For two thirteen-year-olds like us, there was no other place to go back to.
Creative Staff:
Original Story: Shunji Iwai
Author: Hitoshi One
Translation: Stephen Kohler
What They Say:
Does a firework look different depending on the angle it’s viewed from?
Norimichi lives in a quiet seaside town. On the day of the big summer fireworks display, he agrees to visit the town lighthouse with his childhood friends so they can see the fireworks “from the side.” That evening, however, Norimichi receives a sudden invitation to “elope” with Nazuna, the girl from class he has a secret crush on. The pair’s plan fails when Nazuna’s mother shows up and drags her daughter away. Hoping to get Nazuna back, Noromichi makes a wish: If only he could get one more try…
A miraculous story of young love awaits at the end of a single day repeated.
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
It’s always hard to review novelizations of movies. Even moreso when the animated movie this text is based off of is in turn based off a live-action movie from 1993. There’s just so many layers removed from the original source, and you really have to see how each story fares not in comparison to each other, but as it stands by itself. Does this novelization stand well on its own as a natural letter-to-paper booky-book?
And for the most part I’d say it does.
Fireworks, Should We See It from the Side or the Bottom? covers the story of 13-year-olds Norimichi and Nazuna as they re-live the same summer day. Unlike the premise of most Japanese stories that get fame in other countries, it’s interesting to note that the cast actually acts their age. The novel isn’t filled with long-winded monologues and witty observational self-loathing humor about their boring school life. As everyman as Norimichi is, it’s refreshing to see just an ordinary kid in his early years as a teen actually lean towards the kid side for once. He goofs off with a small group of equally immature friends talking about nothing in particular. He rides his bike around his small town. He enjoys lazy summer afternoons playing videogames with his close friend Yusuke. A lot of care is taken into the town in general, as you take in all its small-town charm firsthand. You get a sense of its history and how it was once a sprawling tourist location that’s since gotten into a rut. It’s not a bad place by any means, but it’s definitely some place that most would overlook for something with a bit more pizazz.
As we follow Norimichi through his day, we’re met with his friend Yusuke and both the boys’ love interest in Nazuna. In our first iteration, Nazuna challenges the boys to a swimming contest, with the winner (or in this case, whoever comes second to her athletic prowess) getting asked out to the town’s fireworks show. Due to some sloppy legwork on Norimichi’s part, Yusuke ends up the one being asked, while Norimichi is none the wiser. It’s here that we’re met with our first oddity of the narrative. This first trial of the day clearly frames Yusuke as a bad date to Nazuna so that you’re better able to root for Norimichi when he repeats the day again. But Yusuke honestly seems like an okay guy, with your only real incentive to root for Norimichi being that he’s the one telling the story.
Likewise, Nazuna as the love interest serves less as a means for romance (at least at first), and more as a compliment to Norimichi thematically. Where Norimichi feels nothing positive or negative towards his town or family, Nazuna has come to despise her mother getting remarried to the point that she wishes to run away from home. Nazuna’s compulsive actions never allow for an actual romantic buildup between herself and Norimichi and if anything, Norimichi constantly having to adjust to Nazuna’s ill-thought actions makes for a compelling odd-couple than a romantic couple.
Regardless, the story carries along smoothly as we’re introduced to the mysterious orb that resets the day once it’s thrown. Unlike something like Groundhog Day where the centerpiece to the story is just how repetitive living through the same day gets, Fireworks tiptoes over this by having each “Wishing World” serve as an alternate reality. With each iteration, Norimichi and Nazuna begin to notice small changes between their reality and the one they’re currently in. Small things like popsicle shapes, tree types, and (of course) fireworks differ between the world in a way that begins to put the pair at unease. The text itself never delves too deep into how unsettled the characters get when they notice these differences as much as it clearly aims to do, but the changes themselves are at the least an interesting read.
As the day is repeated, the two begin to branch further and further from their reality until we reach the story’s climax. This is where the differences in adaptations between mediums really show. Where the anime movie really makes this finale visually alluring, it suffers from its oddball pacing. Reverse this for the novelization, where even if text isn’t the best means to absorb this finale, it still works because wonky pacing in a novel is easier to digest. By the novel’s end, we’re treated to this bittersweet, beautiful ending that really leans in on its fairy tale influence. It’s wistful and dreamlike in a way where you hesitate to return to normalcy, but you know you have to. In lesser hands, having a “that’s just the way it goes” closing message would feel underserved and boring, but in this case, you’re willing to swallow this bitter pill if only for how sweet the rest of its story was.
In Summary:
Fireworks, Should We See It from the Side or the Bottom? is a story filled with nostalgia for childhoods past. Its mix of lazy childhood goofing-off and sci-fi day-repeats is simple enough, but is able to go in a worthwhile direction.
Content Grade: B
Packaging Grade: A
Text/Translation Grade: A
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: Yen On
Release Date: August 21, 2018
MSRP: $20.00
