Shaft thought "hmm how can we make the popular time reversal due to a certain circumstance trope, but not copy what's come before" A high school romance !
I have just returned from watching this in the Cinema, and i felt compelled to write a quick review. I won't be going into detail about the couple next to me getting a little to involved with the romance genre, because that wasn't the films fault.
I have to give Shaft some credit, the visuals and backdrops were absolutely stunning, especially at the beginning. Though I wouldn't place it upon the same tier as some other recent anime films (You know the ones) but that isn't a criticism in the slightest.
For the sake of the review, I'm going to call the main characters as Monogatari Copy (Female) and Monogatari Copy (Male), anyone familiar with Shafts art style would instantly recognise some blatant comparisons, and yes there was a couple head tilts.
I did feel that the characters were a little underdeveloped, though the limitations of a 90 minute film are obvious, it just would have been great to see the potential utilised. The comedic moments sprinkled throughout did manage to get a few blowing out your nostrils in appreciation and grins across the audience, but there wasn't any other emotions being extracted.
I only intended to write up a quick review, so to wrap up, Fireworks (as it was printed on my ticket) was a nice film that had a great potential, but was enjoyable never the less, if you're looking for a quick and easy to watch film, give it a watch.
As always, in the end, as a westerner does my opinion really matter anyway?
*The ending credits song was great, but i feel I may have heard it somewhere before...Oh well*