Writers: Mei Hachimoku and Tomohisa Taguchi
Director: Tomohisa Taguchi
Japanese anime producers Anime Ltd have a romantic summer treat for UK viewers, the release of The Tunnel to Summer, the Exit of Goodbyes in cinemas. This enchanting story is an exploration of life’s meaning and finding new purpose after the passing of a loved one. Combing a magical reality, the contrast between the natural world and urban environments as well as the isolation of the teenage years seeking external certainty to bolster internal insecurities, Tomohisa Taguchi’s film has a warm heart.
Kaoru lives with an alcoholic father who blames him for the death of his younger sister Karen. Frustrated by his homelife, Kaoru meets a beautiful but dismissive girl at the train station and lends her an umbrella which she promises to return. When Kaoru discovers a magical tunnel in the woods that may grant his dearest wish, he joins forces with Anzu to test the time-bending properties of this magical realm. With no one to care for either of them, Kaoru and Anzu may find that what they are really looking for is closer to home than they realise.
Taguchi’s 80-minute film builds the two central characters really well, creating vast and meaningful interior loves for them both. Anzu’s surly exterior and Kaoru’s melancholy acceptance are slowly stripped away as their story develops, explaining the tragedies and traumas that they both carry while building a connection and trust between them that the audience can invest in. As ludicrous as the magical time tunnel may seem as a plot point, the grounded realism of the protagonists and their presence on screen provides a nice balance.
In Japanese with English subtitles, the film is based on the novel and manga artwork of Mei Hachimoku which initially captures different styles of living in the town where the teenagers live. Kaoru is based in a single-level traditional house with sliding doors while Anzu is in a modern high-rise flat. Both characters dream of going to Tokyo one day to escape the limitations of their lives outside the city, but it is notable that it is in the rural landscape where they find true possibility and like many anime films, the woods become a safe and welcoming space for the friends.
Kô Hoshina’s cinematography is particularly vibrant in this section of the film, the dark, forbidding tunnel becoming an explosion of vibrant and welcoming colours as orange and pink blends to lure Kaoru in particular further into the tree-lined route, filling the screen with fairy-tale charm. Taguchi, however, balances the changing motivations of the characters really effectively as what they seek from the tunnel instead grows between them and across the film their developing intimacy shifts their scientific commitment to investigating the power of the secret world.
Voiced by Marie Iitoyo and Oji Suzuka, The Tunnel to Summer, the Exit of Goodbyes is a story driven by the leads who overcome the obstacles they put in their own way and their lack of faith in themselves. While a final act reunion leaves the audience a touch confused about the character’s mismatched ages given the supposed power of the tunnel and is something the writers could have easily tidied up, this is a summer romance to root for.
The Tunnel to Summer, the Exit of Goodbyes is releasing in cinemas across the UK and Ireland from 14th July 2023.
