Natsu e no Tunnel, Sayonara no Deguchi

***SPOILER FREE*** Great animation and voice acting. I'd highly recommend watching if these two are your main priorities as Studio CLAP did an amazing job of illustrating beautiful sceneries of rural Japan and precisely capturing the character's emotions. No lazy/rushed drawings. The music's pretty lit too, but nothing out of the ordinary. What was really a shame was the pacing of the film - incredibly abrupt (short movie-time problems…) and a lot of the scenes felt really off because of it. I haven’t read the original novel, but you can tell a lot of small but important details have been cut off. As a result, some actions characters took seemed to be pretty questionable. Really ruined the mystery + romance elements of the show. Uchiage Hanabi vibes. BUT, the guy next to me in the cinemas did bawl his eyes out like his lifelong puppy died so maybe this film could be for you too! (I had to exit the long way because of him). Overall, it may be disappointing to watch for some but hey, at the end of the day you'll have another waifu added to your list...

I'll keep it short. I read the light novel and honestly this was a REALLY disappointing adaptation. Scenes were changed, entire CHARACTERS were basically cut out and had no screentime, and even the entire MAIN THEME OF THE BOOK WAS COMPLETELY GONE! Please I beg of you just read the light novel and not this movie, it really doesn't do the source material justice... The only plus is the art and animation and even that doesn't matter because what ISN'T eye candy nowadays. I also didn't like the voice acting, everyone sounded like a robot and spoke quicker than a Monogatari character. The Movie is so short so everything feels so unnaturally paced. I feel insulted watching this...

Tunnel to Summer is a movie anime that has so much sentimental value, with great key messages hidden under minimal storytelling (but captivating) waiting to be discovered! In my opinion, Tunnel to Summer is undeniably will be one of interesting best 2023 anime candidates to being considered. Based on my experience, watching Tunnel to Summer without knowing any storyline & its trailer would provide an exceptionally captivating experience and this will grows on you If have chances of finish reading its original Light Novel & Manga Because the main storyline and key messages of both novel and anime is almost the same. The differences are in details + the novel kinda has semi-spinoff story. Some examples of why the movie is WORTH spending time watching it : - Great meaningful key messages - Other than high quality animation and cinematography, I'm being blown away first time seeing tunnel's interior design (also many people will likely feel the same) and still nowadays curious about inspiration/reference why the tunnel looks like that. I'm really want to see interview from director! - beyond expectations emotional drama scenes - Great soundtracks that has its meaning matched with the storyline (Pre-Romance, Finale. & Katappo by eill) - Hard to guess future events in the story The only downside until now I can think is the storytelling toward the end is quite accelerated to jump into the climax scene which is understandable But if your brain is not fast enough, you might overlooked some interesting detail of the movie. ( It's a bit similar to the feeling of just finished watching Neon Genesis Evangelion, but Tunnel to Summer is extremely much easier to understand❕)

This is a fantastic story for which the audience's response embodies the key messages of the movie itself. To begin with the elementary components, the fine-tuned visuals are nothing less than awe-striking, with the color tones perfectly corresponding with the auras of various significant locations in the movie. From the tranquil environment of Niizaki to the stunning interior of the Urashima tunnel, the shift in visual portrayals of different atmospheres gives the viewer an almost otherworldly experience that wholly flourishes the beauty and surrealness of magical realism. On the topic of magical realism, the concept of the dilation of time and space has been a frequently-visited one, but the unique role of the Urashima tunnel is revealed to be very different from what the tunnel seems to offer at first: instead of satisfying one's desires in exchange for their lifetime, Urashima tunnel is instead a final destination for those trapped by the past to regress into their longings and give up on moving forward with the world. This gradual revelation in combination with the occasional introspective conversations between Tono and Hanashiro is not only a propellant for character development but also a telling reminder of the passing of time - that the past is unchangeable, and that attempting to change it will only result in one losing the present as well. This seemingly unreal element does not detach itself from the fabric of reality but instead evokes the viewer to reflect on their own stories and regrets. Such is the epitome of magical realism. --- Spoiler Warning --- At last, the bittersweet reunion between Tono and Hanashiro that concludes the movie leaves a lasting tension in the viewer's heart as "Finale" by eill plays at the end. Although Hanashiro, now 22, has already spent 5 years without Tono, and the two now face a world far ahead of them, the couple's indestructible bond still calls for the viewer to hope that they will overcome any future difficulties together. Although they couldn't spend every moment next to each other, their fighting spirit - the sheer defiance to forget everything else and pursue each other - is something both beyond the logical grasp yet truly admirable. Come to think of it, time passed by very quickly both when I was watching the movie and when I am writing this review. Perhaps this movie has the Urashima tunnel effect too! Of course, this fantastic story of a young couple's love that excelled beyond space and time is unlikely to happen in reality, but in these few hours, I was able to forget about the toils, frustrations, and restraints of reality and wholly immerse in the blooming emotions of this tunnel to summer. For that, I am truly grateful to have come across this movie. Thank you for reading my thoughts on this amazing movie! I sincerely hope you enjoyed it as well.

