"For me, only the Ether is proof that I'm alive"
"For me, only Lily is real."

One of the most depressing movies I've seen, the quintessential 'disillusioned youth' movie. It's so beautiful, Iwai's perfect direction of deeply disturbing scenes gives them a massive impact without feeling disrespectful or overdone, constantly edging the line between being overly edgy and 'emo' but never crossing it, instead being a very grounded and mature societal commentary. The plot unfolds pretty confusingly which is probably it's biggest flaw (I don't really see the point in it being non-linear) but also not something that I found issue with as it helped you flow along with it and become absorbed. If you are looking at it from some artistic standpoint, you could say that it portrayed the confusion and messiness of the youth of the characters, but idk.

The visuals and music are by far the best I've ever seen in a movie, love the soundtrack so much the album is one of my favourite albums ever if not my favourite. The score is also fantastic, Debussy was the perfect choice and the performances are especially beautiful, my favourite I've heard of Arabesque No. 1. They both combine to create a dreamy and, well, ethereal atmosphere which feels both oppressingly depressive and weightless, as if you could spread your arms and fall back into the tall grassy fields of Ashikaga. Every second of the movie has had a lot of love poured into it and it shows, on a rewatch and after further research there is a lot I missed out on the first time around. It is a unique experience and one that I haven't found anything close to.

This definitely isn't for everybody though and that's understandable, it's pretty confusing on a first watch (keep in mind it's nonlinear) and watching it with a large group of other people who are watching it for the first time made me realise that. I think you gotta be a certain kind of person to connect with this but if you connect deeply it'll be a one of a kind experience.

Spending a lot of time in Lily Chou-Chou communities online made me realise how much the movie means to so many people around the world. It's sad that the overwhelmingly bleak and cynical portrait of the world painted in the movie is reflective of real life and how many Yuichis, Tsudas, Kunos, and Hoshinos are out there. The adults are all largely absent from the children's lives, when they are present they are either fucking it up even further or giving pointless, shallow advice, leaving the kids to get sucked into a cycle of being hurt and hurting others. Their only refuge is the ether, as the tagline says:

"PAIN CAN TAKE YOU IN PRISON. THE ETHER CAN SET YOU FREE."