Fragtime

I don't understand the low score in this movie... oh well.

"Fragtime" is a cozy little package of emotions. The romance is tender and nuanced. It's not your typical high school love story; it's more mature and explores the complexities of love in a way that's both refreshing and relatable. The lesbian love angle is handled with grace and sensitivity, which is a big win. It's not fetishized or overly dramatized; it's just two people discovering love and affection for each other.

The movie has some erotic moments, but they're tastefully done. They serve to intensify the romantic tension rather than being gratuitous, which I think ... is a good approach.

Both characters go through a journey of self-discovery, which is beautifully portrayed. The time-stopping ability serves as a metaphor for those frozen moments in life where we find out something new about ourselves.

The movie delves deep into the characters' thoughts and fears. It's not just about the external events but also about the internal struggles, making it a rich narrative. The bravery displayed by the characters, especially in confronting their fears and insecurities, is commendable. It adds a layer of depth to what could have been a simple love story.

Now, here's my gripe: the movie is too short! I think this story could make a good anime series.

Overall, "Fragtime" is a well-crafted piece that touches on love, identity, and the courage it takes to be true to oneself. It's a must-watch if you're into romance and character-driven stories. But yeah, it could have been a bit longer to flesh out some more details.

This film is very fetishistic and autistic. You should know that going in, before you get started. It has a very distinct idea of both what life and anime is like, and goes in extremely hard in that deeply unique concept, for better or worse.

But you're reading the review, so the question is: should you watch this? Is this good?

I won't say it's bad. But it's certainly nothing memorable. The key issue here is that the entire premise of this story, while fine on its own, does not roll itself into something complete by the end. Because it's extremely insistent in its exploration of ... ideas (peeping toms, obsessive lovers, inability to socialize normally, and general neurodivergency), you have to really resonate with one or more of those ideas to begin to resonate with the film. And if you resonate with none of these concepts, or only one of them, then you might not like this film.

This is all on top of the fact that the film is only 60 minutes long. With such a short runtime, it really has to execute in some fashion to maintain itself. And I think it does a solid job in that regard; the animation and general story is fine as it is. But it comes back to that lack of memory; this film doesn't do anything special, it doesn't stand out. It's just an emotional romp. And if that's all you want, then good for you. But if you're expecting something more than just a jaunt of upskirting, minimal yuri relationships, and weird sci-fi, you're digging too deep on this one.

i made an account to share how much i hate this movie. nothing is explained, the characters are incredibly shallow and there is literally no substance.. none of the actions that these characters take actually have any motivation, and the relationship between the two girls is literally just gross fanservice. i came into this hoping for a cute gl story and went out of it regretting that i wasted my time watching this.

spoilers

why does she have this power and why does it disappear? not explained, but i guess it disappears because she "loves"/"likes" murakami which is also not really explained because apparently murakami has been ... putting on a fake personality all along, so, how does she fall in love with someone she never really knew? not explained! not explained why murakami apparently liked moritani, whose only personality was being shy, when murakami was apparently a people pleaser with no likes or dislikes... boring and exclusively fanservice with no actual substance to it (because for some reason murakami just flashes moritani for funsies) (also the entire reason they even meet is because moritani is being incredibly creepy and lifting up murakamis skirt to see her panties (and also the motivation for WHY moritani does this is never told)))
PLUS moritani and murakami never even knew each other beyond being classmates before so why they have this "connection" is unclear?? and why does moritanis power suddenly exclude murakami when it presumably didn't before???