There was a word for what we called a way of life, without which love cannot exist. Nowadays, this word is just a word that lost its value. The Tunnel to Summer, the Exit of Goodbyes is a movie that evokes the significance of that precious word, and also encourages us to live by it. This story was quite entertaining to me even if the mystery elements hasn't got any reasonable foundations to it. It wasn’t really that necessary to the main plot and the message to convey. It also one, if not the only anime that I’ve seen that handled school bullying exemplary well. Even though there is the dramatic and depressing part that is quite common in anime movies of this kind, it is still well within the tolerance limit and with the perfect amount of romance made it even composed and sweet at the end. The characters were also very intriguing and they were portrayed the (word) perfectly. I haven’t seen someone as engaged and committed as Anzu Hanashiro, just as Touno Kaoru is also quintessential. When we usually thinks about that (word) we usually thinks of Roronoa Zoro from One Piece. However, this is something else. 8 years. = 102 months. = 3030 days. = 7325 hours. = 4.5 million minutes. Loyalty at its finest. This movie shows how is past is the importance of present and how is present is the importance of future. One of the key to this, is that long lost ancient world; Loyalty. Recommend value - High (because of exemplary romance and commitment) Re-watching value - Low (because of depression elements) Overall 8/10 ⭐️ Thank you for reading!

Read the Light novel or wait for the anime adaptation? Yes, that question was asked as a topic on 1/7/2022 Well, I'm glad I read the LN first....the amazing artwork by Kukka was what drew me in initially So, alot of big scenes in the LN were cut....alot of these bits were what made the LN award winning in the first place, and thus landed an anime adaptation...only to be cut out?  Now it feels like and ordinary rom-com story....why??? Here's what made the LN such a delight to read: The unresolved grief and regret of Kaoru is more superficial in the movie. Does not feel that big of a deal, he should go and waste 13 years of his life to chase. In the LN Karen literally had to force him to leave lol. Karen part also seems toned down, in how she treated him when he went to see her...it is more touching in the LN. More character development and conflict between Koharu....in the movie, why even add her at all. Kaoru's dad, and their relationship, his grief and motivation to move on is not explored, and the ending too, where they visit his old house, where dad left Karen's belongings in a box, that Kaoru hid away from his dad, has been cut...this was a huge part of the LN which helped with Kaoru's closure. You then knew dad was suffering too, and finally just had to move on, but when he left the house, and the house deteriorated over the 5 years, dad even found the box, but never threw it out...it was one of the most touching scene in the LN....This isnt a spoiler as its not in the movie.

Amazing and very creative plot, but in my opinion read the light novel instead The movie feels really rushed and somewhat incomplete, and there were very annoying potholes in the end and the ending wasn't well written, as a standalone it is worth watching, but it is better in my opinion to read the light novel instead if you don't despise reading. You will be missing out on the great soundtrack and animation, but the lacking plot in the movie makes the choice clear in my opinion, read the light novel. However the movie is still good, but again, I couldn't tell you to favor watching the movie over reading the light novel if you enjoy reading.

