Summer ghost review

REVIEW

Okay, this is just me being frank here with all my readers. I'm not here as a writer, but as a fan of someone's work with an appreciation post. 

So, um the anime opens with a group of three people deciding to hang out together to find a ghost that appears in summer at an abandoned airport. They only started out as having fun, never thinking it could be real. 

But as it progressed, they showed that as long as the firework's burning, the ghost of a girl named Ayane will appear and they can talk to her. It so beautifully captured how everyone's dealing with different issues in life, and you can never know what someone's going through even if you have been hanging out with them for quite sometime.

They showed three different problems for all three different people:
1) A girl was being badly bullied by her classmates in school
2) A guy had terminal disease and he was gonna die in nine months
3) A guy was forced by his parents needlessly to attend cram schools and study all day, all week even if he performs nicely in his exams and had to give up everything else that makes him happy

So, as the ghost appears, she tells the girl that only people who can see her are within arm's reach of death. She was surprised to hear that her friends are contemplating suicide too.

It is revealed that the summer ghost who has always been believed to have committed suicide, was actually killed by someone else. She was hit by a car and while she was unconscious, the killer hid her body in a suitcase and buried her alive which caused her death. 

There was a scene where the guy with lots of pressure on himself was in his room, being depressed and thinking, while a jungle drew itself surrounding him, depicting how he so badly wants to start painting again and play outside, but he is stuck in the loop of life where he can do nothing, but study and cram. 

He doesn't understand his purpose of life. He thinks death is the answer to the end of his suffering. But the summer ghost showed him how he is so wrong. She told him that she wants to find her body to give her mother closure who is still waiting for her at home. Meaning that even if you think everything's okay after you are dead, it's not. There are people who miss you like hell and would give up anything to just get a glimpse of you.  

For him, finding her body was a momentary distraction, while he struggled with his own life, decciding whether he should live or die; to find the courage to will himself to live again, but this time, for himself.

In a conversation, she told him 
"For you, death is in the future, for me, it's in the past."
She was encouraging him to live. She was telling how she has let go her death finally after she found her body and he should let go of the suffering as well, but he should hold onto life. She was freed from the world and he should be as well by doing what makes him happy. 

In the end, when he visits death momentarily, he heard his friend's voice and tried to escape, but he couldn't. She was holding him back, asking him why he wants to go back to life where there is only suffering. He tried to leave, but she wasn't letting him, yelling the question again  andd again until he answered, "Yes! Life has been nothing but a chore for me, but I still have a future and I can change it around." He finally got hope that he had lost a long time ago. He finally wanted to live for himself, not just because he had to, but because he wanted to.

He goes back to his life, helped the ghost find her body and gave her mother closure. He went back to his life where the creator, so deeply passed the message how he meant his life was a chore. The boy was laying on grass, while the seasons around him changed constantly - showing how his life has become a loop of unending suffering. 

Finally, the guy got the courage and talked to his mother about not wanting to go to cram school daily and pursuing art instead. He took the step towards his happiness and somewhat gained himself back through his art.

How the girl stood up to her bullies and told them to start behaving instead of ending her own life. Little steps matter when they lead to something greater.

How the second guy died after struggling so much and came to terms with his death, even if he envied others having a future while he had none, and the other two visited him on that same abandoned airport (with him being a ghost) while he encouraged the others that their lives would be so much better. They just have to be patient.

This movie is really so precious, so deep and so beautifully crafted. They really showed how people who wanna die have so much still left to live for, but being blinded by the darkside, they are unable to reach the light. While the people who are about to die or have died, only wanted to live, with so many dreams unaccounted for. 

I only wanna say to all the people out there who are struggling, guys you are doing a damn great job surviving this harsh world. I really sympathize with you all, but please be strong. There are people who need you and if there aren't, this world needs your empathy, your kindness since you are the ones who very well know how it feels like to have been cheated by life. Be strong, I'm with you all :)

This short movie (just about 40 mins) is definitely a must watch. It could be soothing when you're in pain and it could be motivating when you are about to give up. I love you all !

Do vote and share if you like it <3