It
is not often Japan and China cooperate, so any time it happens must be
significant. Thanks to the animation house that produced the instant-classic Your Name., China never looked as good as
it does in this anime anthology. Bittersweet memories resurface for the grown
adult protagonists of Li Haoling, Yi Xiaoxing & Yoshitaka Takeuchi’s Flavors of Youth (trailer here), which premieres
this Saturday on Netflix.
Mainland
China is all about motion and migration, so it makes sense the brief wrap-arounds
collect our main characters in an airport. It is a vastly different China than
the quiet provincial town the protagonist of Yi’s “Sunny Breakfast” grew up in.
He was largely raised by his loving grandmother, because his parents were
working in the big city. Each day, she brought two bowls of San Xian noodles
from the town’s beloved noodle shop for a hearty breakfast. As he matured,
those noodles and those from the successor noodle store (not quite as good, but
maybe even more inviting) took on special significance in his life.
“Sunny
Breakfast” is a sweet little tale that elevates mood and nostalgia over drama
and big pay-offs. It is quiet, but it resonates, especially for anyone who has
walked through a neighborhood like the East Village, pointing out all the once-popular
establishments that aren’t there anymore (Dojo, Mondo Kim’s, Mahmoud’s original
location, the Japanese hotdog place, etc., etc.).
Probably,
Takeuchi’s “A Small Fashion Show” packs the least punch of the trilogy. Set in
Guangzhou, it follows the struggle of a supermodel at risk of losing her mojo
as she ages into her mid-twenties or whatever and her younger sister, an aspiring
designer, whose frocks could provide her the inspiration she needs. Obviously,
this is a story we can all relate to. Still, it is nice to see a mature and
endearing sisterly story unfold on screen. Takeuchi (a 3DCGI artist on Your Name) also makes the city of
Guangzhou sparkle like a fantasy realm.
Easily
the best constituent film and the closest in tone to Your Name is Li’s “Shanghai Love.” Conceived as an homage to Makoto
Shinkai’s 5 Centimeters per Second,
it tells the story of how a high school romance went wrong and the remorseful
Rimo’s desperate attempt to make amends years later. The twists of fate are
heartbreaking, but it feels very true to life for anyone who grew up in the
1990s, no matter where that might have been.
Flavors is a wistful film
about memory and regret, but Li (also serving as “overall director”) ties
everything together in a way that actually feels upbeat and hopeful. The
seventy-five-minute film is probably too slight of stature for a conventional theatrical
release, but it should charm anime fans who chose the stream it. Recommended
for viewers in the mood to savor the right kind of sadness, Flavors of Youth launches on Netflix
this Saturday (8/4).
