“Josee, The Tiger And The Fish” is a novel by Seiko Tanabe, and is one of the most famous and popular works among many that she has written. The story was adapted into a Japanese live-action film in 2003, followed by a Korean live-action film in 2020, as well as an animation film on Christmas 2020. Each of them has a different take of the story and the animation film is really vibrant and youthful. If you like youth drama and romance, or simply looking to get a breath of fresh air in your life, this is one show you definitely should not miss.

The animation film is based on the comicalized version by Nao Emoto, who is also the character designer for the animation film. The movie is produced by bones.inc, the studio that also brought you popular anime series such as My Hero Academia, Bungou Stray Dogs, and more. The general screening begins in Singapore on 29th April and our team was fortunate enough to catch it prior to it, courtesy of Purple Plan.

Below we’ll be sharing our thoughts about the movie, spoilers free!

The story is about Josee — a wheelchair-bound girl who loves painting and reading books, and how her world changes when she meets Tsuneo — a university student who loves underwater diving, and works hard to achieve his dream to study abroad. The duo had very different lifestyles, and it was very enjoyable to see how they developed close relationships with each other from the awkward and shy beginning. Let’s not forget the side characters who are really likeable and played an important role in the story development. We’ll leave it to you to find out what happened and how the movie ended.

The movie also talked about Josee and Tsuneo’s dream and struggles to reach them. While it may just be a fictional story, watching the movie really gives positive energy and we hope you’ll feel rejuvenated and motivated from watching the movie, just like we do!

The animation and artwork throughout the movie is really beautiful and detailed. The expressions of the characters are very well depicted and the details in each location are really amazing.

The music is composed by Evan Call, who is famous for his works in the Violet Evergarden series. The pieces created really compliment the different emotions shown in the movie really well, and the feels-meter wouldn’t have filled up fast without it.

The theme song “Ao no Waltz” and insert song “Shinkai” is performed by Eve, who is known to also perform the opening theme for “Jujutsu Kaisen”. The music video of “Ao no Waltz” features various memorable scenes from the movie, and you’ll definitely enjoy giving it a watch after watching the movie.

You can also notice that the story is set in a fictional Osaka from the various landmarks and the Kansai dialect heard throughout the show. The production team made a list of location references on the official website, so be sure to check it out!

Overall, the movie gave us a really warm feeling and maybe some tears in our eyes. We think this show really deserves more attention. Do give it a watch when it’s out on 29th April and let us know what you think!

Remember to stay put until the post-credits if you are watching the show!

Overall Rating

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

The general release of “Josee, The Tiger And The Fish” will start 29th Apr 2021 (Thursday) onwards in Singapore, featuring Japanese audio with English and Chinese subtitles. The movie will screen at GOLDEN VILLAGE Cinemas islandwide.

⏰ Date: 29 Apr 2021 onwards
📍 Venue: GOLDEN VILLAGE Cinemas Islandwide
🎟 Tickets: https://www.gv.com.sg/GVMovieDetails#/movie/6904