Love, Life And Goldfish (2021)

[Small Man Big Horse]

I'm almost certain this will be another 0 replies thread but hey, it's a new film and so I have no choice but to make it. Plus hey, it's really fun so hopefully someone will check it out, as it's a Japanese musical where snobbish bank clerk Makoto Kashiba (Matsuya Onoe) is sent from Toyko to work in a small town in the middle of nowhere after shouting at his boss, initially hating life there until he falls for shy piano player Yoshino (Kanako Momota). It's sort of a romantic comedy

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except the big twist is that he doesn't end up with the girl, but comes away with something more important when he discovers how to stop being such an uptight twat

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. Perhaps it could have benefited from a slightly more complex plot (

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and a bar owner who fancies him is kind of forgotten about by the end

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) but it's visually impressive, the songs are really great, and though it's a simple tale it's charmingly told. 7.7/10