Like a lot of romance movies these days, the story is light on substance and reliant on style. If you were to break this movie down into its basic components it would be fateful encounter, slice of life montage, minor conflict, and happily ever after. You totally didn't see that coming. Just like you totally wouldn't see every single twist coming from a mile away, exactly like a Hallmark Christmas movie.
As for the art, here's nothing to write home about here. The movie looks like a well-made amateur project with a few nice looking scenes and a lot of not so nice looking scenes (think little witch academia but a lot less smooth). The colors used in the art were nice, but that's about all that's worth mentioning about it. The ending sounds nice, about the only memorable song from the movie.
If you love socially awkard characters, I have some great news. Both leads try their hardest to be as awkward as possible, especially Cherry. Trouble speaking to a small group of people? Check. Extremely awkward interactions with your romantic interest? You bet. Cringe-inducing dialogue? We got lots of that. Our awkward leads, despite the abundance of screen time dedicated to second hand embarrassment, are never fleshed out as real characters and feel like caricatures. Cherry and Smile are demo-versions of what they're supposed to be, incomplete products pulled along by the themes the movie is trying to convey. The side characters are negligible just like most other romance movies, don't expect that to change here.
If there is anything this movie has to offer, it's the ending scene. After slogging through an entire movie's worth of uninspired teenage romance, Ishiguro hits us with one of the greatest ending scenes a romance movie based on social awkwardness could possibly have. I won't spoil it for you, but rest assured that if you decide to take the plunge on this movie your patience will be rewarded.
This movie was mind numbing and (almost) a complete waste of time. If I were to describe this movie, it would be like sitting in a boring meeting at work for 80 minutes and then right afterwards witnessing the co-worker you hate the most eat shit just outside the office building. You won't remember much of the meeting, but the hearty laugh from the tumble you just saw will stick with you for a while.
