. I think I'll start with a general consensus of the anime fandom - NOBODY LIKES A LITTLE-ASS-BITCH OF A MAIN CHARACTER. He's about on par with Ouma Shu from Guilty Crown and Ashiya Hanae from Fukigen na Mononokean. He's got less personality than his female counterpart yet manages to annoy me every three seconds he's on screen. He's reactionary to the point the anime has to somehow shove him forward to get the plot going. I know nothing about what makes him tick so he's just an irritating arse-hat who just seems to go with the flow of the story. I swear I thought he was a thirteen-year-old middle schooler who just hit puberty since his reaction to not-Senjogahara at the pool scene was incredibly beta (actually I think he has just hit puberty considering his voice cracks in the scene at the clinic). I can't stress how little motivations these characters are given. It's less of a story with characters and more of a protocall of an Amazon package being delivered. Let's talk now about the second biggest problem of the show and the one where I have a personal beef with - this show is effectively a discount The Girl who Leapt Through Time. The McGuffin glass ball is so obviously based on the...walnut, thingy, counter (?) from TGWLTT. The actual idea of going back in time to reach a future you desire isn't bad and has been tried successfully in media (a la Groundhog Day-style) but in this case they managed to mess everything up here. The writing of the movie is confused and messy. Most of this confusion is derived from the characters and tehri lack of any motivations. First, let's talk about the romance subplot. There's this character called Yuusuke who is friends with Norimichi (we don't talk about the other friends since they really shouldn't exist) and he likes Nazuna...or doesn't? Eh? Movie, why are you like this? Initially, he implies he likes Nazuna but then shakes it off in what can be interpreted as a veiled attempt to wingman for his best buddy the MC. When the MC leaps back the first time, he's suddenly pissed at the MC and looks like his bird was stolen from him so he sulks the rest of the movie. Duuuude make a goddamn choice. I seriously thought he had a gay crush on Norimichi at one point similar to Tamako Love Story. It's sounds ridiculous but that could really explain some of the things in this movie. The movie eventually reveals to us that each time leap isn't really a real time leap and more like traveling to different timeline entirely a la Steins;Gate and so I guess the Yuusuke's can be different somehow? I dunno. The movie does a very poor job at laying the rules of this leaping (if they even were attempting to lay rules down). The whole romance subplot is just so silly with the way the characters act. I swear Yuusuke and Norimichi had around 4 minutes of interaction with Nazuna yet the show has them smitten for her. Yeah you could write this off as a love-at-first-sight thing but as I mentioned before, the movie gives very little insight to what makes the characters tick. Heck, the only reason we even got the time/dimension travel in the first place was because Norimichi was being incredibly bitchy and wished to get a do-over and that he only got one because the movie begrudgingly recognised him as a main character. The pacing of the story felt off at various points since they often included superfluous dialogue and/or characters who really don’t matter to the story at all. This would be stuff like any scenes with the Noriimichi’s friends or the teacher (who didn’t have any purpose in this film other than a stupid and unnecessary gag near the very end). The friends of the MC don’t add anything to the story other than bringing up the silly question that is the title of this movie. It felt like they had way too much to say in this film. The tone of the movie seems rather confused. It doesn’t know if it wants to be a light-hearted coming-of-age story punctuated with a few serious moments of developments or a serious romantic drama movie. It doesn’t work well as either and ends up jumping from one to the other with little to no warning (such as any scene with Yuusuke or Nazuna’s parents). It felt as if the show had many different writers who all had their own favourite characters and direction for the story to go. This means by the end of the movie we effectively end up in the same place with a tag saying the characters have developed without actually showing us any sort of development. This is especially infuriating since the film is a whole 90 minutes long and most of it felt like wasted space. Other things that I liked/disliked about the show: - The soon-to-be stepfather of Nazuna is a bit of a prick. He seriously punched a kid in the face without so much as looking sorry. I thought the …

