Summer Ghost - Blu-ray Review

[Michael Scott]

Summer Ghost



Movie:
Video:
Audio:
Extras:
Final Score:


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Movie
One of my biggest joys of reviewing films is that I can be introduced to movies that I normally wouldn’t have otherwise. Those movies that you see the press release for and say “huh, that looks fun, I might give it a rental” and then you get the disc in and are completely blown away after watching. This was how it was with Summer Ghosts. I’m a huge anime fan going back nearly 30 years, and while I like to absorb as much as I can, the press release for Summer Ghosts was just one that barely peaked my interest. I actually forgot about it until the disc showed up on my doorstep last week, and figured it would be a nice overnight watch with a nice lager. Lo and behold, the 39 minute short (or should I say mid?? since it’s not really a “short” and not really a feature length film either) was nothing short of breathtaking.

The story starts out with 3 friends, Ryo (Nobunaga Shimazaki), Aoi (Miyuri Shimabukuro) and Tomoya (Chiaki Kobayashi) meeting together a year after they went “ghost hunting” for some reason. Leaping back in time the story carefully clues us in to the reason for their meeting. The previous summer they had gone searching for the mythical “summer ghost” that was supposedly haunting an old airfield even though nobordy really believes the old Urban legend. But lo and behold, there actually WAS a ghost there. A ghost named Ayane Sato (Rina Kawaei) who could only be seen by those who were searching to die themselves.

The film splits into a few sub plots here, but the main over arching thing is one of suffering and loneliness for the 3 main characters. Ryo was suffering from a terminal illness that gave him only 9 months to live, Aoi was being bullied at her local school and attempted suicide in the past, while Tomoya is grappling with the will to live as his overbearing mother is crushing the creative artistic spirit that he has. All of this changes when they meet Ayane, and when she gives them a glimpse into the world of living as a ghost. However, that glimpse also gives Tomoya a sense of purpose as it turns out Ayane didn’t take her life like they were thinking about, but rather she was accidentally killed and her body dumped somewhere that even she doesn’t know. Attempting to be useful and actually DO something with his life, Tomoya recruits his two friends to search for Ayane’s body and set it to rest so that she couldl finally cross over.

The story itself is straight forward and simple with it comes to Ayane, but it’s really the thematic elements of how the three children use their experiences with the ghost to cope with the suffering that they’re experiencing in their own lives. Ayane’s sweet and simple outlook on being a spectre is both comforting and empathetic to their plights, giving the children the glimpse into their own futures that drives them to live life to the fullest. Tomoya is given the most screen time with Ayane as he’s the one who actually LOOONGS to die the most, but it’s that final scene where the three meet up one more time that is truly heart wrenching.

The movie ends up being not too long and not too short, completely the short story without padding it out with extra melodrama. Second time film director Loundraw weaves a sweet and compelling narrative that is able to hit just the right emotional heart strings to leave you both smiling and in tears. The animation is a nice throwback with hand drawn lines and watercolor backgrounds, making this one of the most delightful and refreshing anime films that I’ve seen this year outside of Belle.




Rating:

Not Rated by the MPAA




Video:

The Gkids produced master looks great on Blu-ray, with a nice old fashioned line art style of animation, complete with watercolor backgrounds. There is some strange use of janky line outlines for the characters themselves, and a sort of “paper” look to their faces, but other than that this is an excellent transfer. Colors are pastels for the most part, with light splashes of green, blue and orange to round it out. Details can be hit or miss depending on how the scene is animated at the time, but and I DID notice some banding in skies or the dark, but all in all this is a beautiful looking film.









Audio:

Giving us the typical 5.1 DTS-HD MA tracks in either the original Japanese or the English dub, I will still leans towards the original Japanese mix. It feels more true to the tortured thematics of the story, and I really loved Rina Kawaei’s voice as Ayane. Sonically both tracks are about identical to each other, with strong vocals and a warm and powerful score that literally saturates every second of the film. Said score is really the main focus of the mix here, as it guides and shifts the story along its track with a visceral sense of a current’s undertow. Surrounds get used heavily with the score, but it also gets a little workout during classroom scenes, or the pair running through a busy city. Bass is punchy and very much accentuates the score, but otherwise isn’t massively intrusive or overly noticeable throughout the 40 minute run time.












Extras:

• To You Before Dawn Documentary
• Feature Animatic
• Interview with loundraw

Final Score: ​

Summer Ghost is a wonderful treat that sort of hit me out of left field. It was by a director that I had never seen before, with a story that sounded ho-hum from the press release, but ended up being one of my favorite feel good experiences of the year. It’s a bit short at 39 minutes, with only moderate extras, but it is WELL worth checking out if you’re a fan of anime dramas and fantasy. Highly Recommended.


Technical Specifications:

Starring: Miyuri Shimabukuro, Nobunaga Shimazaki, Chiaki Kobayashi, Rina Kawaei
Directed by: Loundraw
Written by: Hirotaka Adachi, Loundraw
Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1 AVC
Audio: English: DTS-HD MA 5.1, Japanese DTS-HD MA 5.1
Subtitles: English SDH, English, Spanish
Studio: Shout Factory
Rated: NR
Runtime: 40 minutes
Blu-Ray Release Date: November 1st, 2022

Recommendation: Highly Recommended

 

[tripplej]

Thanks for the review. Will check it out.. Yeah, talk about a short movie!

 

[Michael Scott]

Thanks for the review. Will check it out.. Yeah, talk about a short movie!

yeah, it's technically considered a "short", but it's long enough that it got it's own release. it's quite good. I know enough of your anime tastes to think you'll like it Jo Jo

 

[tripplej]

yeah, I am looking forward to it. Thanks.

The last "short" I saw was "The Garden of Words" . I wanted more but unfortunately, it was very short! lol.