Josee to Tora to Sakana-tachi (Josee, the Tiger and the Fish)

Equipped with his passion for diving and admiration for marine biology, university student Tsuneo Suzukawa tries his best to juggle several part-time jobs to earn enough money to study abroad. But one night, in a fateful accident, he meets a girl in a wheelchair, driving his current path into a detour.

The girl, Kumiko—who prefers to be called "Josee"—initially comes off as rude. Tsuneo, however, is then convinced by Josee's grandmother to take on the paid job to be Josee's caretaker. Despite being annoyed with her bossy demeanor, Tsuneo sees the opportunity to save more funds to support his academic dream. Nonetheless, after putting up with Josee's behavior for some time, Tsuneo tries to quit, only to discover Josee's dreams of traversing the outside world—to experience a life free from her crippling condition.

Changing his mind, Tsuneo decides to accompany Josee in exploring the wonders that the world has to offer. Through their time together, the two begin to realize that the traits that bind them may be vital toward fulfilling their respective aspirations.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

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Background

Josee to Tora to Sakana-tachi was adapted from a 1984 short story collection of the same name. It was set to have its theatrical release in Japan in Summer 2020. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the movie was postponed until December 25, 2020.

Prior to its release, the anime film was selected as a special invitation film for the 33rd Tokyo International Film Festival. It was also nominated for the 44th Japan Academy Prize in the Animation for Excellence award.

Episode Videos

Episode 1

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Adaptation:	Josee to Tora to Sakana-tachi
Other:	Shinkai

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Characters & Voice Actors

Josee

Main

Kiyohara, Kaya
Japanese

Suzukawa, Tsuneo

Main

Nakagawa, Taishi
Japanese

Ninomiya, Mai

Supporting

Miyamoto, Yume
Japanese

Matsuura, Hayato

Supporting

Okitsu, Kazuyuki
Japanese

Kishimoto, Kana

Supporting

Lynn
Japanese

Yamamura, Chizu

Supporting

Matsutera, Chiemi
Japanese

More staff

Staff

Cook, Justin

Producer

Suzuki, Mari

Producer

Kasahara, Shuuzou

Producer

Herek, Samantha

Assistant Producer

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Opening Theme

"Take Me Far Away" by Evan Call

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Ending Theme

"Ao no Waltz (蒼のワルツ)" by Eve

Reviews

May 3, 2021

LoneAce

Recommended

Let me begin by saying I've been waiting for this movie for a little more than 4 months, so although there is bound to be some bias in this review I will try to keep it as balanced as possible and write as if the anticipation was less. I will also try my best to include as little spoilers as possible, but if you have yet watched the trailer, you might get spoiled in the smaller parts

Plot - 10/10
As you might have read in the synopsis, Josee met Tsuneo by a chance encounter (check out trailer if you want to know what happened) and decides ... that despite her disabilities, she wants to see the outside world. If you have seen the trailer beforehand, you will know that both of them sneaked out when her grandmother took her naps, and they explored the world Josee had never seen or had not seen for quite a long time. It was during those times that she experienced more of the outside world, an experience that she found very exciting and scary at the same time.

I think the best part of the movie was when everything goes wrong, one after another. I know there is bound to be people who say something along the lines of "oh, but the climax was cliché" and I won't say they are wrong. But the way it is depicted in this tale is not very usual, and some scenes forces you to try sympathize with the characters due to how heartbreaking the implications and the events can get. Also, I can safely say that this is the only movie in which the storytelling of a children's book can be phrased in a way that makes the audience very emotional, so look forward to that.

Art - 9/10
The art in this movie is average at best. If you have seen Garden of Words or Your Name, then you might feel that the art in this movie is mediocre. This is where I disagree. The art serves as a support for the plot that we are paying our money for, and the art in this movie actually supports the plot well. You will not find yourself feeling left out by the characters who look so unrealistic that they seem to be of a different world. In fact, you might actually be drawn to the characters because the art makes them feel real, and the fact that a simplistic art style makes it feel realistic is a selling point of a movie.

Sound - 10/10
Now many people might be reviewing this based on the ending song Ao no Waltz by Eve since the Eve music video in Youtube had been very popular before the movie's release and had been the reason why many people watched the movie in the first place. While that song itself was good, we can't discount the fact that you only get to hear that during the last few minutes of the movie. So instead I will share about the ambient sounds and the speech patterns of characters in the movie.

The sounds in the movie are engineered in a manner that will leave you breathless. Some scenes include a lot of atmospheric noises which will improve the already realistic feel of the movie, while others uses the strength of silence to emphasize the feelings each character holds true within themselves. The way each characters spoke really reflects what is actually on their minds, rather than the words they actually used and the message they actually tried to deliver.

