Flavors of Youth

It is evident all over the world, wherever you are born, you'll never forget the place you are born. And that's the irony of today's gov't all over the world. All the world's gov't is demolishing the memory we have of our child dream homes where we were born. Same here, the gov't demolished our home in the name of development and now all we've left is some vague memory. Sure we will never be able to rewind the past. Such a beautiful past we had. Hats off to the team.

I really enjoyed this Netflix anime. Something can always be learned from life stories, and this trio of short stories has something for everyone.

From the simple pleasures of a hot meal, to family, friendship and planning for the future, these stories are represented variously and concisely.

Although some of the character designs feel generic (mainly background characters and minor characters with brief appearances), the backgrounds are detailed and grand like any quality theatrical release.

The opening segment took a minute or two to find its footing, but I was rewarded by the quality of the animation, the warmth of the narrator's voice, and the poetry of the description.

After that first segment, I was more patient, allowing the rest of the film to wash over me like a warm bowl of San Xian noodles (the art of noodles figuring prominently in that first segment).

For a change, the setting is various cities and towns in China, which works for me, adding needed variety compared to seeing the usual City and town backdrops used in many anime depictions of Japan.

Be sure to watch past the final credits of the last segment, as there is an end credit scene (of course there is) that bookends with the opening scene at the airport.

I thought I would have to work to pay attention (I have ADD), but the brevity of each segment made it easy to follow along. The first segment is so warm and poetic, it brought a joyful tear to my eye.

The second segment took a little longer to get into, but the characters slowly developed (just like in real life, it takes time to get to know people), and the payoff was unexpectedly grand.

The final segment really could have been developed into its own story, but the brevity added to the drama and could easily be the best of the three stories. I suppose it could have been presented first, but then I would have missed out on that beautiful opening segment that really sets the tone for the rest of the film.

I really enjoyed the film. It reminds me of 5 CM Per Second and Only Yesterday, similar films which reward the viewer while relaxing and feeding your soul like a warm bowl of noodles.

This review is based on the international version, in Japanese with English subtitles.

It is, overall, an experience in itself more than a movie. It's something you take in, interpret, analyze through your experiences and filter with your own feelings. It's entirely up to you if this movie is something you digest afterwards for a few hours wondering about your life as a whole or just something you ate popcorn to. In both cases it is extremely good. The lessons that are in it are numerous and varied enough to please everyone and it's auite easy to identify with something from the movie, be it a character, a scenery, a feeling, a phrase, and the list can go on. On purpose it is called flavour(S) in the plural form because to everyone there is something different to be taken out of it. This anime is about love, family, passion, dreams, and everything else that makes us human. It's a nice perspective on life, set in short stories that are pleasant on their own and connect, covering up all the issues someone might face, with characters that are really nice and a good development. It's similar to Life Itself in these aspects. For those who want to just chill out it's great too, the animation is beautiful (not stunning) but well done, the music and scenery is extremely absorbing, good play and twists, quite easy to follow up, and a really well made movie overall that should fill up and afernoon and make you feel good afterwards. So give it a shot no matter what!

"Flavors of Youth" (2018)

To be honest this movie is a slow burn, maybe not even a burn. The movie is split up into three stories with the same theme, childhood. I personally liked the first story the most, but the third story is also wotrh watching. Sit down, drink a cup of tea and relax while watching beautiful animantion tell three sweet stories about the memories of childhood :))

Rating: 7/10.

Composed of three, independent short stories, this anime film has beautiful animation. The stories are gentle, nostalgic slice-of-life, filled with childhood memories and regret, but also hope. Little action, just feelings and self-reflection. For some viewers it will seem boring, but for me it was very enjoyable. The shorter length of each story helped me not to lose interest. Rating: 9/10