Its just alright really. The Tunnel to Summer has such a melancholic and angsty vibe its almost hard to take seriously in parts. Most of the characters are void of personality and any kind of interesting traits. It seems as though Taguchi aimed to create almost an entirely bleak atmosphere throughout the duration. This does contrast well with the scenes in the Tunnel which are stunningly beautiful. My main problem with this movie is how cliche and generic the main characters plot line is leaving him a very uncompelling and boring presence. It's abundantly clear that this was written to tell Anzu's story and it doesn't even try to hide that. Anzu's story was clearly the highlight, reminding me somewhat of John Keats in his actual life. Conversations over artistic insecurity and legacy are easily the standout philosophical elements of the movie, most of the rest is just B-grade teenage angst. Overall nothing special at all, little to remember this by save a few scenes. I will say that the scene of the two mains in the bedroom is very good and the highlight of the show in every way possible, a series of truly beautiful sequences that leaves me wanting so much more that the final third is totally unable to capture. Overall just an okay movie, nothing overly offensive and little unique worth a watch simply for its short runtime.

It's a bit of a disaster when a romantic film struggles to depict the romance itself, and paired with highly impersonal dialogue, the substance is thinly stretched. Natsu e no Tunnel, Sayonara no Deguchi occasionally remained on the heels of finding a centralized theme to latch onto, but once we've repeatedly witnessed the rehashed ideas of the tunnel and its purpose, there's not much else occurring to warrant interest. Hachimoku's original story is relatively predictable; even within hidden specifics, the outcomes are relatively one-dimensional. There is never an instance of genuinely palpable tension due to the erratic nature of supernatural phenomena, rather everything is somewhat normalized, including not picking up the current on the individual dilemmas through a more complex angle. That's not to say a film needs to be provocative in its approach, yet refusal to employ even the slightest hints of dynamic framing limits the potentially promising concept of equivalent exchange. The tunnel as a plot device is underused, and at no point is the audience given a tangible sense of risk versus reward. Director Taguchi hardly shows any finesse in tailoring the storytelling around the characters or foregrounding a more convincing connection, either between the leads or portraying a bit more personality in the background cast. The minor interactions are discarded as meaningless events, and they hold no influence on the narrative. However, he does handle the emotional urgency from the perspective of Kaoru well for the short runtime, although Anzu's motivation, unfortunately, comes off as narrow and insignificant. I found that the film reasonably managed its minimalism, and while it often only introduces thematic direction, Natsu e no Tunnel, Sayonara no Deguchi still conveys a decent dose of coming-of-age conviction. Studio CLAP put in a commendable effort to salvage the experience, and the general animation boasts glimpses of serious quality, albeit the visual design didn't always coordinate with the overbearing score. A rough analogy for grief and short-lived summer memories.

I was reading the book and halfway through I learned there was a movie. perfect timing too cause I'm trying to get back into anime so I just turned this on. The thing I noticed first was the very pretty animation. The detail in everything is insane. In one of the opening scenes, there's a shot of a flower, and the amount of detail within that flower was crazy, and the scene of the trees in Urashima Tunnel was gorgeous. The movements within the characters are exceptionally smooth as well, and the overall plot is intriguing, but some plot points are glossed over or never resolved. The conflict between the protagonist and his dad is completely dropped, and his "best friend" is only there to tease him, his character serves no purpose. Speaking of characters, the characters overall are very flat, with not many actual traits. They're just very generic, broody anime characters. While they do come from broken homes, and we learn their motivations to investigate the Urashima Tunnel, we don't learn anything else about them. They aren't even given a unique physical appearance. I appreciate the romance plotline to spice things up between them, but it's the most barebones generic anime romance plot of all time. I hope the book goes into more depth than this. The short 84 minute runtime could be attributed to these flaws, Side note: I really wish translators would translate the texts between two characters cause I swear like at least 10% of the dialogue is through texting that I can't read, and the big twist at the end is communicated THROUGH TEXT. I deadass had to go to another website and find the scene so I could read the texts smh

