DESCRIPTION

CAST

ONAIchiban Chikakute Tooi Hoshi
MANGA DramaSummer Ghost

REVIEWS

• 

  Xcile

  87/100
  "What do you want from a dead human like me?"

  What is an Anime for you if you watch a summer episode? A hot day, beach & sands, wearing kimonos in firework festivals, children running around enjoying their vacation. It's that time of the year when everyone has to feel the warm breeze and they say, "ahhh.. atsuida ne". That is my definition when I'm watching a summer episode. But this movie is not based on any of those topics.

  ⚠Hard Spoilers Ahead⚠
  When summer vacation is at last, three high school students met through social media to meet the Summer Ghost. Here, we started with Tomoya, Aoi, and Ryo; three high schoolers that never met before have come terms to meet a ghost. You're probably wondering why they want to meet this ghost. Is it because they're bored? Being childish? Bust some ghost? or maybe because they have problems with their lives trying to figure out if they have any reason to live. That could be it! While we progress through the movie, we see that the 3 main characters are having flashbacks. Tamoya wants to apply in art school, but Tomoya's mom is forcing him in his study, Aoi is getting bullied, and Ryo has terminal cancer.

  To encounter the Summer Ghost, they need to buy fireworks and light up to meet Ayane "Summer Ghost" Satou. She had long hair and wore a black dress and was able to fly from over the clouds to under the ground. To build up her story, Tomoya and the rest were certain that she committed suicide then later on she told Tomoya that she was murdered 3 years ago and figured out what he could do for her now. Knowing the fact that she got brutally murdered, Tomoya cannot think of anything other than help to find her body. He now then ask for Aoi and Ryou's help to find her body.

  The story is pretty creative. Sure, they didn't have enough sources from a thirty-nine minutes movie.

  Art is amazing. Even though it lacks facial drawings. The scenery gave its best.

  Sound is my favorite part. It has the feel of a Jazz, melancholia, mystery, sweet piano & violin duo~~quick cut, upbringing sound. The only way that they could make it more emotional is just to add a great soundtrack to it. And they cleanly portrayed it all in this movie

  Characters had different problems, but they feel connected as they are all in despair. Which gave a unique characterization.

  8.7/10
  

  I have been waiting for this movie to come out to North America ever since I watched the promotional video back in November. I constantly trying to refresh my feed whenever I have time to think about it. And now, I finally watched it.
  It's great that Manga adaptation has been serializing for 3 months now. And hoping we could see some more in the future.

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• 

  veemon23

  90/100
  Simple, but beautiful message about living life to the fullest

  Hard to really write a review without spoilers though honestly even with spoilers, it's a predictable plot. Now with that being said, is it bad? No, I really enjoyed it even though I can figured out the plot within basically the first 5-10 minutes of it. But anyways, here's my quick review and summary of it, also along with the lesson it taught.

  Summer Ghost starts with three friends meeting together, now we won't understand this meeting until later on but if you pay attention to anime, you can figure it out.

  

  The Summer Ghost is a girl who by them lighting their fireworks, she will appear. Now I didn't really research the significant of this but I'm just assuming it's something to do with how Japan usually ends their festival with fireworks where usually closes out the summer. This is just my personal opinion, don't quote me on this.

  We are introduced to our three friends (Tomoya, Ryou and Aoi) who are searching for the Summer Ghost (Ayane).

  

  The thing about these three friends, they are all strangers who met online with something in common, wanting to meet Ayane. And before you wonder if this is a horror anime, no lol...

  Each friend comes with different burdens and are in different parts of their lives. Though all of the same age, each struggle with something different. OKAY from here on out, this will be SPOILER WARNING!

  

  All four of them are at different part of their lives...

  Tomoya - basically our POV character. He is someone who has a future but too scare to face the future. He's someone who doesn't want to look ahead and rather stand behind. Which was illustrated nicely in the beginning.
  Ryou - someone who has so much ahead that he looks for but have so little time. Someone who wants to move forward but knowing he is limited on time.
  Aoi - someone who is dealing with the present, being bullied and wanting to commit suicide. She is someone who is trying to overcome her everyday hardship.
  Ayane - someone who has neither a future or a present, she is someone who is already gone.

  The basic of the plot is simple really, it's about learning to face what's ahead no matter how tough. That we just have to look up and see that there are those who knows our pain and there to share it with us. That those who are gone, those voices we can no longer hear. As someone who has lost a friend at a young age, this hits pretty close to home.

  It's really focus mainly on Tomoya learning to face that he needs to not be afraid to step forth to the future. And with Ayane help along with Ryou and Aoi, he learns to take that step. To not hate his life and seek the future. Each of them faces their own problems.

  The ending is bittersweet... I won't spoil it but it's pretty simple really to pick up on it. It's a nice overall anime and I will say the music was gorgeous. What is it's biggest flaw and lacking? I didn't really like the coloring and character design at times. Since I had a hard time trying to figure out was that Tomoya or Ryou.

