In truth, the most competitive area of fiction is not invasions from outer space or talking dogs or impossible missions but rather the most basic narrative of all, the love story.
And this is also the most overcrowded field, and the most difficult to do right.
This film, this story, is extraordinary. It reminds me of MY SASSY GIRL, a love story from Asia that captured the imagination of the world and has almost become a franchise, it's been copied so many times.
It also brings to mind Richard Matheson's classic BID TIME RETURN, another love story for the ages that uses time juxtaposition. (Done as the movie SOMEWHERE IN TIME, 1980).
I already gave this the highest rating on the IMDb.
The animation is stunning and complimentary to this one-of-a-kind tale.
All things considered, I would like to avoid the ongoing arguments about which Japanese animation studio is better, or worse, than the other.
I prefer to simply be grateful that Japanese anime exists at all, because I cannot imagine any other country producing something this moving, this powerful, in graphic form.
((Designated "IMDb Top Reviewer." Please check out my list "167+ Nearly-Perfect Movies (with the occasional Anime or TV miniseries) you can/should see again and again (1932 to the present))