“The Tunnel to Summer, the Exit of Goodbyes” is what happens when You have a cool idea and a shitty execution. One day a young boy finds a mysterious tunnel filled with strange glowing trees. Turns out this tunnel is the tunnel from the urban legend that says that it can grant wishes in exchange 100 years will pass in the outside world. Spending just a couple of minutes in it and finding something from his past, he discovers that the time really does pass with different speed in it. Soon a Young girl finds out about this tunnel as well. Both wanting to have their wishes granted, they team up to discover the secrets of the tunnel. To be honest I love the premise. It gives so much space to create any kind of story. What we got is… not so great. “The Tunnel to Summer, the Exit of Goodbyes” is a supernatural romance with a dash of drama for good measure. We follow two highschooler: Kaoru Touno - our MC for this movie. Because of the death of his little sister, 5 years prior, his family was torn apart, his father turned to alcohol and abused him which led to him being reserved. He seems to have at least one close person but the movie doesn’t show them interacting outside of school. Anzu Hanashiro - not much is known about her. He’s a new student in Kaoru’s class and wants to be a mangaka. She’s serious, in the beginning rather antisocial but with time (and a secret) she warms up to Kaoru. Ok… let’s get to the writing.. Let’s start with the pacing. It’s incredibly fast. A lot of character bonding is done in a fast speed montage showing only the bare minimum to not being a Rocky training montage. What that does is kill any kind of sympathy I could have for Kaoru and Anzu’s relationship. There are moments when it slows down and shows how the relationship evolved and those are really solid scenes. If the movie showed more of them the impact of the finale would have been much greater and maybe even get me to care. It’s the same problem with the time skip in the third act. We don’t really get to see how Anzu lives for those years. We just get one scene at the beginning showing her sorrow and then just jump years ahead. I call that lazy. Especially in a movie that wants to be character driven. The second thing is the god damn logic of the main duo team up. Anzu proposes to join forces but that doesn’t make much sense. She claims that they have the same objective but that’s bullshit. The only thing they have in common in this regard is that they both want something (at this point they don’t know each other's wishes). That’s not the same as having the same objective. For all they know, they could be in their way. Granted in the end it turns out fine but still, thinking You have the same objective just because the form is the same is a bit naive. The same form doesn’t mean the content would be the same. I don’t know. Maybe I’m overthinking it but that kind of logic really annoys me. Another thing is the tunnel itself. It should be more important in the story. As it stands we see the protagonists experiment with the time differences but not much more. We don’t really see the drawback of using it. The negative aspect of the first time Kaoru went in is practically non-existent. It’s a tunnel that fucks with time. The risk-reward aspect should be more prevalent. Something that would actually make them (or at least him) think about using it for prolonged time. Anzu is given a very good reason to rethink her plan of joining Kaoru in the tunnel. Kaoru is given (almost) nothing and what he is given is wasted. I think the worst part for me is the ending. I don’t think a happy ending is appropriate for this kind of story. Yes, I get it, it’s a romance but it kills the theme of losing the one You love. Despite making his choice, realising what he lost, Kaoru still gets what his heart desires. It also portrays Anzu as a very weak character. It’s been years and yet she hasn't moved on. Still living in the past, still carrying a torch for Kaoru, even after being practically abandoned by him. Kaoru isn’t in a much better situation. He abandons Anzu for his goal. He achieves it (in a way) just to abandon that goal for a girl he abandoned earlier. The worst part? The mofo gets rewarded for that. So let me get this straight. The moral of the story is that You can abandon everything, change Your mind and still profit from it? Eff off! Now there are some positives in the writing department. Like I said earlier, when the movie slows down and actually shows Anzu and Kaoru interact with each other it’s pretty solid. Their interactions are a little stiff and I wouldn't call all of them organic but they’re passible. The writing in the scene in Anzu’s house and at the summer festival should be the standard for the whole movie. They are not great but they do convey their feelings and the gravity of their plan. Unfortunately they are a stand out in writing. Most scenes are more plot driven than character driven and that’s what kills the drama for me. Now listen, despite all the bullshit writing I actually enjoyed most of the movie. The ending is shit, the pacing is too fast but the moments when it slows down... there is some charm there. Shame there isn’t more of it but I’ll take what I can get at this point. If You don’t care about writing and just want to see a feel good, a bit naive, coming of age story, this might be entertaining for You.

