REVIEW: DRIFTING HOME

3.5/5

Tokyo Drift.

119 Mins. Starring: Asami Seto, Mutsumi Tamura, Ayumu Murase, Bin Shimida, Daiki Yamashita, Inori Minase & Kana Hanazawa. Director: Hiroyasu Ishida.

Netflix's water-based animes of 2022 keep flowing with Hiroyasu Ishida's 'Drifting Home'. And finding their collective way, this 'Bubble' doesn't look like it will burst anytime soon. Following the aforementioned summer smash from Netflix Japan, comes Studio Colorido's follow-up to the cat hairs of 2020's 'A Whisker Away' (also on the streaming service). One that will remind you of everything from 2015's 'Typhoon Noruda', to the classic coming of age tale based on a body of work by Stephen King, 'Stand By Me', this rainy season.

Also making a big-screen voyage here in Japan, 'Drfiting' starring Asami Seto, Mutsumi Tamura, Ayumu Murase, Bin Shimida, Daiki Yamashita, Inori Minase and Kana Hanazawa in intense and inspired vocal powerhouse performances, concerns lost youth and family in a tale of youthful exuberance that is as wise as the words from your grandpa. They say youth is wasted on the young. But in all reality as we're trying to get to grips with it, it's more just as fleeting as the wings of a summer cicada, playing dead outside your door. And that sound will stay buzzing throughout this anime, like the many before this that lovingly render Japan in all its side-streets and twists and turns. All the way to the hand that reaches into the vending machine and jiggles around for a refreshing can or PET bottle.

Look up at what's dancing in-front of you in this sweltering summer as you wipe your brow, and you will see many an apartment complex. Concrete monolith dominating the sky like a Tokyo Tower, Torch, SkyTree, or neon words selling you something. Some kids may think they look like Godzilla or Ghidora monsters, others say they spoil the scenery. Here, they lovingly hold many a memory, like the lines of clothing hung outside. But after a storm akin to what Japan is weathering right now, apartment 112 (nothing to do with Atlanta's players club) is surrounded with flood water and set adrift on a story that is more than memory bliss. Playing into the punctuated global warming fears, punching a hole in the ozone with every hurricane and typhoon. It's a struggle for survival in a water-logged story that will drown you in plot and exhaust you in exposition. There's always one over the top, screaming and shouting character in anime. But these are all kids. Still, when the growing up is made and the waters calm, what you're left with is something beautiful.

Umitarô Abe's undeniable soundtrack will underscore this journey for you in the surrounding seas. One that takes you to the depth of your worst childhood fears, before shining in beautiful underwater colours you could only see on a deep-dive. This is when this anime truly submerges you in its epic escapism and wonderful world. It's been a hot one this year in Japan (ATSUI!). And many will be glad to wave goodbye (holds up hand) to summer season, hotter than a Stevie Wonder July that actually started sometime shy of April, early this year. But not so fast, let's not wish away the moments of our memory like we do times these days. We're only this age just once in this life. We should cherish and hold on to it, like each other. All before it drifts away in the whisper of a whisker. As stunning as the formidable fireworks spectacles on display in Japan every summer, this anime will help you find your way back home. TIM DAVID HARVEY.  

Further Filming: 'Bubble', 'A Whisker Away', 'Stand By Me'.