Some of us aren't able to speak. Some of us had these huge walls to prevent someone to get in. The question is, how high can you climb your walls to reach out to others? How long will you be able to close your heart, when it's inevitable for someone to get in?
Kokoro ga Sakibetagatterunda. is a 2015 romantic drama film produced by A-1 Pictures, with the story conceived by Mari Okada. From the writer of drama stories like AnoHana, Nagi no Asukara, Toradora, Maquia, and many more. Honestly, the movie impressed me in some ways. The moral of the story and the symbolism it had.
So the story revolved around a girl named, Jun Naruse. She was a chatterbox when she was a child until a magical egg sealed her ability to speak. It was because she saw his father having an affair with some other woman, and she told her mother about it. Causing her parents to divorced and then putting the burden on her shoulders.
In her teenage years, she isolated herself from her classmates and she didn't speak at all. Sometimes she spoke, but she felt some sort of stomachache when she does that. Then there's still a program in her class, where their teacher picked a group of individuals, with different stories, and they formed a musical show for the festival. These 4 individuals were forced to face their fears, feelings, and conflicts, as they formed their bonds and sought their resolves throughout the story.
The story piqued my interest because it focused more on character development than the romance itself. It was great and had the depth that I expected. Even though some of the characters like Sakagami being a hypocrite, as well as Natsuki were annoying, I liked Jun and Daiki. They were my favorite characters in this movie. Daiki was a punk from the start but he became considerate to Jun, and her feelings. Their developments were pretty good but I had some disliking for the romance. It felt very forced, even the last part when Daiki confessed his feelings to Jun. I liked the relationship between them though. The pacing was a bit slow and poor, and the direction of the film could be better. I liked the symbolism on the part when a magical egg sealed her ability to speak and she felt stomachache when she speaks. It means, there's no egg. She intentionally locked her heart away and her true feelings for the sake of gaining happy endings for other people. The way she had stomachache means she had a massive emotional trauma inside her heart when she speaks and all those horrible moments came back to her.
The animation was pretty good, as expected from the Super Peace Busters team of A-1 Pictures. The character designs were the same in Anohana, Her Blue Sky, and Darling in the Franxx. Even though the character designs were similar to others, the backgrounds were filled with aesthetic touches.
The sound was pretty fine. I liked the songs from the play and the music as well. It's suitable for every sequence but I think it's nothing special about it.
Overall, the movie was pretty good. The quality of the movie and its message were solid. It delivered its message to its perfection to the audience. Despite the film having its ups and downs, it's enjoyable to watch. I can promise that this film isn't a tearjerker, but it's beautiful in its ways. It's a film about the importance of expressing and accepting yourself.
___Story: 7/10
Animation: 8/10
Characters: 8.6/10
Sound: 7.5/10
Emotional Impact: 8.5/10
Enjoyment: 8.5/10___
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