A great story about friendship and pursuit of dreams. It's touching and full of passion. The songs are really good too. I like it very much. Highly recommended.

After a promising high school band on Okinawa loses a key player to a car accident, the band broke up. The accident was suspected to be caused by a US military member stationed on Kadena air base, which triggered a wave of protests by the island residents. But Shinji, the member who passed away, had developed a friendship with Lisa, who was the daughter of a family stationed on the base. The band decided to get back on their feet and continue playing despite the swirl of difficulties after the accident, all for their love for Shinji, their newfound friendship with Lisa, and for their love of playing music.

But the movie isn't about the narrative of the story. Instead the focus is more on the characters, they're young, energetic, comedic, rebellious, full of life. And it's about the music. OK, perhaps it is a common format among "high school band" movies - watched "Linda Linda Linda" before and there is a striking similarity - but I like it! Mai, Shinji's little sister, is just so cute. Most admirably is their love for a fellow friend - not an ideal, not a symbol, but an actual human being.

It's obviously not made with a big budget outta hollywood, but it's just different. For me the enjoyment level is up there.

Tedious story about a high school band (half of whom are played by actors in their 20s). Set in Okinawa, it throws in a mishandled side story about the American occupation of the island and perhaps the most embarrassing foreign family in a long and inglorious history of embarrassing foreign characters in Asian movies. Everybody involved in the film (except Anna Yamada) should be banned from making films for a period - especially the director and writer. Avoid!