Soooo um,Uchiage Hanabi, Shita kara Miru ka? Yoko kara Miru ka?(Fireworks,should we see it from the side or whatever i don’t freaking care because it doesn't matter) is about this guy and this girl and a lot of stuff happens.Mainly this story is kinda about time travel but a ridiculous amount of majority of this film is about these kids who want to see if fireworks are round or flat. I wanted to just pull my hair out because it is not supposed to be a crucial plot of the movie , but it is.I don’t know if the show from 199-something is like this, but i’m not going to base that show off of this. Stuff is always happening and one thing happens and something else just happens with no reason or rhyme to it.I know that phrase is out of order and bugs you, but trust me, you haven't seen nothing yet till you watch this movie.One moment it is a comedy, another moment its psychological, and there is this one random moment where it is just a straight up LSD trip.The one sort of story in this movie is that this girl wants to run away or something, but it is not really explained enough for me to care, cuz there is some random love triangle that is messed up by the time traveling and the dumb kids who want to see if the fireworks are round or whatever. It felt like I was watching a disney channel original movie, where these kids were just doing stuff with no depth or character whatsoever, it's just ugh….. On one side i can say in full confidence that I have never felt so confused watching a movie before and i shouldn’t have expected any less from SHAFT studios The animation really good, but for Shaft it is kinda disappointing.The backgrounds are really nice and what not, but it doesn’t feel like this was an animated film budget.I like how Shinbo actual had some refrain of crazy backgrounds because after watching "Fate/Extra: What the ACTUAL HELL is Going On" it was refreshing. It's just that at certain times you can see where the editing could be better, Sometimes the animation would look good, but there are so many cut shots that it looks jarring. Also when it comes to 3D, Shaft is kinda the best at it right now, but the 3D models for the characters are very jarring and it is shown way too much.Im not mad, i'm just disappointed. This shit doesn't hold a candle to any of the Kizumonogatari movies, or even March Comes Like a Lion.WHICH IS OVER 40 episodes. It may not even be the animation, maybe Akiyuki Shinbo is more better at Character studying in animation rather than adapting shows from the 90’s.It's just ironic that his forte is used on this movie which is void of character. Sound is not that bad, I remember hearing sound.The best part of the soundtrack is the ending theme that ended up getting 100 million views on Youtube, and for good reason too since it’s catchy AF. The dub is good too. The kids actually sound like kids and they did a good job. I gotta give more credit since works made by SHAFT are the hardest to adapt cuz of the Japanese puns and the elaborate mouth movements.Good job. All right so the characters are pretty dumb. Try taking an empty water bottle and just twisting it around and now you got the characters from this movie. Each person feels so lifeless and only adhere to the stereotypes of their age. The main boy, I forgot his name, has a crush on the lite version of Hitagi Senjougahara from bakemonogatari(they literally look the same) and that is it. Hitagi”Lite” has a certain urge of wanting to run away from home and the movie does not give enough of a legitimate reason to do so,Her mom has a boyfriend who is really nice and buys her ice cream, and she still runs away anyway.WTF. Not only that but the time travel seems to mess up the miniscule amount of character each person sort of had. Including this one boy who likes to take a dump after seeing a beautiful girl(IM NOT JOKING THAT WAS IN THE FILM). Before all the time travel crap happened, she asked that boy instead of main guy and the dude just dumps her, after the time travel though, she asked the main guy and the random dude goes head over heels for the girl.is this explained. NO. not at all.I mean what the fuck is this movie?!I want to think maybe the time travel had something to do with it, but since it’s not in the film i HIGHLY DOUBT i’m right. In the end, I just felt burned out watching the film.There was just so much happening and I couldn’t tell what was signifigant or not. I couldn’t even fully grasp the story of this movie because of the constant”FIREWURKS R ROOUNNND< NOOOOO THAY R FLAT” bull crap. This movie isn’t complete trash though since Shinbo directed it. I guess since he has been on such a winning streak, he was bound to have some duds along the way. Overall-5 I'm not kidding about that kid going to take a dump after seeing that girl. WTF

When I first heard of this anime it was last year and I was kinda hyped for it. But it wasn't really what I expected to be fair. The story 5/10 : Seriously, for the story I really felt like I was watching "Toki wo Kakeru Shoujo", it's nothing exceptional. When used correctly it can give some beautiful animes but I don't think this one knew where it was headed and went weird in the process. The art 8/10 : As expected from studio Shaft they did an amazing job for the animation, the only part that bothered me was some scenes with the 3D. It could have been worst, but could have been better too. 10/10 -2 for the 3D. The sound 9/10 : Nothing to say about the soundtrack, it's about personal opinions. The characters 3/10 : I think this was the worst part about this movie was the character development. I'm just as confused as the main character, we don't know anything about what they think about, they all seem really flat to me. The enjoyment 6/10 : As bad as it was for me the movie in general was somewhat enjoyable near the end.

