It's hard to know exactly what I think of this, because there were certain moments that I loved, but there were significant issues with the execution, so as a whole it didn't quite work for me.

I think the story was good, despite one plot point that felt a bit conveniently staged. And actually quite beautiful. The relationship at the center feels vibrant and unique, rather than like just another carbon-copy shoujo manga couple, and the conflicts that follow have interesting emotional content. However, sometimes this really failed to come across effectively due to the flawed storytelling. Instead of focusing in on the emotions in important moments, it completely jumped over them with a time skip, which meant I sometimes had to fill in the blanks to understand the actions or feelings of the characters. While I found the portrayal of these youthful, impulsive, and free-spirited teens captivating, the character drama was not nearly as compelling as it could have been. One of the darker scenes really failed to communicate the extent of the emotions properly, while another seemed intent on making the viewer question the reality of what was going on, which was completely counter-intuitive, since this was not a mystery where the goal is to keep the viewer guessing, it's a drama where the goal is to portray the character struggles. I was really not surprised to discover the director, Yamato Yuki, had also directed Hot Gimmick.

The editing was just bizarre. Some scenes were filmed without a single cut, though I really have no idea why. In contrast, at other points the edits were very quick, which could make the story feel disjointed. Sometimes they seemed to be trying to use the frantic edits to create intensity, but it just distracted from the emotions. Only occasionally did it succeed in achieving the "artsy" feel it was going for.

The pacing was definitely a bit strange. At times I wondered why they were spending so much time on a seemingly less important scene, when a seemingly more important exchange had felt too brief. I also think this could have been a little longer, since it was less than two hours despite adapting a longer work. Perhaps they could have left in a few of the important aspects that they cut.

The soundtrack (Sakamoto Hidekazu) was also all over the place. It mixed a number of styles, but was heaviest on the emo rock instrumentation, which wasn't necessarily a bad choice in principle, but the result was music that generally seemed too loud or out of place.

The locations were beautiful. The cinematography (Shibanushi Takahide) itself was just decent. Much of the atmosphere came more from the scenery than the way it was filmed. There were some memorable shots. However, at times they really overdid it with the shaky camera.

The aspect that worked the best for me was the casting. Komatsu Nana and Suda Masaki had great chemistry and they really felt like young teens. Though I did struggle to feel the emotions of the story at points, I blame this on the director, not the actors' portrayal. I felt that Suda Masaki, especially, fit his role incredibly well, as he seemed so striking, and even ethereal, with his blonde hair and almost emaciated body.

Overall, I think this film failed to achieve the emotional poignancy it could have, because it used an (amateurish, teen-feeling) indie-artsy style, when what it really needed was a more mature, raw, and perhaps understated style. Still, I definitely don't regret watching it and would even consider rewatching it, at least in part.