I really loved this short movie ... it is a wonderful heart warming and life affirming story of Kagayaki / Hikari, that is skillfully and artfully told. It is a hard gig trying to find your place in what is often a very opinionated, cut throat world of conformity ... not everyone has the courage to embrace who they are and live their life with courage ... so applaud and support those who do, be kind to those who are not able to yet.

I loved that Ishizuka Yu played the lead for this movie. She is a transgender model and this was her movie debut. Very well done indeed.

I also loved the use of imagery and sound to convey the complexity of Kagayaki / Hikari's journey ... it was really artfully done and loaded with unspoken intensity and meaning:

- the incessant noisy and nasty world of social 'compliance' and how you just want to stop having to listen to the same shit over and over, like diving beneath the water where all those sounds become muted and all you can hear are the real sounds of real life ... your heart beating and your lungs breathing out the bubbles of your breath that float up to the surface.

- that dark silent alone place in your heart and mind where there is nothing but you, you facing who you are, you making a decision ... to be ... or not to be.

- that moment of acceptance ... to be ... where from that place of stillness you say FU and throw that soccer ball back at the naysayers.

- then moving from the dark into the light ... walking forward and shining from within ... you look back on your past and smile and then move forward radiant and confident.

The names of the main character are meaningful to the story. I am not sure what the kanji are that make up these particular names but, just based on the hiragana, Kagayaki (male name) generally means to shine, glow, sparkle, brilliance, glitter, radiance. Hirkari (female name) generally means to shine or to gleam. Male or female ... this person had their own kind of brilliance, own kind of radiance that was meant to shine and gleam out to the rest of the world, not to be hidden in a dark silent world overlayed by the incessant noise of bigoted social judgement.

A truly beautiful and profound little movie, beautifully brought to screen and well worth the watch and rewatch as we all have to face the truth of ourselves as some point ... with grace and dignity is my hope.