The animation was beautiful, it was enough to cover up how mundane the plot was lol.

I loved the style of the movie, the way everything was portrayed. At first, I thought that the characters' eyes were lifeless however as you progress through the movie they use it to their advantage to show off their emotions - especially when they zoom into the specific area.

The concept is interesting and as someone who has gone through grief before, maybe I would recommend this movie as perhaps those going through a time of where 'Everyone's moving on from her death yet I'm still stuck here' can relate? The desperation our main male protagonist, Kaoru, had to bring Karen, his dead sister back was a feeling I knew all too well. At the start, I did sigh at the fact that it seemed like our two main protagonists would be 'emo' and although I do wish the movie explored and developed their characters more, It's undeniable that they did have some sort of development. This point is supported by the scene where they recreate their first time meeting. The setting itself is different too, it matches how our protagonists are far more open towards each other. When they first met, it was rainy, cloudy, dark and they both seemed troubled and uninterested however when they recreated the scene there were jokes, smiling, the sun was out and Kaoru, even laughed even though earlier he was described and shown as stoic, Anzu mentioned that she had never seen him laugh previously. Maybe it's my lack of understanding for the movie as the subtitles were kinda bad, but I wish they explained why he did not take Karen with him to the present and have all of them together. Perhaps it was just implied by the fact that she was just in a room? Where did the bird go? Honestly, I wish they developed his character more. Maybe it is a translation issue but there were so many questions. I did shed a couple tears due to the female protagonist, Anzu. At first, her interactions kind of seemed forced but as the movie progressed you could see this bold, uncaring girl slowly turn into or unravel that she's quite the opposite. She's kinda bad at managing her emotions, you can see this by her little outbrst when Kaoru guesses she made a manga. I didn't like her at first but eventually I softened up for her. It was actually her scenes which made me shed a few tears. A factor could be due to the fact I seriously sympathised with her but the voice acting and animation helped it feel real. The scene where she realizes Kaoru went into the tunnel and started crying and shouting about her frustrations about Kaoru essentially betraying and leaving her behind, and when the announcement of the train being delayed reminded her of him so she cried, or her wondering if he'd ever return for his umbrella. Thank god her feelings were reciprocated lol imagine sending messages to a guy for 4 years for him to js not care lol. In all seriousness, I think her feelings were a bit rushed but I still love her character.

The movie was honestly predictable, but hey, sometimes we need a break from all that super complex stuff even if the movie felt like it tried hard to be deep. I just feel like it was way too short like there are so many things that need to be answered but maybe it's cause I hate endings that leave questions. The animation was genuinely superb, the inside of the tunnel was genuinely jaw dropping. The plot was okay. The voice acting was also really good. Some people say that the it was done dirty compared to the visual novel.