Meaningful adventures and character development in a newfound place that retains the infectious Non Non Biyori charm. · Waifora

This review contains full spoilers for the film.

Name: Meaningful adventures and character development in a newfound place that retains the infectious Non Non Biyori charm.
Item: Non Non Biyori Vacation
Rating: 95
Author: pseudo

In addition, this review was written in a style and a voice which I wouldn't use in my current-day writing. If you're curious to read—what I consider to be, at least—my more thoughtfully and precisely articulated work, please check out some of my newer reviews or my list notes.

I'm leaving this review itself untouched, though–both for posterity's sake as well as a reflection of the fact that the writing you see below is what readers like yourself had judged its merit on over the years.

A lot of people like this movie a little bit less compared to the main seasonals. At a glance, it’s not hard to see why - the gang take a break from their quaint adventures in Asahigaoka on go on an actual journey involving planes and trains to Okinawa. Anyone that fell in love with the sense of place that the first two seasons were able to evoke might have felt that this movie was a bit out of the series’ element.However, I think that this film is as good as the rest of the episodes before it, albeit in a different way. Gone is the intimate familiarity of the characters’ hometown, but with new horizons, we continue to see Non Non Biyori’s central ethos of living in the moment, this time through a vacation. It’s a different angle on the same themes, and I think it’s one that’s executed well, and one that compliments the main series extremely well.

The movie starts with our main four hopping into Kazu-nee's ride and taking a trip to the department store. What I really liked about this is that it serves as an "onramp" to the idea that this movie will center around a vastly different setting and location. Keep in mind, our main characters — and by extension, us, the viewers — have never substantially ventured far from Asahigaoka before. Aside from the one beach episode that was a couple of train line transfers away, the vast majority of screentime thus far has taken place within the quaint comforts of Non Non Biyori's hometown. I liked that the writers were careful to use the term "field trip" to sort of signal the idea that this movie moves outside of the bubble we've spent the last 24 episodes being familiar with.Of course, this department store trip also serves as the main premise for Natsumi's brother winning the Okinawa tickets, but that's not the reason why I liked this part of the movie. It's a relatively minor detail overall, but I appreciated this small little tidbit of foreshadowing that was offered. It's the tiny technical things like this that I personally think elevate the movie over the already excellent seasonals before it.

Now we get into the meat and bones of this movie, the trip to Okinawa itself. For the most part, the middle of this film (which is the majority of it) is the Non Non Biyori we all know and love. Endearing, hilarious, and carefree characters living their lives to the fullest through the company they share with each other. And although it's a given that I still really liked this part of the movie (it's why we're watching this series, after all), it doesn't stray that much from the NNB formula of previous episodes and seasons. As such, I won't be going into a lot of detail about this portion, simply because there's not much to talk about.

Now, enter Aoi.I love the presence of Aoi in this movie because she helps facilitate the biggest character development we've seen in Non Non Biyori thus far - her friendship with Natsumi.Natsumi is normally a very free spirit and isn't one to get overly emotional or sentimental. She's the most rambunctious of the cast and tends to be very fickle. However, she finds comfort within Aoi in the fact that they're the same age; a rarity in the Asahigaoka social circle. While Natsumi has her sister and brother as family and close confidants, the prospect of having a friend the same age as her is something she didn't realize she yearned for.Considering Japan's very rigid social context, it makes complete sense why she would want to befriend Aoi. To Natsumi, Aoi is someone that isn't older than her, younger than her, or related to her — Aoi is just someone she sees as her equal and the potential to become a friend in the truest sense of the word.

Through Aoi, we get to see Natsumi become a lot more earnest and grounded as a character, a large departure from her usual demeanour. She's more gentle, more sensitive, and more kind. That's not to say that she didn't have these characteristics in her beforehand, but seeing this change in her through another person that she can relate to is very nice to watch.We also get to see some development from Aoi's side as well. She's a very honest and hard worker that likely doesn't get a lot of guests her age at the inn that her family runs. When we see her enjoying the company of our main cast and genuinely befriending them, you can't help but smile. It's like the vibes in this friend group are immaculate and infectious.

Welcome to this movie's budget-dump scene. Well, the entire movie is beautifully animated and features a lot of gorgeous aspect-to-aspect transitions, but this scene with the stars and the glowing algae stands out. Here, our main four (plus Aoi) are truly alone with no one but themselves, the starry sky, and the ethereally lit water.They've been stargazing before, but never with someone outside of their group and never by the water. It's the culmination of a journey that features all the familiarity they're used to, yet with just enough novelty that makes this experience one they'll carry for the rest of their lives.

Here, we see Natsumi and Aoi exchange a heartfelt thank you with each other. They're each halves to a whole that they never thought they needed, taking solace the fact that they were able to find each other. Despite their respective worlds where they never expected to encounter someone they relate to so closely, they met. This conversation is the emotional high of the movie.Unfortunately, after all the happiness and satisfaction, all journeys must come to an end.

Once again, we see a side of Natsumi that we've never seen before. Having spent time in a newfound place and making her first profound connection outside of her hometown, Natsumi is at her most vulnerable when faced with the inevitable prospect of parting ways with Okinawa, and especially Aoi. It's this cathartic depth to the Non Non Biyori movie that makes this movie so strong and compelling to me.Through this scene, we come to realize the meaning that an adventure adds to our lives, yet the bittersweetness that comes with our eventual return. Natsumi experiences this firsthand, and having become intimately familiar with Asahigaoka for 24 episodes prior to this movie, so do we.

But of course, it's not all sad. Journeys are transient, yet they stay with us for the rest of our lives. Our main cast returns home reflecting on the immensely enjoyable time they had in Okinawa, despite only being there for four days. Natsumi was able to enjoy a type of friendship she's never had before, and carves a place for Aoi in her heart, promising to stay in touch with her and cherish her.

Scroll back to the very first image of this review, then come back to this one. Do you see it?That picture was one of the very first establishing shots of the movie — Renge heading out of her house to go hang out with the other three. At the end of the movie, we're then called back to the same frame, the times of day reflecting both the start and the end of a journey. Finding comfort in both the experience and its conclusion, feeling fulfilled and satisfied with the time you spent breaking away your ordinary life, even if only for a little bit.

At the end of the day, am I writing a whole bunch of words and going into a lot of detail for what's just an ordinary, fluffy slice-of-life? ...Yeah, I am, but that's because I think that the real strength of this movie is that it ventures beyond this.We get to see meaningful character development in the cast, but especially Natsumi. We get the Non Non Biyori charm in a place completely different than the town we're used to seeing. We experience the emotional highs and the bittersweet feelings that come with embarking on uncharted territory, and we gain a greater appreciation for the novelties life has to offer as a result.This movie is Non Non Biyori in all of its glory, but with a little extra that might move your heart more than the original series did.That's the essence of this trip.

This review contains full spoilers for the film.

Thank you for reading:)