#itwascute

Josee, the Tiger and the Fish 2020 「ジョゼと虎と魚たち」

Slice of Life/Drama/Romance

1movie - 98 mins

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*not spoiler free lol*

Summary (strictly from memory about 1 hour later):

(Disclaimer: We watched this for Eve mostly) Anyways. A nice little anime romance movie that is based off of an allegedly really good novel. Made by studio Bones which is a very legit animation studio, so the music and animation kinda slapped. Boy (Tsuneo) who looks like Haru (and also coincidentally likes water very much) is saving up to study abroad in Mexico and fulfill his dream to see a specific bright orange fish! He meets Girl (Josee) who dreams of fulfilling her dreams of seeing the sea and also becoming an illustrator. Tsuneo becomes her shortly afterwards and love blossoms ;) Also there is a baby love triangle. And a bestie.

MVPs: EVE!!!!! and Tsuneo’s single crutch AND his handmade fish lamp

RATINGS:

Overall: 7.64/10

Characters:6.27/10 - None of the characters were really characterized or fleshed out that well, except for Tsuneo, and a lot of things felt kinda random/unexplained. There was definitely a lot of potential though, and the novel probably did it a lot better.

Format: 8.02/10 - Not awful; there were some cute flashback cuts.

Pacing: 2.22/10 - Some parts just kinda happened and felt kind of random/like plot pushers. The first half went way too fast without much development; it seemed like it leapt to the major points.

Art style: 8.59/10 - Pretty good! Especially the 3D integration and camerawork.

Story: 7.79/10 - I get the feeling that the novel really has a deep story but the movie didn’t really seem to dig too deep. Pretty stereotypical, but there were some good and emotional parts :)

Music: 8.88/10 -  A lot of snippets. They’re all really nice pieces on their own, but the integration felt a little funky at times.

Eve: 1000000000000000000000000/10 - not biased at all ;) But it really felt like Ao no Waltz really fit with the vibes and the rest of the movie OST, and this song in particular was really clean.

Mai/Love Triangle: 5.42 - I got the point but meh. She said many heat-of-the-moment things that felt out of place, since her character was not very fleshed out. :(

Taste of Ocean: salty/10 :’(

Aquarium scene: 9/10 - Beautiful animation and it really showed their characters.

Grandma: 7/10 - She was kinda cute but served as a weird antagonist lowkey ?? She gave a lot of mixed vibes. And her death was so sudden… another major plot point with no build up.

Plot and movie scenes coming full circle: 7/10 - we totally saw it coming but it was kinda cute ig… the part where Josee draws a picture book is so cute ;( <3

Josee: 4.82/10 -  She really could have been developed more. Her whole personality was basically just tsundere until almost the end.

Tsuneo: 7.82/10- he really was the most developed character huh. Handyman with DREAMS and also muscles

Social worker: 1/10 - the man really stepped out of his bounds >:(

Tsuneo’s single crutch: 9.08/10 - Honestly what a g. Tsuneo’s greatest support, especially at the end. Wish Tsuneo didn’t throw it aside like that when he started running </3

Change of seasons: 8/10 - A quick full-circle moment, shown quite well thru the change in foliage and clothes. Thanks Bones.

Tsuneo’s shoes: 9/10 - they were kinda cool ngl i kinda want them

Josee’s bedroom: 8.98/10 - Vibes tbh.

Chubby black stray cat Yukichi: 7.99/10 - Such a moody cat LOL. He was cute for being there though. Never out of voice lines.

Handmade fish lamp: 10/10 - i wish someone handmade ME a handmade fish lamp. It was a nice symbol also.

That one scene of tsuneo and josee in the ocean spinning in circles: 10/10 - so cute. Pure joy.

Basically, we came for Eve and stayed for Eve! It is a cute movie though, with moments that will tug at your heartstrings (maybe give you a few tears). Eve through the big screen speakers is another level. Go watch now >:)

See you next time on bromomovie reviews ;)