Akiko Ohku	...	(Director)
Risa Wataya, Akiko Ohku	...	(Writer)
Kanji Furutachi	...
Anna Ishibashi	...
Hairi Katagiri	...
Takumi Kitamura	...
Mayu Matsuoka	...
Daichi Watanabe	...
Natsuyo Nakamura	...	Cinematographer

Comments: The degree of difficulty this film attempts seemed insurmountable. A story we've seen a hundred times. Can't see the present until you ditch your past. A mildly high-maintenance 20-something girl who talks too much is pursued by an annoying loser (who gets drunk and pukes on their first date); she doesn't turn him away even though her heart 100% belongs to her long lost first love from H.S.; bring that love into her life, make the meeting more perfect than imaginable and then discard him for doing something she does every day of her life to everyone she meets. Dafuq?

No Q-word or the C-word from me (read anyone else's review if you want to know those words). I'm going with adorably frustrating (or frustratingly adorable, can't decide which). Almost every scene in the film teeters on the edge of blowing the whole thing apart with a sophomoric fail. But elephant balls (from a female director?), a miracle performance from Mayu Matsuoka, wonderfully creative audio/visual shenanigans (masterfully done), multiple layers of irony (Call your hero "Number Two" and make the importance of names part of your plot), and fuuuuuck all work together to burrow this little film so deep in your heart it'll make you tingle. The final shot of the film is so simple and silly it's otherworldly beautiful.

I appreciate little inconsequential films like this that succeed in spite of themselves because of unwavering commitment and belief--films that don't aim for the sky but hit their target with a sledgehammer.

"What's with that scary face"?

I can't exit without mentioning: the choice/technique of running a single conversation, or a handful of inner monologue lines, through fantasy, reality, and multiple points on the time space continuum is difficult. Tremble does it several times and while not all are 100% successful they all work pretty gosh darn well. Bravo. Balls! See Where Have All the Flowers Gone for a wonderfully surreal romp through that style.

Summary: Yoshika (Mayu Matsuoka) is 24-years-old and works at a company. She doesn't have a boyfriend in her life. Yoshika is a bit different. She likes to search about ammonite fossil all night long and she still feels a thrill when thinking about first love Ichi from her middle school days. One day, Ni, who works at the same company, confesses his feelings for her.