"The Tunnel to Summer, the Exit of Goodbyes" is a movie that derails from its light novel counterpart, and is a masterclass in ruining your source. However, whilst the movie has its (very large) issues, both as an adaptation and as a standalone, it's still worth a shot if the synopsis is interesting to you. [Story] 4/10 - The story is fine if you're an anime-only. But, coming from the novel, I don't think I can even begin to describe how much is cut. Entire fleshed out characters get stripped to a couple of scenes, the two main character's motives aren't shown properly, and don't even get me started on scenes. With how much was cut and how much was anime-original, this might as well have been a standalone movie. I'm not even kidding when I say reading the novel is an entirely new story. Everything, from the beginning, middle, and end, is almost entirely different, aside from major plot points. The most important chapter (the final one, last ~15 minutes) was changed FOR NO REASON as it could have easily been fit in the same timeslot that it got into the movie even without the change. I guess the director wanted some emotional impact which would have been easy to add whilst following the script if the characters were actually adapted properly... yet he chose to introduce a bunch of plotholes for some tears, I guess. The entire epilogue was cut, too, which is a huge shame because it improves tenfold on the movie's generic ending. If there's one thing to take from this if you're an anime-only, it's to read the epilogue of the book. It provides a ton more closure. [Animation] 9/10 - Wow. Just wow. This movie looked incredible. You can tell the studio put a lot of effort into really immersing viewers into the setting. They did a really good job at the lighting, backgrounds, everything - it just gives off such a cool summer vibe that I absolutely love! The only reason the animation is not a perfect 10 is because of the main focus of the story - the tunnel. The book describes the tunnel as, well, that: a tunnel. It's eerie, dark, ominous - you name it. Don't get me wrong, the glowing-maple-tree-cave the movie had wasn't bad (apart from the glowing-maple-tree-cave), it just felt... off. What's creepier, a perfectly normal tunnel that has the ability to do what it does in the movie, or an already supernatural-looking cave? If I was Tono, I'd be bolting my ass outta there as soon as I saw the trees. Other than that, there were maybe one or two scenes that felt a bit weird in comparison to the rest of the animation, but I really liked the visuals this movie produced. Honestly my only other gripe was how blurring was done. When the "camera" changes focus, or really most scenes with something blurred out of view, the blur looks almost vertical, rather than in all directions, so it looks slightly off. Really not that much of an issue though. I do think you can tell that the studio tried to stretch their budget out as much as possible, because there are a lot of scenes where characters will stay perfectly still for 10 seconds or more. [Sound] 7/10 - I really liked the OST for this movie. Both the opening and ending credits songs are really good and the main soundtracks are really good too. [Characters] 6/10 - The characters felt pretty shallow compared to their light novel counterparts. Comparing how they act on screen to the book, they might as well be separate characters that happen to share a name and face. They almost have completely different personalities compared to the book, and the movie strips them down to be so one dimensional it hurts. There were times whilst watching where I was like "Wait? We're at this part already?" and it just felt too early for parts in their relationship to happen, as if it were forced. [Enjoyment] 7/10 - This is only this high because the novel is my favourite ever, so I'm glad it got an adaptation. Yes, it's a mess, but it's still an adaptation, even if half of it is anime-original. Honestly, the movie is actually pretty enjoyable if you put aside all the differences to the novel. But if you want to bring them in... this ain't it. But at the end of the day, do I want studio CLAP to do more adaptations of Mei Hachimoku's books? To be honest, yes I do. The studio itself isn't that bad, as shown by Pompo the Cinephile and the (very) short movie "Toki no Kousa" over on Youtube. The reason why this movie sucked as an adaptation is mainly due to the director. It's clear he wanted to be the next Makoto Shinkai with the amazing visuals we got, but I think he got a bit too sidetracked and realised that he only had 10% of the budget left for animation and... well... actually adapting the story. This was my first, and possibly last, review that I'll ever do on this site, so thank you for reading if you actually took time out of your day to read through this monstrosity. TL;DR The Tunnel to Summer is a visually stunning movie that could have absolutely been one of my favourites if only the runtime was longer. If you're only here for the movie, and don't care about the novel, you'll love it. But please, if you can, read the novel. If you're reading this after watching and think the movie was a 10/10, the novel will be a 100/10. Trust me.

