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James Mottram

2.5/5 stars
Premiering in competition at the Berlin International Film Festival, Japanese anime A New Dawn is a strange beast indeed.
By turns baffling and beguiling, the 76-minute miniature blends issues of climate change and the cosmos, wrapping them up in a generational story that even touches on the pervasive powers of social media.
Imaginative though it may be, whether the film is suitable for children or teenagers – despite the youth of the characters – is open to debate.
Set in rural Japan, its story begins as the long-established Obinata Fireworks factory is due to close down, with a road planned to plough right through it. As the young Keitaro (voiced by Riku Hagiwara) sighs, this is now “no place for the Obinatas”.
Since his mother died some years before, Keitaro has seen his family network dismantled. His fireworks-making father has disappeared without a trace, leaving Keitaro alone at home to make these colourful pyrotechnics.


His closest ally is Kaoru (Kotone Furukawa), who advises him to “let this place go”, as she herself heads for the bright lights of Tokyo.
With a fireworks festival on the horizon, would-be social media influencer Keitaro has also become obsessed with the idea of exploring the mystery of the Shuhari, a mythical firework of sorts.
Chiefly, in a story about family legacy and what we inherit, the guiding theme seems to be not feeling responsible for your parents’ actions.
Writer-director Yoshitoshi Shinomiya, a classical painter turned art director, certainly puts his heart and soul into his feature debut. There are some transcendent moments, not least scenes featuring fireworks, where the sound drops away and we are left to marvel at the beauty of these explosive creations.
There is a pulsing, sometimes ill-fitting electronic score, and a curious but cute stop-motion interlude, in which a model town complete with vehicles comes to life. But one cannot help but feel it is all a bit of a hodgepodge, as the filmmaker throws everything at the anime wall to see what sticks.

From typhoons to town planning (“big city people are stupid,” we are told), there is a lot to chew on, but muddled plotting does not exactly ease the viewer through the story.
Visually, A New Dawn has its merits, and anime fans will no doubt rejoice that a new filmmaker has arrived to potentially take up the Hayao Miyazaki mantle.
Admittedly, Shinomiya is a long way from eclipsing the work of the Studio Ghibli maestro, or even that of Makoto Shinkai. Given that Shinomiya served as an art director on Shinkai’s Your Name, the stylistic resemblance is hardly a coincidence.
Still, there is no denying that his own painterly eye makes this a film to luxuriate in, right down to the watermelon-print shirt that Keitaro wears.
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Yoshitoshi Shinomiya’s beautiful debut feature is sure to excite fans of Studio Ghibli’s Hayao Miyazaki, even if a muddled plot lets it down


Yoshitoshi Shinomiya’s beautiful debut feature is sure to excite fans of Studio Ghibli’s Hayao Miyazaki, even if a muddled plot lets it down.


Asian cinema

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Japanese anime film reviews

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Berlin International Film Festival

An assessment or critique of a service, product or creative endeavour.  Film reviews, restaurant reviews, reviews of art exhibitions. (Eg. Crazy Rich Asians: an important film, yes, but a good one?)


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.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Yoshitoshi Shinomiya’s beautiful debut feature is sure to excite fans of Studio Ghibli’s Hayao Miyazaki, even if a muddled plot lets it down

Yoshitoshi Shinomiya’s beautiful debut feature is sure to excite fans of Studio Ghibli’s Hayao Miyazaki, even if a muddled plot lets it down