Kimi no Suizou wo Tabetai, known as KimiSui for short, was, to say the least, nothing new in particular to the industry. The setup was all too familiar, and tearjerker setups like this have been tried and true. Even still... I still felt that the movie was able to capture the essence of life. Not the life that we wish for, but the cruel reality of how short it really is. The movie hits you with pure raw force, showing you how quickly anything can change - without stalling.
Story: KimiSui is similar to the rest of the pack in how it doesn't deviate away from the slice of life formula, particularly used in high school settings. Things happen, and there's no real depth found in the story as it is all in the characters. But even still, what this movie represents is not an account of a dying girl and a high school boy, but a metaphor of the fleetingness that is life. The majority of the movie revolves around completing life's dreams, aka, a bucket list. If viewed from the perspective of the story supporting the characters, it's done in a way that isn't exemplary, yet still above the rest. However, when looking at KimiSui from story alone, it's obvious that it can't keep itself held up. It's almost immediately obvious that the story isn't meant to be deep, and full of twists. Instead, you can tell that the recognizable setup that you're presented with at the beginning of the movie is meant to aid in character development.
Art: For a 2018 movie in the age of Shinkai, the art is fairly standard for what we compare to other recent movies. It's well-crafted, and obviously has high standards to meet, but KimiSui meets that upper echelon in quality. There are countless scenes where I just wanted to screenshot what I was seeing and turn it into a wallpaper. I liked the character designs of Sakura and Issei, as they don't really feel like they blend into a style of character that I've seen in the past. With Haruki, however, I for some reason was reminded of Yukiatsu from Anohana when I saw him. One scene in particular I want to highlight, though, is the firework scene from later in the movie. This scene is excellent in its animation, showcasing pseudo-3D camera rotations that occur while keeping the animation crisp and clean.
Sound: The soundtrack definitely has some great songs, and the songs by Sumika really brought out the emotion in the scenes that included them. Other than that, though, I can't really say much else about the sound. You expect a certain quality from the voice actors, and you receive exactly what you're looking for, and more. That's reflected in this movie.
Character: While I don't want to lump the characters into tropes, they do feel like that. Sakura is similar to a hybrid between Nagisa from Clannad and Yui from Oregairu in some ways, while Haruki made me feel like I was going to relive Hachiman. This might just be because I rewatched Oregairu recently, though. Tropes or not, the characters still created an interesting story that delivered on its message. Without Sakura, there wouldn't be change in Haruki, and he wouldn't be anything more than a social outcast destined to a life of complacency. Without Haruki, Sakura's story wouldn't have been anything more than a sad case of an illness. However, with the two complimenting each other, not only does an unlikely relationship begin, but the tension that is created at the climax of the story has extreme impact. Haruki's development throughout the story feels natural, and by the end of the movie, you can see that in a way, the two do live on together. My only gripe with this story was that by the climax, there wasn't enough left to drive the impact of the events further. I felt that with just a little more, perhaps something in between the ending and epilogue, we could have gotten the message to firmly cement itself into the audience's minds.
Enjoyment: I'm glad that I watched this movie. It may be predictable at times, but by the end of the movie, what you're left with is a unique experience of one view of life. After waiting for as long as I did to finally watch this movie after 2 years, I definitely will rewatch it in the future.
Overall: KimiSui offers a unique story of life brought together by the familiar. You've seen this setup before, the characters too, and it delivers on its promise to tell a story that's on one perspective of life.
