Rent Fireworks (2017)

Fireworks (aka Fireworks, Should We See It from the Side or The Bottom? / Uchiage hanabi, shita kara miru ka? Yoko kara miru ka?) review by Mark McPherson - Cinema Paradiso

After the major success of Your Name being a brilliant mix of slice-of-life teen romance and time-altering miracles, it’s natural that a film such as Fireworks would want to come branded as another slice of the same. But the film also comes out amid many other anime films of the same nature that it has competition enough to not just be as acceptable to merely ape off the formula. And it’s unfortunate to report that on a comparative level, Fireworks turns up flat.

The film takes place over the course of roughly one day and multiple timelines. A Japanese festival is coming up and a local school is buzzing with students excited for the festivities and fireworks. Love is also in the air as students Norimichi and Yusuke happen to fancy the quiet and lovely student Nazuna. Norimichi desperately wants to confess his feelings to her but cannot bring himself to do so. He’s also fearful that he’ll lose her to the more confident Yusuke. Fearing that he’ll lose Nazuna forever, he decides to whisk her away by running away together. Like any story of kids trying to run away from home, it doesn’t go exactly as planned.

But then something strange happens. Norimichi encounters a strange magical ball that grants him the ability to turn back time and replay the previous events. In doing so, however, each time changes his dimension with the big giveaway being the fireworks. In one reality, they spherically explode. In another, they’re flat shockwaves. And in another, they seem to be beautiful blossoms that don’t make much sound. Every turning back of time brings him closer to Nazuna but also a reminder that this isn’t the reality he originally resided within.

Fireworks just doesn’t have all the right stuff to explode with the same drama as Your Name. All the ingredients are there; a young love triangle, magical powers, time loops, buddy conversations, etc. Unfortunately, it all comes off as rather stock. Norimichi and his pals all seem a little too familiar of previous anime templates. Norimichi, in particular, has the whole blushing that’s-not-true attitude towards confessing his love. His friends do normal kid stuff like play video games, ride bikes, and plan out where to go to watch the fireworks. Their conversations are nothing special, mostly on topics of noticing breasts and debating the mechanics of explosives (trust me, this is small talk for anime).

Perhaps the most underwhelming aspect of the picture is Nazuna being seen as a goddess. Norimichi first takes an interest in her as the shy girl of the class who rarely speaks or reacts. There’s a mystique to her. But when she later ventures to run away with Norimichi, she starts to break out in musical numbers. She’s not a bad singer (both Japanese and English voice-over actors do a great job) but her songs are performed in a manner that seems less emotional tugging and more like a Broadway number. You don’t need to check the fireworks to know you’re in an alternate timeline when your love interest can suddenly break out into busting out songs for the stage.

Fireworks comes with the best of intentions and there are bits and pieces of charm and emotion strewn into such a familiar story. But there’s such a timid and overtly bland staging to such a story that I’m afraid to say it could just be labeled as a lukewarm Your Name knock-off anime. The citation of the film on the packaging doesn’t help its case either, showcasing brightly how if you loved Your Name then you’ll love this. All this film made me do was appreciate Your Name all the more.