The Tunnel to Summer, the Exit of Goodbyes
A mysterious tunnel can grant your fondest wish... but at a price.
Urashima Tunnel – Once you enter that tunnel, you can get whatever you want, but at a price. Kaoru Tohno, who seems to have an elusive personality and traumatic past, and Anzu Hanashiro, who is struggling to reconcile her ideal image and true-to-heart attitude, team up to investigate the Urashima Tunnel and get what they want. This is an unforgettable summer story of nostalgia and sprinting in a remote countryside.
- Year: 2022
- Country: Japan
- Genre: Animation, Drama, Romance, Fantasy, Science Fiction
- Studio: CLAP, Pony Canyon, Shogakukan, Sotsu, STUDIO MAUSU, Kansai Television
- Keyword: high school, adolescence, legend, supernatural, time travel, coming of age, tragedy, school, tunnel, seinen, anime, japanese high school, time manipulation, based on light novel
- Director: Tomohisa Taguchi
- Cast: Ouji Suzuka, Marie Iitoyo, Tasuku Hatanaka, Arisa Komiya, Haruka Terui, Rikiya Koyama
This reminded me quite a lot of "Suzume" from earlier this year, only here we have a tunnel rather than a door! It's the same boy meets girl type scenario - with both Kaoro and Anzu coming from families with tragedy in their recent history. Legend has it that the Urashima tunnel can grant you anything you wish - but it works out that for 108 seconds in there it takes 3 days off your life in the real world. Kaoro is determined to get his younger (and frankly rather annoyingly enthusiastic) sister back; Anzu to discover the secrets of her grandfather's manga writing so she can excel. The two meet at a railway station, attend the same school and gradually bond - discovering and exploring this mysterious tunnel and ultimately questioning just what they really want from life. The narrative does mingle a careful what you wish for aspect with a grass is always greener one - and the story is quite effective when it dwells on that scenario. Sadly, though, there is just a little bit too much baggage around the characterisations, a touch too much teenage angst and though the animation is quite watchable, the story is over-stretched. It's a nice to watch film, with a pleasing score, but it's not especially original or memorable, I'm afraid.