A boy fell in love with a girl and they separated. A couple years later, they meet again, fall in love again and get married. Is that simple?

This film should be promoted as a live action of Hayao Miyazaki's story, because it should be. Watch until the end and you won't regret it.

I don't want to be too harsh on this movie, as frankly the two lead actors were perfect together and were marvellous in their roles. Both Jun Matsumoto and Juri Ueno are a joy to watch together on screen, and they shared some beautiful moments which truly made my heart flutter. The cinematography is also stunning, reflecting the happy times and hazy memories they have together, and truly evoking a feeling of joy and warmth. I especially loved the scenes in which the beach boys 'Wouldn't it be nice' played, as it created such bittersweet emotions. However, my main issue lies with the plot twist and the pacing of the movie. There were two plot twists in a way, although the first one felt more normal. The second one, however, was immensely confusing as it kind of came out of nowhere and just didn't fit in with the tone of the movie that they had built up. I feel like if they had made it obvious from the beginning, or at least changed the title of the movie, it would've made sense and fit in with the story. However it just didn't work in the context of the romance and so became a bit laughable, as I couldn't quite understand what it meant and it felt forced. They built up a serious storyline of Mao being sick and I was truly wanting to know what was going on, and then what it was revealed as was just...strange, and somewhat disappointing. Some scenes really didn't make sense, and they weren't explained either. I feel this was definitely prevalent in the ending, where I just couldn't understand how it made sense as they didn't explain it at all, so the ending was more like a puzzle to me than a nice wrap up. I think the combination of fantasy and romance just completely failed in this regard. The pacing of the movie was also a problem, as it dragged on for so long. I feel it would've worked much better if they'd cut it down by at least 40 minutes, as sometimes the story just kept going on and on, and I was wondering when anything new or different would happen. I think the first half was definitely better than the second half, as the second half felt like an entirely different movie. However, I really can't fault the two lead actors, who were so darn right cute together. Plus there were some really good and memorable scenes that I thought were carried out excellently. Overall, if they had invented a less confusing plot, or they hinted at the plot twist more prevalently throughout the movie, I would've rated this higher. However, if you want to see Matsumoto and Ueno be adorable together, then give this a watch.

On the surface, Girl In The Sunny Place - with its non-descript and oddly-phrased title - looks like just about every other Japanese romantic drama out there. Boy meets girl in a terribly cute fashion. Boy courts girl in a sigh-inducing way, and they fall head over heels in love. But boy and girl must inevitably be separated, either by (a) a terminal disease, (b) disapproving parents, (c) a deep, dark secret or (d) other. In the case of Girl In The Sunny Place, it's all of the above, kind of, which sets it apart from the rest of the pack - but also makes it an unusually complicated film to pull off.

Salesman Kosuke Okuda (Jun Matsumoto) leads a boring, normal life, with no girl or happily ever after in sight. The last thing he expects is to run into Mao Watarai (Juri Ueno),a friend from his junior high school days, at a work meeting. As it turns out, Kosuke and Mao have a history together: she was the misfit new girl, awkward and slow, and he was the guy who stood up for her whenever she was bullied. Almost ten years later, they finally have the chance to fall in love. But, just as they're blissfully settling into their new lives together, they start to feel the consequences of a fateful decision made by Mao many years ago.

There's a twist to this love story - one by which viewers might be puzzled, amused, fascinated or repulsed, occasionally at the same time. The revelation shouldn't really come as a big shock; in fact, clues to its nature are so obviously scattered throughout (there's a big clue in Mao's name) that it can sometimes feel as if the film takes an unnecessarily long time to get to its point. But it's so odd and fantastical that audience members might find themselves fretting over the metaphysics, biology and logic of the situation rather than really giving in to the love story.

Twist aside, Girl In The Sunny Place is a solidly-crafted, if slightly plodding, romantic drama. Clocking in at 129 minutes, the film runs a little too long to support its rather slight story. At least the relationship between Kosuke and Mao is lovingly developed, and benefits from the sweet chemistry shared by Matsumoto and Ueno. It's largely due to their doe-eyed efforts that the film comes to pack the emotional punch that it does. The ending may be predictable but - if you give in to its sun-drenched, bittersweet charm - it can also be pretty darn heartrending.