The Tunnel to Summer, The Exit of Goodbyes
In an entertaining romantic fantasy from Anime Ltd, two teenagers test their blossoming love in an enchanted tunnel.
Japan's standing as a major creator of animated films continues apace. Studio Ghibli was at its height in the days when Hayao Miyazaki was its greatest name but more recent times have seen no let-up in new animated releases from Japan including the work of Makoto Shinkai whose Your Name (2016) was particularly notable. The latest such movie to reach us is the rather clumsily titled The Tunnel to Summer, the Exit of Goodbyes which is the work of Tomohisa Taguchi, a director who is not new to cinema but has been much involved in work made for television. Anime Ltd. distributed his film Digimon Adventure: Last Evolution Kizuna in the UK in 2021 and now bring us this new work which will be screened in cinemas in a subtitled version.
The central characters here are Kaoru and Anzu who first meet on a station platform. The train has been delayed and it is raining so he lends her an umbrella. Shortly after that they encounter each other again because she turns up as a new pupil in the high school that he attends. He suffers from the fact that he lives with a father who drinks too much and is abusive. As for Anzu, she is now without any parents at all and as a new girl finds herself subjected to bullying although she promptly hits back. However, Kaoru and Anzu quickly become friends and confide in each other over the issues that most concern them. Kaoru has never got over the death of his younger sister Karen while Anzu has secret ambitions to become famous for creating manga despite the fact that an early effort of hers had been shredded by her father to show his extreme disapproval.
This is their situation as quickly revealed but the element that is central to the film is one that takes it into the world of fantasy which is so often a central feature in animated works from Japan. The very opening scene of the film contains words heard in voice-over which tell us about the Urashima tunnel. The legend is that the inside of this tunnel is a world of its own, one in which time passes at a different rate from that known to us. Indeed, a day spent within it is equivalent to six and a half years of our time and, when Kaoru chances on the tunnel and goes in to take a quick look, he is amazed on re-emerging to learn that he has been missing for a week. But the most important fact about the tunnel is that it is believed that those who enter it get whatever it is that they want. Consequently, Kaoru and Anzu become partners who, having studied the tunnel, seek to enter it to gain their heart’s desire: Kaoru wants to restore Karen to life and Anzu, a strong character yet lacking in self-confidence regarding her ability, seeks to find the skill to fulfil her talent in order to become someone who can create manga that are acclaimed.
This is the story that plays out in a contemporary setting, but Taguchi’s adaptation of a manga by Mei Hachimoku opts for a tone that is distinctly traditional. If Your Name had a strikingly fresh vibe to it, Taguchi’s film is more in keeping with the style of, say, When Marnie Was There made in 2014 and based on a novel first published in 1967. This may disappoint some, but the tale unfolds well with Taguchi adding bright colours that mark out the scenes inside the magical tunnel (similarly he elsewhere incorporates a fireworks display). The story is on one level a love story since very, very gradually the bond between Kaoru and Anzu moves in that direction, but the film also has something to say about the need to appreciate what life offers rather than becoming too obsessed with the past. At 83 minutes the film is of modest length, but some of its later scenes do rather clumsily incorporate elaborate montages even as the narrative moves simplistically forward to reach its romantic and rather sentimental conclusion. This serves to underline the fact that the film does not stand in the front rank of Japanese animated films, but it should not be forgotten that it recently won the Paul Grimault award at Annecy. In any case it is ably done and pleasurable.
Original title: Natsu e no tunnel Sayonara no deguchi.
MANSEL STIMPSON
Voices of Oji Suzuka, Marie Iitoyo, Tasuku Hatanaka, Arisa Komiya, Rikiya Koyama, Haruka Terui, Seiran Kobayashi.
Dir Tomohisa Taguchi, Pro Amenosuke Kanazawa, Makiko Mameda and Keijirô Taguchi, Screenplay Tomohisa Taguchi from the novel by Mei Hachimoku, Ph Kô Hishina, Ed Akinori Mishima, Music Harumi Fuuki.
Clap Animation Studios/Pony Canyon-Anime Ltd.
83 mins. Japan. 2022. UK Rel: 14 July 2023. Cert. 12A.