"Fireworks" are actually still worth watching, but if you expect the ending to be like "Your Name" or "A Silent Voice" you might be a little disappointed because in my opinion this film gave completely to our perception to determine the ending of this film. But overall this film has a satisfying visual effect and in my opinion one very interesting thing about this film is the soundtrack and the seiyuu in this film feel very good and the emotions displayed are really right. If you are looking for an anime that has good image quality and soundtrack I highly recommend this anime.

I feel depressed after watch this because the ending. Nice Song. Plot: Intro - Climax - Ending Sweet - Magical - Horror Sweet because the intro is not direct, make it reveal by the story flow and not too rush. Magical because the non-fictional object included in the story as plot change. Horror because the ending looks so depressing. Even the ending could be just my imagination, its still weird and hanging many things to reconsider. For me, The story is really weird but also good. Maybe some story made just to make the watcher feel this way. After re-watch 3rd times to understand the story, i feel its more creepy and dark. So many Mistery and Misery.

Is a firework round or flat?, what is a younger Hitagi Senjougahara doing here? and finally what was ending suppose to mean? All these questions answered never... Mild Spoiler Ahead... Uchiage Hanabi, Shita kara Miru ka? Yoko kara Miru ka? is one of those mundane yet interesting anime movies LA had seen, about what is essentially a maniac pixie girl by the name of Nazuna Oikawa voiced by Suzu Hirose taking our main protagonist Norimichi Shimada voiced by Masaki Suda to see some fireworks...with ALOT of "What If's". If the "What If" isn't cluing you in, Uchiage Hanabi, Shita kara Miru ka? Yoko kara Miru ka? dabbles in the "time travel aspect" when it concerns Nazuna's strange orb that allows Norimichi to time travel, this has it's perks in many regards and oddly enough the time travel ISN'T the element to break this movie's back. The time travel usage is the "What If" scenarios that Norimichi would had happened and Norimichi acts accordingly for this all the "What If" scenario's to occur, this at least brings insight to the other characters involved in both Norimichi and Nazuna's plot in all this, mainly Nazuna's parents and Norimichi's friends causing most of the trials and tribulations Norimichi and Nazuna goes through. Yes, Uchiage Hanabi, Shita kara Miru ka? Yoko kara Miru ka? has it's elements of romance quite obviously in our main duo of Norimichi and Nazuna and it has the typical anime cliche of our main protagonist having a crush on the main girl of this movie and them knowing each other for like a day or so. Because of the time traveling aspect, the romance does progress only on Norimichi's end and LA kinda ships it, it's kinda expected when the movie itself ships them as well. So if it isn't the time travel screwing up this movie or the romance that accompanies it, then WHAT is the major problem for LA to give Uchiage Hanabi, Shita kara Miru ka? Yoko kara Miru ka? something of "wasted potential" to Uchiage Hanabi, Shita kara Miru ka? Yoko kara Miru ka?, well to be honest it's the really ambiguous ending it gave itself and LA might easily give the defense of "it's ambiguous to leave an effect to it", but to that LA says the movie DIDN'T answer any of the questions LA had about the movie it had set up for itself and THAT is a HUGE detriment to the movie in itself. The animation was done by SHAFT and it SHOWS, though the SHAFTness in the direction had influence in it's cinematography (This is directed by Akiyuki Shinbo so this IS to be expected) but Shinbo's