I'm going to be rather harsh about this one.. considering the last half hour is a chore to finish, and I just wanted to move on (things you don't want your audience to experience).
The movie feels like 2 really slow hours of inconsequential plots that don't lead anywhere meaningful, and the pay off is the hope of a generic romantic relationship between a pair you can't possibly ship together. Sadly, one of the leads is not like the other. One is innocent charming and endearing.. while the other is Masaki Okada, which I find to be a rather poor choice for ANY leading role! As he delivers them all in a similar fashion (being borderline-annoying and aloof seems to be his selling points). Kaya Kiyohara is cutesy and the movie would benefit from focusing solely on her character.
The plot is painfully predictable. With too many obvious elements and outcomes. And repeating scenes can feel like a waste of time.. which it does a lot and doesn't offer additional context or details to make them useful.
And there's the little things a nitpicker like me can notice.. a lack of care and quality ("time-stop" moment where everything supposedly freezes.. yet, while people are frozen and some even float mid-air, clothing and trees inexplicably continue swaying in the wind).
In the end, it has nice cinematography, nice places, and interesting ideas poorly used.. and it is too quirky at the beginning for my taste and without much substances. The conclusion is also kind of bad.. good songs, though!
