Ao-Natsu: Kimi ni Koi Shita 30-Nichi (2018)

Ao-Natsu: Kimi ni Koi Shita 30-Nichi: Directed by Takeshi Furusawa. With Shiori Akita, Wakana Aoi, Seika Furuhata, Takumi Kizu. An urban girl spends a summer in the country, and meets a young boy. Is this the start of love?

“A city girl comes to visit her grandma in small town Japan for summer vacation and falls for a local boy, but both know the romance has a time limit. There is a bit of a love trial going on with a local girl, who is u0026quot;promisedu0026quot; to the boy. Both their families are hoping they would get together, for the sake of the family business and the town itself. I liked that the movie addresses this modern trend of young people all wanting to go to the big city, leaving their villages and generations of family roots behind. It shows that country life might actually be way more fulfilling and beautiful. I actually felt a lot of sympathy for the other girl, who sees her future threatened by the city girl. Thatu0026#39;s why I didnu0026#39;t really like the ending. Not that itu0026#39;s bad, it just went for the crowd-please, but it would otherwise have been more powerful. Still, I really enjoyed it. Japan is so beautiful!”