excessiveness is used sparingly to say the least. Where the SHAFTiness is blatantly apparent is in it's characters designs has SHAFT's mark all over it. Nazuna as LA aforementioned pretty much looks like a younger Hitagi Senjougara while one of Norimichi's friends Yuusuke Azumi looks like a younger Araragi!. Nonetheless SHAFT's animation is expected from the backgrounds being beautiful to sometimes trippy and to be honest SHAFT being the animation studio was actually a good choice for one a rather talkative script and complimenting Uchiage Hanabi, Shita kara Miru ka? Yoko kara Miru ka?'s mundanity made interesting with it's direction. The only animation problem LA had going was it's CGI, as it IS blatant as hell, used in more technical moments of the movie but still blatant enough to tell, but this isn't much of a problem considering all the strengths the animation has with some spotty CGI being the only detriment. Voice acting was decent all round with some veterans in the industry like Kana Hanazawa, Yuki Kaji and Mamoru Miyano, but having some rookie seiyuu's in the mix of our main duo of Norimichi as Masaki Suda being his first anime role and Suzu Hirose as Nazuna (with her previously doing a Mamoru Hosoda film prior). On speaking of Nazuna's VA, Suzu Hirose's vocal range was VERY similar to Kana Hanazawa's in some respects and LA KNEW Nazuna's VA wasn't Kana Hanazawa's in the first place but LA wanted ot make the distinction nonetheless. Uchiage Hanabi, Shita kara Miru ka? Yoko kara Miru ka?'s voice cast, with young and veteran blood was nonetheless decent all round. Uchiage Hanabi, Shita kara Miru ka? Yoko kara Miru ka? is ambitious in it's mundanity to say the least but used it's elements of characters, time travel plot and romance correctly, but it left a bitter taste in LA's mouth by the ending and it just didn't follow through it's setup, making what would be a great movie to pretty much abruptly give itself wasted potential and just outright poor execution on the final stretch, like give us a bone or a hint to what happened to them at least instead leaving us in the dark completely and again for "ambiguous effect" just doesn't cut it. Now just because it had a horrible ambiguous ending DOESN'T mean Uchiage Hanabi, Shita kara Miru ka? Yoko kara Miru ka? didn't salvage itself which it did, as LA said, the production value, plot and it's characters were used to great effect thus LA would give this anime movie some leeway but not enough for LA to give Uchiage Hanabi, Shita kara Miru ka? Yoko kara Miru ka?'s ending some ire, be it intentional or not. In summation, what Uchiage Hanabi, Shita kara Miru ka? Yoko kara Miru ka? experience felt like your in a very detailed and intricate maze, do great and follow through for the majority of the route, then stumble and fall then try and quit the maze in the last hurdle...WHEN YOU CAN SEE THE EXIT. -sigh- LA says this like many other anime and anime movies LA covered but..."Uchiage Hanabi, Shita kara Miru ka? Yoko kara Miru ka? LA isn't angry, but LA IS disappointed".

I was really excited to see this because I loved "Your Name". But this movie had so many flaws. First there was no character development whatsoever. By the end of the movie I still didn't know anything about the two leads. Why would he run away from her? Why was she so invested in him when they never even talked. And why was her mom made to be the badguy when she was trying to keep her daughter safe. There was no evidence of them being in love whatsoever to make any sort of sacrifice for each other and the magic did't make sense either. The mechanics of everything just didn't make any sense. Overall, I didn't care about the characters or the story as it was very confusing.

