It is a film directed by Loundraw, known for his work as a designer for Josee, the Tiger and the Fish, with Summer Ghost being the first film he directed in 2021, with a runtime of 45 minutes.
The film focuses on three characters: Aoi, a person who's in secondary school and is constantly getting bullied, Tomoya, in secondary school has dreams of becoming an artist, but his mum wants him to focus on his academic studies and Ryu, who is suffering from cancer and has a limited time to live.
They have aspirations of meeting this ‘summer ghost,' by the name of Ayane, who they can only summon through these candles (as shown from the pictures above).
Now, when watching this film for the first time, storywise, the story seems to be like a simple story of just three characters wanting to try to find this summer ghost; however, the story has a good way of the hidden message of things we sometimes take advantage of in life and how each character's life can teach us all a lesson.
These three characters are from different backgrounds and experiences and are suffering in different ways in life, we all can relate to these characters.
Aoi is constantly getting bullied all the time, which shows how it impacts a person's emotions in school and how she goes through it, followed by Tomoha, who goes against his mother's wishes and wants to do something he likes.
However, the characters which hit hard for me were Ryu and Ayane. Imagine getting the news that you only have only 9 months to live. Well, it's normal for humans to take advantage of life, but in a way, Ryu teaches that sometimes we don't know how long we have left in this world and it's important to take advantage of the time we have left.
What about Ayane? Her character is a ghost and is seen as a mysterious figure in the film. Her character shows how despite her being a ghost, she has regrets before dying, but her character is arguably important in the film.
Why is that? She's seen as that person who we always go to for advice. She can understand each character's pain, which enables her to have a connection with all of the three characters - as these characters try to get solutions to make their lives less miserable.
Summer Ghost's message has a good way of showing and telling a good representation of how life can be fragile through the characters and the story. You see the three main characters have their struggles and meet Ayane to help with their problems. Through Ayane, they can conquer their fears, accept what is going on and move on.
Overall, the film helps deliver the message of how life and death can be seen as complicated, but no matter what problems we are going through, there's always a way around it.
Give credit where credit is due: Loundraw does a spectacular job of highlighting each character's problems and the problems everyone has gone through in the past. He uses the character Ayane as a perfect way to help each character through their problems.
The film's narrative structure and the characters were the standout for me. With that being said, I have to give this film a 10/10! It's a must-watch.
If you are interested in checking out the film review for this film, please check out my anime website right here: https://lewisknight123.wixsite.com/lewistalkinganime/post/day-5-31-summer-ghost-carpe-diem
Rating: 10/10
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