Two teenagers fight against the power of time in this adventure of love, tears and fireworks…
Nazuna voiced by Hirose Suzu (The Boy and the Beast, Rage, Your Lie in April) is a beautiful and mysterious student who is the object of desire amongst every boy in her school. One day she finds an odd spherical object at the seashore and catches the notice of one of her admirers Norimichi voiced by Masaki Suda (Death Note: Light Up the New World, Gintama, The Light Shines Only There). Coming from an unhappy home Nazuna asks Norimichi to run away with her, only to be angrily stopped by her parents before their escape. In desperation, Norimichi wonders what he could have done differently to prevent them being stopped, when the sphere suddenly sends them back in time to have another chance. Here begins a journey where our characters go back and forth in time to create the future where they can elope together and find happiness.
(The title’s question ‘Should We See It from the Side or the Bottom?’ is constantly posed throughout as Norimichi’s friends wonder whether fireworks appear flat or round when seen from the side).
What seems like a whimsical love story with a supernatural twist is, in fact, a mediocre and unoriginal film that is at best pretty to look at.
Directed by Akiyuki Shinbo with Nobuyuki Takeuchi and produced by Shaft animation studio, the animation is insanely beautiful with clear and crisp imagery. We see the signature characteristics of Shaft including avant-garde visuals and the classic head tilt. The animation of small things including the fireworks and especially water look incredibly life-like and beautiful.
The storyline however is nothing new, travelling back in time to change the future has been done before especially as a Hollywood formula. Furthermore, Fireworks seems to be a combination of The Girl Who Leapt Through Time and Your Name. Although based on the 1993 live-action movie of the same name, it was impossible not to remember the two films when I was in theatre; like Your Name it is a teenage love story coupled with a magical twist, not to mention the similarity of the film posters with the comet and fireworks. Like The Girl Who Leapt Through Time both films contain a very identical time travelling, spherical object and time travelling plot. There is a lack of originality that prevents you from fully investing in the film, and whilst TGWLTT and Your Name contained recycled premises, they were at least refreshing with engaging characters and emotional storylines. Fireworks meanwhile delivers the expected clichés; Norimichi and Nazuma go back in time, hilarity and shocks ensue and repeat.
There is no real in-depth characterisation or growth for our main characters. Norimichi is the typical boy obsessed with the female love interest and spends the entire film focused on saving her. Nazuma meanwhile is mysterious and carefree, spending the film daydreaming and delivering philosophical musings to a bemused Norimichi (and arguably audience). There is just no chemistry between our two leads and no time for them to develop romantic feelings or any sort of connection. Despite her odd demeanor however Nazuma is the most fascinating character because of her nonchalant manner, Hirose’s breathy voice adds the magic.
Speaking of which, Shinbo tries to add an enchanting touch to the film in several scenes. There is a completely random musical scene where Nazuma and Norimichi are transported into a fantasy dream sequence with castles and carousel horses whilst Nazuma sings an ethereal pop song. It comes completely out of nowhere and rather than charming you, you’re kind of confused. We also get an Easter egg that you can spot in a millisecond. Norimichi spends the film asking “what if?” when he and Nazuma don’t get the outcome they wanted. The time travelling sphere takes the form of many objects throughout the film, at one point it becomes the bulb of a light house and the filament actually forms the word ‘IF’ when it transports them back in time. The detail shown here indicates a real dedication to the film’s overall themes.
This however is where the good points end. As much as Fireworks tries to be deep with its time travelling premise or the next best romance with our two leads’ supposed “relationship”, it just doesn’t resonate with audiences because what it offers has either been done before or just doesn’t reach deeply enough. This places the film far below the animated masterpieces we have had so far. Despite stunning animation and a lovely soundtrack, the fireworks really just fizzle out for this Shaft production.