I enjoyed this movie more than Your Name. Now, listen to what I have to say. I won't spend time comparing the two beyond this, but in short, this movie is much more innovative than Your Name ever was. Now then, why did I enjoy this movie so much? Here's what I have to say: Story: 8 I won't recap the synopsis and just state my thoughts on the plot of Fireworks. Though simple, this film does not conform to the genre that it identifies itself as. In addition, this film portrays a somewhat more realistic tale outside of the time-traveling shenanigans. It is a tale of teenagers trying to rewrite fate and forge their own destiny. However, unlike most anime stories, nothing goes as planned for our protagonists. A cold and callous reality is presented which makes our characters decide if they embrace or defy it. Even they come to accept reality as a whole and know that their plans will most likely not come to fruition. While the film is forced to reuse plot elements for the sake of time traveling, they make an effort to what anything that's not relevant and change how the audience views it the second time around. Art: 8 This is easy. The backgrounds are gorgeous. I'd say that the fireworks shown in the film, despite being obviously computer animated, look better than real-life fireworks. Now, the film does use CGI as a crutch in some cases, but outside of one or two scenarios, you'd have to look for it to be bothered. In addition, the hand-drawn animation rebels against the CGI scenery. Some odd shading choices also hinder the experience. Luckily, some dynamic shots make up for this. My favorite example is the 2 male leads opposing each other as the camera is positioned at the ground giving us a look at their stance as well as the twilight above. Nevertheless, anyone watching will be blown away by the impressive visuals to be bothered by the shortcomings. Sound: 10 Another easy one. The film features 3 major songs. The first of which manages to clearly portray the character's motivation and reluctance to accept her reality. Even if it isn't completely necessary. The song that plays in the film's climatic ending is also outstanding. Not only is it entirely in English while sung by a Japanese singer, it is quite effective in portraying the inevitable, yet undesirable ending that is shrouded in uncertainty. The final song, played during the credits is simply amazing. The BGM is pretty good as well with a standout being the theme playing while the main group of boys going to school in the beginning. Character: 7 This film thrives in the fact that the characters are shallow emotionally. That is completely okay since the characters are teenagers. They may have a crush at one point but change their mind at the tip of a hat. Every character expresses themselves in actions alone. We never need to know what they're thinking. In fact, aside from a brief opening monologue, we never once hear a character's thoughts which keeps us engaged consistently. Enjoyment: 8 I thoroughly enjoyed this movie. A big factor is how the ending makes you think. Very few anime movies promote a discussion, but this is not the case here. Some funny, albeit offbeat humor keeps your engagement if the film isn't moving the plot forward, which it does at a reasonable pace. Overall: 9 Fireworks deconstructs the genre it fits into while reinventing a few romantic-genre cliches. While it does fall into a few tropes of it's own, they rarely affect the plot which is innovative and unique. It doesn't quite go the extra mile to perfect what it's trying to alter in the medium, the effort is monumental. Stimulating visuals and a colorful soundtrack is a delight to see for all. Overall, Fireworks is a film that will be undermined as a unconventional love story, it is something that anime as a medium should take a note of and use it as a lesson to create new and inventive stories to tell.

This movie felt like Nagi no Asukara, Steins;Gate, Cinderella, and Spirited Away had a baby...and that didn't really go well. It was such an amalgamation of things that it was a bit overwhelming because it seemed like the plot was going to go a million different places and then went nowhere. I was really disappointed because the DAOKO song『打上花火』that goes with it is so good and touching. SPOILER UNDERNEATH OF SORTS BUT I'M JUST TRYING TO FIGURE OUT WHY THE MOVIE IS WHAT IT IS, I PROMISE THERE IS NOTHING THAT IS NOT IN THE SYNOPSIS. I really wanna rant on this movie, but I think a lot of people already have so let me provide a unique perspective on what Shaft might have been thinking. This will be a sort of justification of what they were doing. I think that this whole thing would have been a lot better if it was exclusively from Nazuna's POV. This is a story of a girl who wants to run away from her home because she views her parents as abusive, altho it is really hard for the viewer to see them like that considering what they are doing for her. From the viewer's point of view, she seems like some little girl who wants to elope with Norimichi and has no idea of what she's even doing. I think that it was meant to be that way because imagine the backlash they would have gotten if they actually justified eloping and running away. Shaft has done a lot of great slice of life but nothing with this powerful of a purpose or at least if they have it's been covered with a bit of magic and it's quite clear. This is more real, more actual life, and thus it has to be more punishing in what happens at points and seems silly at others so that the audience knows, "this is just a movie and a dream like cinderella and it won't actually happen." There are many children (I am not one) who are from abusive households who probably resonate with what happened in this film. I can kind of see it after listening to people talk about abusive