This is not a story about bikini babes or warring ninjas. It is a pleasant story of five teenage girls training to become dancers at a world famous theme resort. The resort has high standards that require hard work to attain. Each girl has her own strengths and weaknesses and they struggle individually and together to reach for their dreams.
The setup to the story is a little girl named Hiwa idolizing her older sister Mari. A recurring theme is how their two names combined can form Himawari which means Sunflower. Mari was a hula dancer at the famous Hawaiians Spa Resort in Fukushima, Japan. Mari was killed at Hawaiians in the great earthquake of 2011. Jump forward 10 years and Hiwa is now going to Hawaiians to train and work to become a hula dancer too. (The resort is real and the movie was released to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the terrible earthquake that damaged the Fukushima nuclear reactors.)
The animation is realistic with high quality and the acting is very good. The Hawaiian music is nice too. The plot is adequate, but it misses opportunities to be stronger. I feel they could have put more screen time into developing the connections between Hiwa and two of the resort workers who knew her older sister Mari. They also missed the chance to build upon some of the humorous moments that could liven up the story.
Overall, this is a pleasant wholesome movie for general audiences. If you are a fan of hula, then it is a "must see" for the detailed portrayal of dancing.
