The movie is divided into segmented anthologies, which follow different characters all experiencing a different aspect of life and romance. Most seem to disdain the short length but I find it actually elevates each narrative. A lot of us have probably seen all sorts of romances under the sun so we know how these stories typically play out and often this can lead to stories dragging out as us viewers can see the entire plot miles away yet the story won't pick up the pace. That ain't a problem here. The short length means we don't have time to get hung up on meaningless dialogue or unnecessary plot points or needless melodrama. Instead what we get is subtle vignettes of their lives and romances. The words are careful made and the stories never lingers too long on any topic and we learn all sorts of things about the romances and what kind of people they are just through the animation, story and dialogue. It also helps that 3/4 of the lives explored are very mature and nuanced topics. Any one of these stories could be explored in any vast long running sorts of ways, but don't let that notion make you miss the point. The key word here is vignette. The stories are meant to be short and fleeting yet fluttery in a way, hence the title "Happy-go-lucky days".
Although if it were perfect I would've given it a ten so sadly I gotta knock this story down a peg for one reason alone. The last story goes on far too long. Part of what made this story good was how they cut the fat, yet were kept the depth we want from a story. The final story with the kids betrays this in its latter portion. We end up going through all the melodrama most hate from most shoujo romances and the story becomes extremely generic with the typical anime highschool stuff you see all the time. The story starts presenting all sorts of ideas that never get looked into more even though they at first appear to be vital and key to the rest of the story. It also does not help that the female love interest is unlikable and some weird stuff happens with her that I won't mention cuz spoilers. It honestly was the worst and most abrupt section of the movie and it just was so ugghhhh that it brought this movie down for me from a near 10 to near 8.
Honestly, you could do with just the first 3 and stop there. My advice is to skip to the end of the 4th story the second it starts. You'll thank yourself a whole lot for that. Anyways it was a great time and I hope my review was helpful to you in any way.