parenting and divorces. Obviously I will never understand it, but I am sympathetic enough to what they are saying and what this movie is trying to do with it. You can justify the lack of character development in that it is almost like the movie is suppose to be how the other characters are to her...down to there stereotypes of what type of high school boy Norimichi's friends are to the teacher. There is not much depth and this is a movie so it's kind of hard, but I think that was almost intentional...because if they were anymore developed it would make what happened even weirder. Now the worlds that they go through, and the fireworks part, and the time-turner thingy...I can't really justify that it's all weird and reminiscent of other time-travel anime. It's a neat idea that is almost never executed well and certainly isn't here. I wish some blockbuster anime film wouldn't do time travel tbh, but in order to get from scene to scene in a movie without being an episode recap that is the easiest way...not the best...but definitely the easiest. What I took away from watching this film and thinking about it was...that was crazy and the theater I went to had that reaction "What just happened? Is that it?" I was left wondering the same thing. But kids who go through abuse often are left wondering that too. I don't think it was perfect execution or even good, but the concept was attempted and I applaud them for trying...it was less triggering than Koe no Katachi that's all I'll say.

I went into theaters knowing that this was not going to be good film, but coming out, I was very surprised by just how awful Fireworks ended up being. This is such as headache inducing and boring film that it's hard to believe that the producers of Your Name were involved in this. Anyways, I'd rather start this review off with the better aspects of the film. Art - 6/10 The visuals were not bad in this film at all, I'll give it that. There are plenty of interesting shots, most notably in the first half of the film. Everything was colorful and clean. The 2d art work done in this film was, at the very least, good. The score is only a 6 mostly because of the CGI. A little bit of it looks good, like the effects used in the pool, but most of it looks mediocre at best. Building interiors look like models taken from an HGTV series. 3d substitutes for characters in distant motion look really rough and art poorly animated. Just the abundance of this CGI was enough to drop the score of the art work. Also, none of the character designs were very notable. The only character that stood out was Nazuna, but mostly because of her color and importance to the narrative. Visuals were probably the strongest part of this film, yet they're still full of many problems. Sound - 5/10 The sound design was fairly mediocre throughout this film. The whole soundtrack is fairly generic, with nothing standing out or worth listening to on my own. Sound effects were ok, but certainly nothing to write home about either. The voice acting for the female characters sounded fine, but when it came to the male characters, it was just bad. Norimichi's had little to no emotion and was just dreadful to listen to. This is especially bad considering the fact that he's the main character and speaks more than anyone else. Story - 2/10 Oh boy, now we have the story. Without spoiling what actually happens, I'll say this. The narrative structure is fairly simple and very small in scale, yet feels so convoluted. It poorly makes use of plot devices such as time travel. The mechanics behind these supernatural elements make absolutely no sense with little explanation. There are quite a few pointless scenes in this film that are completely pointless by adding little to the plot or characters. Everything happening is so boring and confusing. The ending is especially bad since it sort of just fades out with little resolution to the story. There was no satisfaction with any turning point in the story, and I was just left even more confusing as the film went on. Conflict did not exist, I did not care for anyone or anything. Despite having such a simple storyline, Fireworks ended up being such a complete mess. Characters - 2/10 They are just as bad the story. Character development is practically nonexistent and the motivations behind these characters make no sense. All of the characters have no personality, they were flatter than Ms.Miura's chest. Norimichi and his friends either make perverted jokes or talk about fireworks. That is what their friendship boils down to. It was absolutely hilarious how poorly the chemistry between these characters was handled. They all seem horribly inconsistent as well. Also, there was no distinct antagonist, which was probably part of the reason why there was no tension in the film. Nazuna is really just used for fan service, having no respectable qualities whatsoever. Her relationship with Norimichi also make no sense, as there is no build up to their relationship. Why they are interested in each other is beyond me. I don't really care anyways. Absolutely nothing was memorable about this cast, and it was a chore to watch each of them on screen. Enjoyment - 3/10 I was really bored throughout this film, and trying to decipher the reasoning behind the plot and characters gave me a headache. This whole film felt completely pointless. I was hoping to see some nice visuals at the very least, but none of it really impressed me, even the ending. Overall - 3/10 My advice is to not even bother with this film. My expectation were fairly low yet I still managed to be disappointed. Going back and watching Your Name would be a better use of your time than seeing this trash. Or, you know, go out and see real fireworks? Who even cares if they're round or flat, they're more worthwhile than the ones in this film.

