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16th episode of the TV series “If”, “Fireworks, Should We See It from the Side or the Bottom?” was Shunji Iwai’s first work to garner attention, netting him a New Director Award from the Director’s Guild of Japan. The film was eventually adapted into a highly successful anime in 2017.

“Fireworks, Should We See It from the Side or the Bottom?” is screening at Fantasia International Film Festival

It is the end of the elementary school year, right before a festival taking place in the area, which features a show of fireworks. A group of sixth graders are having an argument: are fireworks round, or flat? Do they change if we watch them from the side, or the bottom? The argument gets more and more heated, and eventually bets are placed. In the meanwhile, two of the group, Norimichi and Yosuke, meet their mutual object of passion, Nazuna, at the school pool.

Based on the homonymous short film by Shunji Iwai, “Fireworks” is much more than an adaptation at 90 minutes, and one of the most commercially successful films in Japan for 2017.

The story takes place in a seaside town in a summer day, right before a festival taking place in the area, which features a show of fireworks. Two high school students, Norimichi and Yosuke, meet their mutual object of passion, Nazuna, at the school pool. A swimming race occurs almost immediately, with Yosuke winning, and Norimichi finding a strange fireworks ball in the pool, and Nazuna actually proposing to the former to accompany her on the festival. However, a little later it is revealed that the girl was just going to propose to the winner, and that her actual purpose is to get away from her mother and her new fiance, who plan to move away from the area.

“Your Name” was a huge success two years ago, earning critical acclaim and becoming the fourth-highest-grossing film ever released in Japan. “Fireworks” comes from the same producer, and though its box-office take hasn’t been nearly as prodigious, it’s also earned favorable reviews ahead of its U.S. release. Watch the trailer below.

Here’s the premise: “Shy Norimichi and fast-talking Yusuke are goo-goo-eyed over the same elusive classmate, Nazuna. But Nazuna, unhappy over her mother’s decision to remarry and leave their countryside town, plans to run away and has secretly chosen Norimichi to accompany her. When things don’t go as planned, Norimichi discovers that a glowing multi-color ball found in the sea has the power to reset the clock and give them a second chance to be together. But each reset adds new complications and takes them farther and farther away from the real world — until...

Distributor earned animated feature Oscar nod for The Breadwinner earlier this year.

Family animation producer and distributor Gkids has acquired North American rights to Fireworks, producer Genki Kawamura’s follow-up to Japanese hit Your Name.

Nobuyuki Takeuchi directed the story about star-crossed lovers with a sci-fi twist. When a shy boy runs away with his love and things turn sour, he discovers a multi-coloured ball in the sea with the power to turn back time.

However each reset brings further complications and moves the couple further away from each other until they risk losing sight of reality altogether.

Akiyuki Shinbo...

This disorientating teen tale – think Japan’s answer to Sliding Doors – follows the divided destinies of three characters in wholly un-Hollywood style

The full Japanese title is: Uchiage hanabi, shita kara miru ka? Yoko kara miru ka? or “Fireworks, should we see them from the side, or below?” This is co-directed by Nobuyuki Takeuchi (an animator who has worked for Hayao Miyazaki) and is an anime version of a 50-minute live-action TV play from 1993 by Shunji Iwai, who made the cult 2001 teen feature All About Lily Chou-Chou. It is a strange but atmospheric realist fantasy about how it feels to be a teenager, quite without the emollient notes of comedy or irony that you might expect from Hollywood. This is an adventure in counter-factual romance – like Sliding Doors, perhaps.

A bunch of kids are preparing to go to a firework display, and are arguing about whether the starburst shapes in...