  It's a short movie, if you have time, it's worth an watch. If you enjoy these type of simple theme anime like me, you'll enjoy it. If you don't, then it isn't really for you. It got it's message across nicely and simply. So as they say... "Seize the Day"

  Because eventually... summer will end... those who once were here will someday be gone. So cherish the time we have with those around us. You never know how long these moments will last.

  __This is just a personal story - don't click here unless you want to read it - also a spoiler for the ending__ 
  <span class='markdown_spoiler'><span>Sometimes I think back to my last moment with my friend not knowing that would've been the last time I saw her. Would I have changed the words I said? 
  My last words to her (I was still living out of state for school and we met at a different state for a sports tournament)
  
  (She was sick and wanted to watch her brother play in the tournament. I stood by her side she has always been by my side when I needed a friend. She couldn't muster any words as she was so pale and weak. Regardless, she wanted to be there and I can only hopeless stand there trying to talk to her as I've always have. And before I left, I patted her on head and said these words)
  "I love you, I’ll see you back home next week."
  
  Not knowing that next week when I saw her was because of her funeral (she passed away that night when I left). So yeah though a sad story, made me realized how short our time can be on this earth. No time to live in hating our lives, hating others, and wondering why we were ever born. Instead love each other and know you can be the difference in someone's life. 
  
  Because soon enough as the movie ends... our time with them too will end
  <img width='' src='https://i.imgur.com/Xn19MqC.png'></span></span>
  

  Just as those who are gone can no longer seek the future or live in the present, they are a thing of the past. Those of us who are still here, the sky is the limit as they say. Learn from your past, live in the moment, and run towards your future.

  Score - not exactly sure what to give it, but for now, I'll just put 9/10 since I really enjoyed the theme, the music and the simple beauty of the plot. Maybe it's a 8/10 but whatever, if I change my mind... I'll change it in the future.

  
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• 

  R2R

  75/100
  A coming-of-age film that managed to deliver it's simple message with it's on-your-face drama

  https://anilist.co/anime/130050/Summer-Ghost/

  ---

  Execution

  There isn't a break while watching this Anime. Normally, you'll have a understandably lengthy character introduction session so that the audience can familiarize with it's characters, some scenery moments to flex your budget or fill in the time gap and dramatic pauses to let some heavy/important scenes to sink in but this movie has neither of those. It doesn't take a single break to introduce it's plot or characters, breath-taking animation & scenery are always present in every scene and it tells it's story & message really quick with it's fast paced straight-forward dialogue. On-your-face action? How about on-your-face drama? It wants the viewer to catch up with it's fast paced story and in the process you start to feel all these emotions but can't take time to react to them, until at the end of it's 40 min length, where you start to let all those tiny emotions it given so far, to burst out into a mess of joy, sad & calm on your face which you might not really control it while hearing to the soothing soundtrack play as the credits start to roll (unless you skip it). It's an unconventional approach to let a drama go this fast (atleast I haven't seen anything this fast in a drama Anime). I'm not sure if this is a deliberate choice by the creator or a "filled the most we can" Anime but I quite enjoyed it. Though it's high speed drama might let a few plot points slip.

  ---

  Story

  The story is about 3 teens who one day decided to investigate the rumored "Summer Ghost" who appears when you lit some fireworks at the certain location, and they go out and meet her. And this the only point where you feel calm because after then the Anime won't let you have a breath until the very end. The fast pacing aside, the story is pretty good given it's runtime, except it isn't well written cause there are some loose-ends it didn't cared enough to tie though I think it's fairly important.
  How did Ayane able to tell that Aoi was getting bullied? Sure, only people who are close to death can approach & see her, but how did she found it out so accurately?
  What happened to the killer of Ayane? Surely, they aren't living happily ever after, right?
  Ignoring them, the story is pretty well rounded for the message it's trying to convey.

  ---

  Characters

  Characters are.. well, aren't anything special except they can't seem to enjoy their life. Their problems are easy to connect to or seen pretty frequently in other films or Anime.
  Life threating illness, bullying and strict mother aren't something that screams originality but they are used well enough to build the story, rather than the characters.

  ---

  Art & Animation

  The art style looks really good. I've wondered who's creator behind it cause I had a feeling I saw something similar somewhere and turns out, the creator of this Anime, loundraw also worked as a character designer for Anime like Vivy, Tsuki ga Kirei and Pancreas movie but those aren't exactly what I had in my mind, so I watched all of his other works from his FLAT STUDIO (which are just ads/trailers for music videos, looks like this is their debut Anime project) and then I remembered I saw some of those ad clips in 2 or 3 AMVs. From the beautiful scenery to some complex shots, everything is really good and soothing to watch. But I liked LIE OF FALLING a lot. Do check those ads if you are craving for some good animation/scenery (Reminds a lot of Shinkai).

  ---

  Music

  It's wasn't bad. I don't remember any except for the ending OST. But since it didn't bothered with my experience, I'll say it's OK.

  ---

  Summary

  An unconventionally fast approach to a drama (that might not be suitable for few) filled with soothing animation and a well delivered message with characters that are just 'not bad'.

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