Nerdly » ‘The Tunnel to Summer, the Exit of Goodbyes’ Review

28th Jul2023

‘The Tunnel to Summer, the Exit of Goodbyes’ Review

by Alain Elliott

Features the voices of: Marie Iitoyo, Oji Suzuka | Written and Directed by Tomohisa Taguchi

If somebody asked me whether I liked anime, the answer would be a resounding yes! But, the truth is, outside of the amazing films of Studio Ghibli I haven’t watched a whole lot of anime. I’m not a complete novice but I would love to see many more anime movies and shows. And, with a title like The Tunnel to Summer, the Exit of Goodbyes, this seemed like a great movie to get on to that.

The tunnel here is the Urashima Tunnel, and the rumour that Kaoru Tono has heard is that the laws of time and space mean nothing there. If you can find it, and walk through it, you’ll find your heart’s desire there, in exchange for a year of your own life.

But what you don’t get from that synopsis is the love story that runs from start to finish of the movie. Anzu and Kaoru meet at a bus stop at the beginning of the movie, and although you would definitely not say it’s ‘love at first sight’, you know that something has started between them. This isn’t just an animated rom-com though. There’s a great story here that keeps the pair together, gives them a reason to be seeing each other and then care about each other. The tunnel is a fantastic creation that brings this fantastical, science-fiction element to the love story. A love story that I should talk a bit more about because it’s perfect. You see it building, and what is happening, even if the characters themselves don’t see it! And that makes it all the better. I have no shame in saying that it bought a tear to my eye in the final third of the movie. Playing with time really adds something special to how the climax works out.

As for the animation, I guess the style could, at a glance, be described as fairly typical anime. But there is more to it than that. The tunnel itself is the stand-out when it comes to some cool effects when it comes to the character’s movement and their surroundings. But also with colour, because the florescent and bright colours really pop from the screen in these scenes. It is clearly a purposeful choice and these scenes are a highlight of the film. These give the tunnel an other-worldly feeling that the more normal ‘locations’, such as the local school and the nearby towns, just don’t have.

Despite its time travel and sci-fi story, the movie’s characters and their situation remain very relatable. You understand the decisions they make even if you wouldn’t make the same ones. How many hours, days, weeks, or more of your life would you risk if it meant you got something you could only dream about otherwise?

I really really liked The Tunnel to Summer, the Exit of Goodbyes. It’s the kind of coming-of-age movie I love but with superb Japanese animation as a bonus. Emotional, thought-provoking and beautiful anime.