Cafe Funiculi Funicula (2018)

The first thing you'll notice when you read the synopsis, Is this another time travel story? yes they do time travel in this movie, but that is not even what this movie is about. "Seize the moment" and "having no regrets" these are the things this film taught its viewers, how important proper talk in every relationship, how small talk can change people's hearts. Drink your coffee before it gets cold, very fascinating indeed.

The pacing is episodic or better seasonal, kind off similar to movies such as "Little Forrest". There's a time skip between each story or between time travels of characters. The movie felt it would be better as a series than movie at first like other movies with episodic structure but as I continue to watch I realized the pacing is just perfect this time.

Though this movie has its praise it also has negatives. The characters at first half is much better than Arimura Kasumi's character, not blaming the actress but the way her character is written, it's boring to be exact. It just get worst at the middle when the focus shifts to her romance with Ryosuke (Ito Kentaro), this time I blame the actor, he's just to green to play such roles, didn't get the emotion his character suppose to give, just imagine Takeru Sato in that character.

The acting by the supporting casts was superb though, Matsushige Yutaka & Yoshida Yu were such scene stealers. I didn't cry watching this movie but their scenes are the one that almost gave me teary eye. Thanks to them for their spectacular performance that those 2 scenes almost carried the whole show. Even Hayashi Kento did well at the beginning. The movie is simple, almost one location, but there are brief moments when it shows great cinematography.

This is another thought provoking Japanese movie that will give many lessons in life. If you like movies such as "If Cats Disappeared From the World" there's a high chance you'll like this movie too. I'm not saying it's as good or as emotional but it would be worth your time.

"Time is cruel. If we are slacking, now and future will be the past right away."
my favorite quote in the movie

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Must watch

Overall
Such a beautiful movie with some heart-wrenching moments. I loved the story and would recommend it to anyone

Story
The multiple stories were in this movie amazing. The weakest one of them was one to get you used to the mechanics of the world but after that, the rest are great stories that are powerful and impactful. I honestly didn't check to so how many minutes was left once during the movie and that is usually rare in my case. I will say that the time travel rules set at the beginning seem to be broken once during the movie but honestly, I can overlook that and enjoy the movie.

Acting/Cast
The actors were really good. Arimura Kasumi's acting made me feel in the third act and was so powerful. It's the first time I see her acting but I liked it. Ito Kentaro I had already seen in some other drama so I knew he was a good actor and he didn't disappoint.

Rewatch Value
I think that this has a very high rewatch value. The stories were amazing and I definitely want to rewatch. Also it nice to see how constant they are with details in the background that then are emphasized and made part of the story.

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