Uchiage Hanabi, Shita kara Miru ka? Yoko kara Miru ka? Episode 1 Discussion

Koybz said:
having not seen the original film yet I still think the essence of Iwai is here

Touka said:

I must disagree. If you look at something like The Case of Hana and Alice, the difference in characterisation and style is very clear. Fireworks was one of Iwai's first movies, but it's still very identifiable. The anime version, on the other hand, actively goes against much of the themes and writing in the original film. I think it started very strong, and had inklings of the Iwai flavour, but along the way it devolved into something else entirely. I'd recommend checking out the original work if you're at all a fan of Iwai. Although both films share the same basis, they're very different.

Koybz said:
Ah I don't think this film holds a candle to anything else Iwai has been involved in from what I've seen and it's definitely very different to the likes of the Hana and Alice series, but what I like about Iwai's stories are still here (the focus on youth, sentimentality, awkwardly endearing teenagers etc) albeit quite warped in this case. With all the negativity surrounding this before I went to watch it, I was expecting to dislike it more than I did, and while it was clumsy and misguided I still found myself enjoying it. The start was the strongest for me too, and I was a fan of the imagery until the style became jarring as the film began to devolve in the second half (that song scene on the train was.. weirdly executed to say the least). Yeah, I really want to watch the original and compare the two (and also because I just want to watch more Iwai in general) but it's a very hard film to find unfortunately.

Touka said:

Fair enough. The anime version does share some similar shots and pacing to Iwai's film early on, but I think the characters—like you mention—are a bit warped alongside his original vision. Youth is a prevailing theme in Iwai's work for sure, and I don't want to say anything particular about his Fireworks since you haven't seen it yet, but the characters are a lot more wholesome, natural, and endearing in Iwai's version. I'm glad you mentioned the song on the train — that was a particularly disjointed scene (and is completely absent in the original film). It was those sorts of scenes that gave it that kind of melodramatic, anime-specific vibe to me, over something more naturalistic and winsome, as in Iwai's work. There's a musician in Japan—Koremasa Uno—who said the film "doesn't feel like a work from Iwai," but rather "it feels more like the anime of the studio creating it, Shaft." I strongly agree with that statement. The feeling of Iwai was inherently diluted by Shaft and the very essence of anime, at least for me. Which is a shame, because Iwai displayed very recently how well his style converts to animation. Makoto Shinkai called The Case of Hana and Alice a masterpiece, and said it was something he even couldn't make, which I think is very telling of how identifiable and entrenched Iwai's thematics and style of filmmaking really is.

EcchiKingMamster said:


ain't no fucking way LOOOOOLLL

EGOIST said:
@UImoetard I think most of the criticisms come from the movie barely giving any good kind of characterization to our characters. I read somewhere that the original novel was a coming-of-age story and didn't delve too much on its fantasy aspect which the anime did.

That's the way to go. I also had pretty low expectations that's why I enjoyed it even more because it wasn't really as bad as people make it out to be. Just lacking the needed characterization and a more clearer motive because the motive was kind of shallow

UImoetard said:


I agree, the characterization in this movie was weak. We got some from Norimichi and Nazuna, but the others are flat. Though, I never expected much characterization for a 1.5 hrs long movie.

That being said, I did enjoy the MC's characters. We can infer that they loved each other since the beginning, hence Nazuna was waiting for Norimichi at the pool during her last day and found a way to make the kakeochi happen. However, Norimichi got injured and "died" in water, similar to Nazuna's dad, then Nazuna quickly changed to another target like her mom did. Norimichi was similar to Yuusuke (Kirito look alike) and typical highschool kids decided to chicken out their crush's date invitation, but the difference was Norimichi changed his mind after seeing Nazuna dressed up with a suitcase to pick him up.

zannett said:
I highly recommend people go read the manga version, which is only 10 chapters. I think it completes the experience and makes Uchiage Hanabi a lot more meaningful.

Below are my thoughts on this piece of work with both anime and manga considered. The manga is not the source material, but does present some details in more depth, with one very notable difference at the end. I don't consider the manga spoiler because it doesn't have any additional story element, but proceed at your own risk.

Fundamentally, Uchiage Hanabi is a story about acceptance and hope. There are only two parts of this story that are "real": everything that happened up to the point where Norimichi throws the orb for the first time, and everything that happens after he kisses Nazuna and Nazuna swims away. Everything that happens in between occurs in a "what if" world. And Norimichi knew that he was not in the real world as soon as he saw that the fireworks were flat--which manga makes clear. Why did he, then, insist on continually changing the future in an unreal world? Because as he said to Nazuna when they were at the beach, he was willing to stay in that world if he could be with her. It's not purely because he liked her; it's also probably because he regretted not having been able to help her whereas in this world, he was able to and did help her. Of course, that dream was shattered when the fireworks craftsman sent the orb into the sky and it broke into pieces. But it was at that point in the manga when he saw that by staying here, he would've foregone all other possibilities, including the possibility of him pursuing her and ending up with her in the real world. He then said to himself that every possibility is a choice and that he has to make a choice for him and Nazuna to move forward. That's when he decided to accept to let go of the Nazuna that's already with him (though his hands were forced anyway), and said, "Wait for me, Nazuna" (an important line that was left out in anime). The final scene in the anime should be entirely disregarded: it shows Norimichi running late to school and ends with no hint of anything. In the manga, by contrast, he is shown missing from school and standing on a train platform in Tokyo. The implications are entirely different--anime suggests he might've moved on both because it doesn't spell out the lesson he learned and because he's seen going to school as normal, but manga indicates he's pursuing her. So we have a good ending with a lesson of accepting a result that's already set in stone but holding out hope and striving to change what comes after that result.

This brings us to the question of what to make of the imaginary world. In the imaginary world there were only two constants: Norimichi and the orb. Norimichi retains all memories of previous paths while the orb grows in size with each use. Every other person has no clue. They appear to operate with their own cognition (one piece of evidence being that Nazuna wondered what kind of world she will meet him next as she disappeared) with largely similar personalities. But Yuusuke does beg the question of whether they are actually themselves in the "what if" world because he turned from this total bro to this total asshole. One plausible albeit somewhat cynical explanation is that Yuusuke was genuinely shocked to see Norimichi with Nazuna and turned hostile when he thought the two were going to end up together (whereas prior he might've wanted to see Norimichi fail). It's somewhat important to explain this inconsistency in Yuusuke's character because if personalities were inverted then Nazuna in real life might not have actually liked Norimichi. But first, I don't think personalities were inverted in the "what if" world because I think the biggest inconsistency in Yuusuke isn't entirely inconsistent. Second, Nazuna in the real world may not have cared who won the race but she did expect Norimichi to win, which suggests that she was planning to ask Norimichi out. Third, in the train scene in the manga Nazuna remembered how she looked to a picture between her and Norimichi when she was sad about her dad passing away; even if personalities were inverted, there's nothing to suggest that memories did too. All this is to say we should expect the ending to be a happy one if Norimichi and Nazuna reunite in Tokyo.

Despite how impressive the visuals and the soundtrack were, the anime was a huge mess because of unnecessary gaps in storytelling and a very questionable decision to leave the ending more open ended than the manga. Bottom line: a 1.5 hour movie should not have people generating all kinds of theories just to understand it. Shame, since if the anime was adopted precisely as the manga it could've been a much more substantive piece of work rather just something that looked pretty but hollow. That said, Uchiage Hanabi as a whole does tell a cute love story with a message of hope.