FIREWORKS: Nice Animation Can’t Save A Familiar Story

Based on a 1993 Japanese teleplay, entitled Fireworks, Should We See It from the Side or the Bottom, the 2018 anime film Fireworks has the distinct feel of a motion picture we’ve seen before, one that attempts the uneasy of blend science fiction and romance. Director Akiyuki Shinbo (who co-directs with Nobouki Takeuchi, adapting a screenplay by Hitoshi Ohne) is an established name in the medium, having built a body of work comprised of films, television series, and OVAs (original video animations, the anime equivalent of “straight-to-DVD” movies) that date as far back as 1994.

His latest effort, Fireworks, certainly has the qualifications for greatness, melding the exuberance of youth with the power of time travel. Instead, the film is a resounding disappointment, squandering its intriguing premise on a banal love story, one that’s been told a hundred times before (most recently in last year’s critically and commercially lauded Your Name, which executed its familiar elements with beauty and panache). While pretty to look at, much of Fireworks falls incredibly flat, hampered by ill-defined characterizations.

Time Is A Flat Circle

Set in a fictional seaside town of Moshimo, Fireworks follows Norimichi Shimada (voiced by Masaki Suda), a perfectly normal teenage boy enjoys doing perfectly normal teenage things, such as swimming, riding his bike through the idyllic countryside with friends, and ogling the breasts of his schoolteacher. On the day of the town’s annual firework celebration, Norimichi and his friends wager a bet: when viewed from the side, will the fireworks appear to be flat or round?

The loser(s) of this bet must confess their feelings to the person they love, whom in this case is fellow classmate Nazuna Oikawa (Suzu Hirose). A quiet and reserved girl, Nazuna yearns to run away from home, unhappy with the prospects of being forced to move by her mother, a cruel and overbearing woman now facing her third marriage. Norimichi harbors the strongest feelings for Nazuna, but even he cannot bring himself to reveal to her how he truly feels.

Time travel eventually factors into the lives of Norimichi and Nazuna, taking the form of a small glass orb discovered on the beach by Nazuna. When thrown by Norimichi (initially in a fit of rage, after Nazuna is found and captured by her daunting mother in the midst of running away from home), the orb transports him to the beginning of his day, allowing him another shot at redoing his actions. With this newfound tool, he sets out to win over Nazuna’s affections, no matter the cost.

Sure, it’s a cute premise, but therein lies the problem with Fireworks: Nazuna never quite feels more than an object of desire to Norimichi. She’s the epitome of a manic pixie dream girl, serving only the desires of Norimichi, often embracing quirk at the expense of narrative push. The most egregious example occurs late in the film when, while the two would-be lovers are on a train, the film literally stops dead in its tracks for Nazuna to sing a romantic ballad to Norimichi. What’s meant to be touching instead registers as embarrassing, and even a little creepy.

Visual Splendor

If there’s any saving grace to the film, it’s that the animation is often remarkable to look at. Fireworks features stunning work, most notably in its marriage of 2D and 3D animation, employing unique textures over its gorgeous hand-drawn animation. Nighttime firework displays benefit the most from this treatment, with visuals of exploding balls of light are undoubtedly the highlight of the picture.

The time travel sequences themselves are also superb. Shinbo absolutely nails the awe of being transported backwards through time, guided in part by composer Satoru Kosaki’s soaring soundtrack. It’s a shame the rest of the film is not as strong, as the results of Norimichi’s time-hopping adventures come off as Groundhog Day-lite, utilized only to alter minute details of the day’s events. Those looking for a film that explores the full-fledged possibilities of time travel would do best to look elsewhere.

Fireworks: Conclusion

So, when viewed from the side, are fireworks flat or round? Fireworks offers no definitive answer to this question, nor does it offer any real story for us to invest in, electing to conclude the tale of Norimichi and Nazuna with the least satisfying ending. Shinbo has a real talent for painting a pretty picture, but the end result of his work can be summed up with one word: flat.

What do you think? Is the film greater than the sum of its brilliantly animated sequences? Leave a comment below!

Fireworks was released in limited theaters in the U.S. on July 3, 2018.