Why should you watch Uchiage Hanabi, Shita kara Miru ka? Yoko kara Miru ka?? The story is Very Good (8). This story is not for everyone or better yet, not for the people who's mind is not open to feelings and imagination. Uchiage Hanabi is a coming-of-age story centered on a young heart's desire. The desire for various things like the desire to belong, to be loved, to love, or to be free. The moment I saw the music video I was hyped about what this story would be about and how it would make me think; moreover, how it would make me feel. And once I started watching it, it did not disappoint. It was successful to make me think and feel abstract concepts about being young, being wild, and being free *sorry I could not help myself* and yes, about being and falling in love. The whole concept of the title "Fireworks, Should We See It from the Side or the Bottom?" This is exactly how the story wants its audience to ask themselves. From what angle should we see our life? Should it be from the bottom, from above, or from the sides? It shows us that decisions that we make in our life can't be reversible and all we can do is move forward from that point; regretting or feeling satisfied with the outcome of our decisions. However, before each turning point, each decision you make, you can try looking at it from different perspectives before deciding your action. What I mentioned above is what I really like about the movie. I was watching the movie and I have these bursts of emotions and questions of what how and why? There was not a straight answer from the story but as a feeler type of person, the symbolism was enough answers to my questions. The art is Good (7). One of the things that ticked me out of focus while watching the movie is the 3D CG art. It just pops up out of nowhere and disconnects me from the world of Uchiage Hanabi. I can point out an example like at the beginning of how the animation changes when the students are riding their bicycles. I could not mention other cases because *spoilers* but this really brought down the quality of the anime presentation down heavily. I would really appreciate it if they just stuck with one type of animation so that the continuity of the story art-wise would not be interrupted. But overall, without the 3D CG, the animation is beautiful. The sound is Great (9). One of the things I am looking at in a movie is the flow of the ambient music. How it sets up the mood and sustains it all throughout. This is because I had to sit for 1-2 hours straight this is very important for me. This movie definitely delivered to me in this department. It helped me feel nostalgic and kept me glued to every scene that occurs in the story. "Uchiage Hanabi (打上花火)" by DAOKO x Kenshi Yonezu the ending song is a 10/10 for me it's a beautiful song that I regularly play when I listen to music and the emotion it evokes is perfect. The characters are Very Good (8). Norimich and Nazuna, being the mains of the story are well crafted. I could see young teens like them thus they are believable and easy to relate to. They are young teens that have a lot of energy where everything they think and feel can be done and where there is no limit to what and what not they can do. The supporting characters in the story, mainly Norimichi's classmates remind me of the boys from the movie "Stand by me" their journey to know whether fireworks are round or flat is also a story to watch by itself. Overall, I could see that there's a lot of hate to this movie. Everyone is entitled to their opinion, but if you have not watched it yet, consider watching it then you can judge the movie for yourself if it's good or bad or meh. But for me, I would give Uchiage Hanabi 8 flat firework explosions out of 10.

This is my review about Uchiage Hanabi, Shita kara Miru ka? Yoko kara Miru ka? Damn this anime is really bad. i hope something new cause its a movie anime but, the story is really similar with "Girl Who Lept Through The Time". It's annoyed and 3D CGi really bad, you can see it in bike scene in opening movie and the horse appear. i mean better use the 2d animation than 3d to make that such a thing. Conclusion, you don't have to watch this anime its boring there is nothing new and unique about this movie it just kinda mainstream story.