Let's get the positives out of the way first. The movie has some great art and soundtrack and solid ideas explored in the story. The main problem for me here is in the way it tells its story and it's pacing. The tunnel element is a good hook but is often just used as a plot device to push a relationship to evolve. Like most things in this movie it isn't given enough time to breath and really explain how it works to viewers, we just get the basic rules. This is similar to the characters where they end up feeling extremely bland as conversations boil down to them trauma dumping or needless amounts of exposition about their dreams. This is the prime example of show don't tell. Characters walk into a room and explain their goals, tragic back story , and profess their love for each other in what feels like 30 minutes of the movie. This makes the emotional payoff kind of fall flat. The story has cute moments which makes it worth a watch, but can't escape it's rushed pace and bland characters.

"Live in the moment" "Make the most of your present" We all hear these quotes, something about our precious time, something about the limit of life. But it just feels impossible, that no matter how much I laugh, cry or feel; there's always a regret that pains me, there's always something in the future that frightens me. If there's one thing Kaoru Touno regrets the most, is his last words to his little sister, "I hate you too". He suffers over the fact that his little sister died while trying to catch a beetle for her brother. If there's one thing Anzu Hanashiro fears the most, is being not talented. Not talented enough to become a manga artist, not able to fulfill her deceased grandpa's dream. But they find a tunnel that's rumoured to grant any wish, in exchange for their now, their present. So they decide to work together and enter the tunnel, but the tunnel is its own world, with its own rules of time and space. They waste their present together, chasing in the tunnel to make their wishes come true. Touno, to get over his past and Hanashiro, to get a future. Both of them sympathize with each other's struggles, in the time they wasted together, forming a bond together. This is a story about these two characters; one who's coming to terms with his past and one who's finding a future to fulfill her grandpa's dream. The tunnel is a labyrinth where time runs slower than the outside world. Our characters go inside the tunnel for their past and/or future, but one thing they ignore is that, spending too much past or future makes you forgot about the present. While we are hung up on our dreams and mistakes, the world around us moves away. And it can never be bought back. The cute romance takes the spotlight, but the movie is too short to give a fleshed out development for its characters. As for the visuals, studio CLAP really did well. Every scene including the tunnel is mesmerizing. The music and songs are alright. I only wish the movie was a bit longer and gave more screen time elaborating their struggles. I think this is a good movie. Though I wish it did a bit better at a few elements, it is about a boy coming to terms with his regrets of past and a girl finding the courage to overcome her fear of future. And the present they found together. Conclusion I think it's hard to live in the present, when so much of our past & future, define and is defined by this moment. When the way we lived and the path we chose define us; but it's more important to realize that this moment will never come back. We can never live in the past, and we never know if we live in the future. We live here and now. Edit: The fabsubs aren't well made, so the experience might deter.

This is what we call a really good anime, It's been so long I have watched such a great Anime movie. It's a really good movie! The animation, the story writing, Direction, Sound, CC, Dialogues, Cinematography all of it is so good! It's like kind of based on classic orpheus story! Like Ghibli. The story telling motifs aren't ground breaking, but a very good implementation on how a story should be told. I think it does a great job at tackling the problems that matter, and leaves the unimportant points open to interpretation. Personally, Touno and Hanashiro feel super relatable. They both really boil down how I felt as a teenager. But the thing is that's not kinda relatable was that they both got someone important to them they care about eachother but this never happened to me.... I was all alone and still the same nothing changed except my age! Overall, I'm glad I spent some time on this one. But honestly I loved it! I was going numb day by day that's why I was searching for a good movie with some Romance genre and some awesome story, and this is perfect movie for that! I don't know why but I want to feel like that also, when someone waits for you, for so long! I also wants to feel like that! Overall Rating- 9.5

