Rating: *** (out of five)

If you had an opportunity to change the past, what would you change?

Norimichi Shimada and Yusuke spend their pool-cleaning duty. Nazuna proposes a swimming competition for Norimichi and Yusuke. She says that the winner could spend a night with her. Finally, Yusuke wins. He does not want Yusuke to win because he finds that Yusuke doesn’t like Nazuna. Suddenly, Norimichi discovers a small glass marble which can rewind time. He tries to throw the marble and changes the past.

When he goes to the past, he encounters a lot of things. When he gets to a train with Norimichi, he is caught by her parents. He wants to alter the past again, so he throws the glass marble. This time, he is caught by his friends. He throws the marble again. Finally, he goes to an ideal world that nobody deters them from getting onto the train.

Norimichi goes to a lighthouse and sees the fireworks. He finds that the shapes of fireworks change when he changes the past. In the original world, the fireworks are rounded. In another world where he has changed the past, the fireworks are flat. In his ideal world, the fireworks are rounded again! However, Nazuna doesn’t want to live in his ideal world. Norimichi throws the marble again…

Comment:

I think the effects of the fireworks are great. But the directors should try to tell us more about the reason why only fireworks can represent different worlds. The ending is a bit unclear. Also, Norimichi persists in getting to the train with Nazuna, so he changes the past. How about the other characters? Do they know that the world is changing? The plot events are a bit problematic.

More about Shunji Iwai:

A Japanese film director, video artist, writer and documentary maker. He was awarded Directors Guild of Japan New Directors Award in 1993.

If you want to read the book, click the following links.

• Chinese version: https://hkpl.ebook.hyread.com.tw/bookDetail.jsp?id=138520
• English version: https://www.amazon.com/Fireworks-Should-Bottom-light-novel/dp/1975353269

If you want to watch the animation, click the following links.

• Chinese substitute: https://www.movieffm.net/movies/fireworks-should-we-see-it-from-the-side-or-the-bottom/
• English substitute: https://www.amazon.com/Fireworks-Subtitled-Japanese-Animation-%E6%89%93%E3%81%A1%E4%B8%8A%E3%81%92%E8%8A%B1%E7%81%AB%E3%80%81%E4%B8%8B%E3%81%8B%E3%82%89%E8%A6%8B%E3%82%8B/dp/B07FLLL2QY

 

Cover picture credit: https://forum.gamer.com.tw/Co.php?bsn=47230&sn=142