The past few days, I have been in a low mood. What do I mean by this? You could say, I had a pretty hard time doing stuff most would consider "normal". The routine, you know: waking up, eating dinner, brushing my teeth, walking the dog. Aside from chores, I also had trouble writing anything. For 5 days. It's as if the spark just disappeared. Nothing I did could help this me in that state. I tried to distract myself with high rated anime of the season. I tried listening to music. I tried talking it over with my loved ones. I tried petting my dog a bit too hard. Nothing worked, every day I woke up feeling like shit and oh, how tired.
And today? It's just back. It's back in the way that suddenly countless ideas and words are flowing through my mind- no, through my entire body, through every vein and nerve, only to exit from the mouth. I'm not sure how to feel about this, though. Those 5 days seem like a waste, especially given the "goals" I wanted to achieve this summer. Oh, did anybody mention summer?
Summer Ghost is a 2021 anime short film directed by Loundraw and made by his Flat Studio. My biggest issue is that it only lasts 40 minutes. Everything else looks like exactly what you'd expect from a Makoto Shinkai movie: except that Makoto Shinkai wasn't its director. I saw someone compare it to a Makoto Shinkai film on Youtube and thought it was a good attempt, but nevertheless not exactly fitting. What are we dealing with here? Tomoya and his friends Aoi and Ryou travel to an abandoned air field to test an urban legend about a girl who commited suicide, the titular "Summer Ghost". This movie is in fact so short you can watch it yourself and read the rest below. Yes, you can do that right now, I wouldn't mind at all.
All of our three main characters are on the verge of death one way or another. Aoi contemplates suicide because of her intense bullying at school. Ryou has been diagnosed with a sickness that gives him only 9 more months left to live. Toyoma...I actually don't know, it wasn't clearly shown. He is an artist though, and his mother isn't very supportive of that as he is also failing his classes. Flaw? They all meet up at a cafe to discuss the urban legend and soon enough, come to the place with fireworks. Before they know it, the Summer Ghost appears, introducing herself as Ayane. However, she disappears after having answered not too many questions. Cutting to the point, Toyoma becomes frankly obsessed with Ayane, or rather the circumstances of her death as well as her life. She lets him enter a ghost form, practically making his soul fly up to the sky. It turns out she didn't commit suicide, and it was rather a truck driver who tried to hide her body after an accident. Although Tomoya is close to giving up to find her body, Aoi and Ryou evenually join up with him which finally makes it possible. There is a 1 year timeskip, where the three of them meet again in the same place to celebrate fireworks in the summer once more. However, as they finally run out, Ryou isn't there anymore.
Alright, let's put the story aside for now. The soundtrack is simply beautiful, I couldn't imagine a better one for an anime this kind. Or maybe calling it just "anime" is an understatement? Next, I personally enjoyed the artstyle and I could guess why it is comparable to Makoto's. Very simple, yet there's something wonderful about said simplicity. Every shot in this movie feels like a wallpaper, at least for me. The voice acting isn't extraordinary; it's simply realistic. That's the essence of the movie, I'd say - it's realistic, it's about real emotions evoked in real humans that could exist on this world right now. So, what about the runtime? Through my lens, there's only so much time you can indulding in fiction. This straightforwardness is a sign to learn the lessons of the movie and move on in your own life: it's short and it will end, but you might as well enjoy it while it lasts.
My favourite scene was a short one. As you already know, Aoi was bullied, but in a pretty funny way; having her head splashed with water falling from a bucket every time she stepped onto the roof. The first time around, this nearly leads her to committing suicide on the spot - but the very same perpetrators actually aren't black and white evil bullies and stop her from it. She cries in the nurse's office. However, this changes around the end - the exact same scene unfolds, with her having matured a year older. This time, she confronts them - just as funnily, yet somehow empoweringly, holding up an umbrella over her head to render their attempt futile. She calls them out for their immaturity. I don't think I have to say anything else.
And now, for the quote of the day:
Nie poddaj się, bierz życie jakim jest / I pomyśl, że na drugie nie masz szans
(Don't give up, live life as it is / And consider that, you won't have another one)
- Artur Rojek, "Acidland"
...Still not done, huh? The point of my message here...it gets better. It will get better. So, just hold out. Reach out your hand to somebody you trust, let yourself be helped. Never give up. Because it will come back, the spark of the firework in the summer. Or any other season, really. Well, this seems simple, but this article was about nothing but simple things, right?