Today’s quick review: Fireworks. On the day of the summer fireworks festival, Norimichi Shimada (Ryan Shanahan) meets Nazuna Oikawa (Brooklyn Nelson), a classmate he has a crush on, as she’s running away from home. When Nazuna’s parents catch her, Norimichi uses a bauble Nazuna found to go back in time and change the course of the day. Even as fate conspires to keep them apart, Norimichi keeps trying to find a world where they can be together.
Fireworks is a Japanese animated fantasy romance. The movie revolves around the relationship between two high school students: a girl running away from home, and a boy who goes back in time to help her using a mysterious glass bauble. Fireworks is a visually gorgeous film with a sentimental story. However, its underdeveloped romance and abstract fantasy elements keep it from having the impact it could have had.
Fireworks has an intriguing setup, but it has a hard time lining up its pieces. The power of the bauble lets Norimichi explore a series of branching timelines that reveal more about Nazuna, her attempt to run away from home, and the delicate web of events leading up to the fireworks festival. The problem is that Fireworks never lays the full groundwork for this, resulting in an emotionally charged story with no clear stakes.
This plays out in two particular ways: Norimichi’s relationship with Nazuna and the mystery of the bauble. The relationship works well enough as a sweet teenage romance, but it’s missing some of the setup it needs. The film takes the chemistry between Nazuna and Norimichi for granted, and it skims past some important details about why she’s running away. Meanwhile, the bauble gives the story an increasingly surreal tinge with no clear answers.
None of these issues stop Fireworks from being an enjoyable watch. Its animation is colorful and artful, and its story captures the reckless passion of youthful love. But in terms of plot logic, Fireworks is a loosely structured movie with more than a few unanswered questions. Viewers who are willing to go along for the ride will find it to be a pleasant experience. Viewers hoping for a more concrete, meaningful story should look elsewhere.
For a beautiful fantasy romance in the same vein, try Your Name. or Weathering with You. For a more comical one with a looser art style, try Lu Over the Wall. For an even more creative animated fantasy, try Mirai. For an animated romantic drama with deeper themes, try I Want to Eat Your Pancreas. For a live-action comedy with time travel elements, try Groundhog Day.
5.5 out of 10 on IMDB. I give it a 6.5 for a romantic but abstract story.