The Tunnel To Summer, The Exit Of Goodbyes - Review

To be at a point where I shrug at an Anime movie feels like a good place to be. I am still about three toes deep in Anime so we’re learning the ways daily. Not going into a film like this knowing its well loved is a new feeling. I have to come up with my own thoughts and feelings, and I do not like that. The Tunnel to Summer, The Exit of Goodbyes is too long of a name and a perfectly fine film. It follows the sad boy, new girl and strange anomaly formula to deliver an acceptable runtime of pretty pictures and questionably aged lovers.

We are introduced to Tono and Hanashiro as they come of age in a world with a tunnel, bringing back the things we have lost. Tono’s sister, Karen is the thing that Tono has lost, to a beetle catching, tree falling incident. The few minutes we get of Karen are quite lovely, with her being an embodiment of positivity in Tono’s life and something he clearly misses. His father, a somewhat single alcoholic who tiptoes the line of abuse throughout the film, is probably the closest the film has to an antagonist as he blames Tono for Karen’s death and his mother leaving.

For Hanashiro, she’s chasing a dream, a talent she fears that she lost. She wants to become a manga writer, just like her grandfather. We find out she has lost a bit more than that but deals with it in a unique way.

I think grief in this film is dealt with in an interesting manner, as Tono shows a difference in personality in flashbacks and current day, showcasing that he lost that spark that he used to have when Karen was alive. Hanashiro has a nonchalant reaction to grief as she lives alone, abandoned by her parents and simply not caring about it.

For me, the simple enough premise worked to make the story understandable and gave me more time to connect to the characters. I do wish that they were slightly more fleshed out as Tono comes across a bit two dimensional with his one motivation being to bring Karen back.

The romance in this film is done well I think, they build up the relationship slowly and classic anime montages show the time passing and their feelings growing. For me, the best part of the film is the beginning of their relationship, as they test out the logistics of the tunnel, understanding it, along with each other at the same time. I also always appreciate a flip phone text conversation. Tono is speedy with his typing, an art I could never master.

As most animes that I’ve seen, its pretty nice to look at. The colours are soft and the mix of drawn and realism blends really nicely. Inside the actual tunnel itself is bright and stands out while also being a simple enough backdrop for the main setting of the film. The music is as it usually is, quite nice with a pop-like song to play over the montage in the middle, really shaking up the technical plinky plonk songs around it in the soundtrack. This song does help to add to the formula following that we’re doing, I’m fully okay with jamming out while they figure it out.

The exit of my goodbye, I am satisfied with my time but don’t think I’ll be dropping this on my all timer list. I don’t see myself coming back to it like the other anime films I’ve seen up to now but I will happily add it to my catalogue. I am not deterred from exploring anime further and I think that’s the least I could have asked for.