This one's a quick and cute romance about two kids giving each other the confidence to grow passed their insecurities.
Aside from the main pairing, the cast isn't exactly notable, but it is filled out with charming enough characters of all ages that lend well to the feeling of community surrounding the large shopping mall that serves as the main backdrop of the movie.
Cherry is a reserved teen-aged boy who expresses himself through haiku. He clams up when he reads his poetry out loud and likes to close himself off from the noise of the people around him. Smile is one third of a popular online streamer trio that she and her sisters formed. However, she is ashamed of her distinctive buck teeth, which leads her to always covering her mouth up with a mask. After a fateful encounter where Cherry sees Smile's teeth, the two spend their summer vacation together working the same part time job at an elderly day care in the mall, where they become involved in a quest to find one of the elderly patron's lost treasured vinyl record by the end of summer, marked by the upcoming summer festival held at the mall. The mystery surrounding this subplot is sort of obvious, the reveal is a little too on the nose, and the resolution to it is comically (yet fittingly) mundane and lighthearted. But, it does well enough as the vehicle that develops the relationship between Cherry and Smile.
I talked to a friend about the artstyle of the movie, and they said they did not like it. I personally was a fan of the vibrant and saturated color palette, but I can see how it could be an eyesore to others. What really stuck out to me, though, was the background design. The architecture is, from a technical standpoint, outstanding. All of the geometry, angles, and perspective work of all the buildings' interiors as well as exteriors all look like they were drawn with the precision of an architect's design plans. Even the grass fields outside the mall and the clouds above have a distinct outlines that give the organic environment a geometric touch. Given that most of the movie is in and around the shopping mall - a building rife with with all sorts of complex interior design - I think it was a great artistic choice to go with such a clean and precise art style. Even the graphics on the characters' phone screens are super clean vector goodness. I paused several times throughout my viewing to admire the care put into the background design.
So yeah, as far as romance stories go, it's pretty standard. This is an anime for when you need that romantic quick fix. I also think that the background art is visually stunning, and for the artists out there it is definitely worth watching. The last 12 minutes or so are actually very VERY heartwarming and cute. It left a stupid smile on my face and going forward, it'll be that last scene that I'll think of and again crack another stupid smile over.
15.5 out of 18 users liked this review