Character - 9/10
In terms of character development, I feel that it was done in a rushed manner and although it explains every character, their personalities, and their behaviors well, it does not give you time to process the string of information. However, I can’t say that it was done in a bad manner, it isn't. The main goal of this rapid development is actually to let you immerse yourself in their world and experience and understand more about the characters with the characters themselves. Confused?

Let me give you a rundown of my argument. Would you find watching a movie which tells everything you need to know about a character or one that makes you go in the same pace as the characters? I think the fact that we do not know everything about a character is realistic in the sense that, in the real world, we do not know everything about people we interact with, and instead only know what had been displayed by that person.

As for the characters themselves, there is not many to talk about, but there is much to talk about them, but I won't, you have to see for yourselves. There are some you hate but will grow on you, some you enjoy looking at, and some you might loath so much because of how rigid their minds work. It is this good blend that reflects how the real world actually is, and that’s how the movie makes its characters so relatable and not flat.

Enjoyment - 10/10
Won't go into too much details here since I've been waiting for this movie and it’s only natural that I will enjoy myself. However, in the theatres I was watching at, people cheered at the end of the movie so I guess it was enjoyable enough even if you watched it without any background information.

Overall - 10/10
Summary of this review, it's worth it to watch. Give it a shot.

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May 8, 2021

288124

Mixed Feelings

This movie sounded amazing. Evan Call's soundtracks really elevated some of the more emotional and dramatic scenes, and Eve never ceases to amaze me with how good their songs are. Studio Bones absolutely nailed the animation too; from super detailed (and really cute!) characters to beautiful scenery shots, they certainly brought their A game here. 9/10 for both Art and Sound, for sure.

Unfortunately, the positives kinda stop there. What followed from an enthralling premise and a breathtaking first half-hour was a runaway train towards narrative disaster. I really wish I could tear into how poorly executed its dramatic lows were, but I want this review ... to be as spoiler-free as possible so I can hopefully warn potential watchers on what to expect.

Story - 2/10

It's your run-of-the-mill romcom, sure, and it is fairly cute and heartwarming at times, but don't expect any form of realistic or sensible drama. Everything in the story conveniently happens to push the sickeningly cliched plot forward, to the point where its ludicrosity transcends into comedy. Even ignoring that, the general plot direction is so boring that I could name a dozen similar, but better executed shows. Bunny Girl Senpai's movie comes to mind - the dramatic climax and aftermath is pretty much identical, but the build-up to that in this movie was far shallower and more contrived. The movie then becomes obsessed with digging the drama hole further and further, layering more and more tragedies onto the characters until it barely feels tragic anymore. As if it couldn't get worse, this is followed up with the cheesiest rendition of 'Hopes and Dreams will Save the World!' that I've ever seen. Ah yes, hopes and dreams are able to resolve physical and practical impossibilities. As long as we believe, we'll get the perfect relationship out of an extremely frayed and toxic one just 10 minutes prior! But that leads me on to...

Characters - 3/10

No, Josee making snarky, rude quips at random points in the show does not make her a well-written character. She is exaggerated past any reasonable point - I get the defensiveness and spite towards the world around her, but the movie is so quick to make 180 degree switches between that and her completely happy and trusting side so... anything gives? The male protagonist gives me heavy harem MC vibes - dense, overly nice for no reason, and somehow every female in the show falls in love with him, despite completely missing backstories for some of them. Speaking of which, the side characters were somehow done even worse. Not a single one managed to remotely stand out, and got so little development and screentime that I couldn't even remember their names. The characters are only marginally better than the plot, but that's honestly because nothing can get worse than the plot.

Overall/Enjoyment - 5/10

All in all, it's not all bad. The story occasionally hints at the start of potentially good ideas, and its latter half makes some attempt to link to its promising first half-hour. But virtually everything that made that first half-hour stand out - the main duo's hobbies, constraints, and budding friendship (which was actually really nicely developed) - gets thrown out of the window once the drama hits. For such a talented production team, it's a real letdown. At least I got a couple nice additions to my playlist out of this.

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Jun 13, 2021

PiedPiper_

Not Recommended

Mediocre story, dull progression , one dimensional characters, zero emotions, over-dramatic premise = Josee, the Tiger and the Fish

I have been waiting for this movie for quite sometime, because the Korean Live Action of this is one of my All Time Favourite. I haven't read the original source material on which one followed the source faithfully but this anime adaptation is abysmal to say the least.

Story : Mundane story, with tons of events and drama with out any substance to it. I thought the story might delve on the issue of person going through disability and might touch on it a bit more. But this ...

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Josee to Tora to Sakana-tachi

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