## - Find this hashtag if you don’t wanna read this long review. Well… There’s really pretty fascinating stuffs in this… But it no doubt frustrates you, even if you like the movie, because it’s really uneven, it’s really good…. And really bad at times…. Tons of 8/10, tons of 7/10, what fucking anime did u guys watched today?? I mean, maybe my experience was ruined because, I did watched till the end…and I realised, something went wrong… I was about to make this an 8…. BUT no, I didn’t!! When I watched the trailer I was like, omg, the animation, it really tops the level of the anime. And then after that, I went crazy and mad after watching this I was hoping a good expectation, but did u guys fucking know what just happened after watching this? CUZ THERE'S NO FUCKING WAY after ENDING like that with all THOSE BULLS UNANSWERED QUESTIONS One thing i gotta say is how BEAUTIFUL it is to look at maybe thats it. IT IS REALLY IMPRESSIVE. There's some INSANE ATTENTION to details on things. GOOD ANIMATIONS dont automatically make a good anime, its like everybody has been attached to anime WHICH HAVE TOP ANIMATIONS... WELL I DIDN'T!! THIS ANIME PISS ME THE FUCK OFF!!! To me…. This anime was a BEAUTIFUL LOOKING DISSAPOINTMENT. Starting off the beginning. the Story was... Confusing… Literally eehh from the beginning and then it destroyed the plot at the end… TBH, I’m more into romance animes, I’ve SEEN TONS OF GOOD ROMANCE ANIMES and bad ones. It devolves into Braingames and clues which you need to frickin know what the fuck it’s going on!!!! AND OMG THAT ENDING! hat ending was one of the most confusing, INSULTING and open ended scene ridiculously waiting until the 2nd SEASON to know what really happened in an ending in ALL DRAMA ANIMES. So we’re gonna have to WAIT until the next sequel!! It made me feel, like everything I went through it was for nothing but a waste of time!(4/10) Despite some ANIMATIONS!! FANTASTIC! I LOOKED THE STAFF AND FOUND OUT HE WAS THE SAME GUY WHO MADE “MONOGATARI SERIES AND I CAN’T STOP LOVING THIS ANIMATION AND ART. THAT’S THE WHOLE PART I LIKE ABOUT THIS WHOLE MOVIE! Why SHAFT?? SAME DIRECTORS OF MONOGATARI SERIES COME ON!! U ACED 3 KIZUMONOGATARIS!! Come on Shaft!!! If ONLY!! IF ONLY U TRIED HARDER BY FIXING THE PLOT, THIS SHOULDN'T BE AT THIS RANK! I'm slightly disappointed…I'll give a 10 because of the ANIMATIONS(10/10) The music! Again! Fantastic! They did a perfect timing when comes to some scenes and we have to listen the beautiful orchestra while watching the anime! It has a beautiful and heart-warming feel to it. Pretty much everything (10/10) Some characters weren't that bad.. HOWEVER! HOWEVER! There are characters which the movie never explains how and why!!! OMG, I got so angry when this CHARACTER and that thing….whatever that Thing, this magical tool thing…..I still don't get it on HOW THIS THIG WORKS!?!?(4/10) ## Overall – The final verdict for this anime is a 5/10. Maybe lower… I know it sounds good! I know it looks good! But the plot is the problem here for me. The STORY IS THE PROBLEM HERE… THE ENDING…. Parts of it were okay! But it overuses the plot holes up till the ending. THAT ENDING you will have felt cheated even after reading the articles, finding the ending explanation! It made me insanse! There are tons of UNANSWERED QUESTIONS and I know that may have been the intention but opening an ending like this have been done better. I wanted a satisfying ending and no plot holes that leaves me wanting more… not this where I BET YOUR ASS 2nd SEASON is going to COME AND FINISH THIS. It’s okay, enjoyable at times… BUT CONFUSING, ANNOYING, UNDENIABALY, TOO MUCH PLOT HOLES! If you’re looking for a GOOD ANIME like this, I’ll tell you what, START WITH “MONOGATARI,” I WANT YOU TO WATCH THAT SERIES and then after THAT, should you give this one a try? Well…. I guess that’s it… (5/10)