What a terrible movie. And what makes it so terrible? The ending. Up until the ending, the movie makes you think it's at least gonna be decent, we have an interesting plot, two planks of wood for main characters, convoluted events and plot holes, good animation, the usual for a supernatural romance and with all the specific charm that comes with it. But then the plot starts to happen, and then it happens harder and then by the end it happens all over the place. I will say that I expected it to end differently, so you can say my expectations were subverted for the worse. What I thought would happen was, she's gonna go into the tunnel and save him by having the tunnel give her what she lost, which was him. A bit corny but eh, it might have been a 7/10. But that's NOT what happened. Instead she just... didn't go in at all I guess. And then she continued her life, graduated high school, graduated college, became an established manga artist, presumably changed jobs, changed cities, and in all that time not only did she not meet anyone else but she also kept her old phone and his umbrella with her at all times...? Thinking... he's gonna be back any second? Even though they both joked around how it might take a thousand years to get out. Bullshit. I ain't buying that. They didn't even bond with each other that much before the ending. They show us flashbacks of their moments together so far as if to justify why she now loves him and they're really underwhelming. Especially for a "I'm never dating anyone else until you maybe come out when I'm 80 years old" level of commitment. And sure, at the end she's only 8 years older than him, but was that supposed to be the happy ending? It's like someone looked at Makoto Shinkai's movies (Your Name and the rest) and said "let's make a terrible version of that". Well they succeeded.

This movie probably had the best use of a plot device for a Romance genre with inexplicable supernatural elements. No real big issues with the movie other than it was a little rushed and I was not the biggest fan of the male lead voice actor but these are not the fault of the original material. It's a shame that I watched the movie first because I have a feeling I would had thoroughly enjoyed the original. The movie felt like a sparknotes version of the entire story in a way, and given the foundation and overall plot, I can see the LN being a masterpiece. Haven't read the LN yet, but if you're reading this, probably read the LN first.

This is a typical boy meets girl story with a supernatural twist of a tunnel that can grant your wish but every 3 seconds in the tunnel equates to 2 hours outside. Just from this premise alone, you can guess exactly what is going to happen. The plot is incredibly predictable with tons of cliche tropes. However, what it lacks in plot, it makes up for it in everything else. The art style and characters are visually appealing. The interactions between our main leads are enjoyable to watch. The animation is gorgeous. The soundtrack is terrific. The theme and message are incredibly heartfelt. The ending does raise a lot of questions but the overall experience was enjoyable. It is not going to be for everyone but for anyone craving more of that sweet anime romance, this is a good one to watch.

Expectation: 7 Reality: 7 Not sure how to describe this other than a film that tried to be like Makoto Shinkai. Studio CLAP really tried to take an egg from Shinkai's basket with this one and it just proves how good Makoto is. Not to say this film wasn't good, it was, but it didn't provide the same level of grief or depression or joy as, say Weathering with You did. The animation was well done and the voice acting was also good. However, the plot didnt buy me. Solid concept, but execution could have been better, it was pretty predictable and didn't hit hard enough. The constant motif of the train station was a good addition and added a great way to explore the two main character's relationship from the beginning of the film to the end. The soundrack was also well constructed and I really enjoyed the colouring of inside the tunnel, it was bright, yet mysterious. Overall, the Natsu e no Tunnel, Sayonara no Deguchi was a good film, but I would recommend almost any Makoto Shinkai film over it.

a detour before i give my thoughts on the movie. you can have a movie, a series , a manga, or a Light Novel as your absolute favorite even if you know yourself that it is not a 10/10 ultimate masterpiece, it just have to hit right in your heart where it matter the most. Tunnel to Summer, Exit of Goodbye, discovered it when the teaser popped up on my YouTube recommendations, got hooked by the soundtrack, looked into it and found out that it was based on a light novel, held the light novel up high because it hit me hard (i am a sentimental person, ugly cried and had to sleep in a tears wet pillow), i agree that it had a vibe like some other series but still love it. And with that, going in the movie i had high expectation. Did tear up on the same scenes as it did in the LN, voice acting is on point and brought the pages into life, art and animation is spot on from the LN's art pages, a really enjoyable watch. But there is some missing scenes that's in the LN that could've made it much better. putting them in would've added another 15 minutes to the screen time so i don't know why they weren't in it, maybe the writers decided against it because it wouldn't add anything to the story, but i would say otherwise. but well done CLAP studio, it is an enjoyable watch and i recommend the movie, but i also recommend to pick the LN for the full experience and let your imagine take the wheel