In 2020, The Stranger By The Shore was released, a beautiful gay romance story based on the first book of the still ongoing Seaside Stranger series written by Kanna Kii. Visually beautiful, with an amazing soundtrack, an investing story, and very few drawbacks that I can think of, it's easily my favorite romance film - and one of my favorite animated films ever made.
The story, while quite simple, is a very impactful one. Living on the tropical island of Okinawa, Japan, Shun Hashimoto is a gay novelist working on his next work. One night, he meets the quiet Mio Chibana staring at the beach one night. After interacting, Mio admits that, while they have some sort of feelings for each other, he has to move back to the mainland for a few years, and that he'll come back. A few years later, he fulfills that promise, and pursues his relationship with Shun, while the latter is a bit hesitant towards it at first because of his past. However, as the story moves forward, the two pursue their relationship and troubles. For a film of only 55 minutes, it is very worthwhile.
If there's one criticism I have with the film's version of the story, it's the reason why Shun is very bitter to Mio at the beginning of the story. I may once or twice compare scenes to the manga, but since this film is essentially the first manga's volume, I feel it's important. In the manga, the reason why Shun is originally mad at Mio is that Mio promises to write or call Shun when he moves away for those few years. In the movie, we see that Shun has a postcard Mio sent him, so we are left kind of confused in the beginning about why he's so against Mio originally. However, in the manga, Shun makes it very clear he's upset with Mio for never calling or writing once while he was away, leaving Shun wondering for all those years, and then Mio coming home and saying pretty much, "I'm finally ready to date you." As much as Mio is one of my anime crushes, what he did was a huge dick move.
Soundtrack-wise, it's absolutely beautiful. Mina Kubota did a wonderful job with the music, most being very somber, beautiful, or heart-gripping piano pieces that fit like a jigsaw piece right where the scene is. The entire album of fourteen songs is available on most music streaming services, so I highly recommend checking it out.
Visually, this movie is absolutely beautiful. It takes the feeling of the tropical setting of Okinawa and really sets it alight. With bright, vibrant colors such as the green in nature, the eye-popping tropical flowers, the blue of the sky and the ocean, and even the soft blues of the night scenes are very soft, and make the entire movie just burst with feeling and astonishment.
I think to me, the reason I loved this movie so much - and the manga for that matter - is that, besides the breathtaking visuals and audio, the story meant a lot to me. It reminded me of my relationship with my own boyfriend - yes, for those who haven't read my bio, I am gay, so the topic was very personal to me. The feeling of the social outcasting the two both have to deal with, both together and in their pasts, as well as the wondering of why it's so bad to be with someone of the same gender, society, and other norms forcing them to be with opposites, and then eventually realizing that there's nothing wrong with it, as long as they're in love, made a lot to me. It was very emotionally gripping.
Overall, I very much enjoyed this film and everyone I showed it to very much enjoyed it as well. Once against, this gets a perfect score for me.