The Stranger by the Beach – Anime Movie Review

Shun is a youth who lives on an island with his grandmother, helping her run errands and deliveries at the inn. Lately, he notices there's a quiet boy who sits on a bench and stares at the beach all by himself. According to his grandmother, this boy's mother passed away recently. Shun introduces himself and tries to be friendly, but gets a cold reception from the stranger at the beach.

Although they didn't get off to the best start, Mio eventually apologizes and warms up to Shun. The two of them grow closer, enjoying the blissful island life together. However, there comes a day when Mio has to suddenly relocate elsewhere, and they parted ways without contacting each other again.

Years later, Shun is still living with his grandmother on the island, now working as a novelist. One day, out of the blue, Mio shows up again. Now twenty years old, Mio invites himself to live with Shun and his grandma. He confesses his love for Shun and wants to start an official relationship with him.

However, Shun has become more cynical with age, and doesn't seem willing to pursue this romance with Mio. Shun's life also gets more complicated when his ex-fiancée, Sakurako, arrives on the island. She wants him to return home and visit his estranged father, whose health is fast deteriorating. Shun is torn between staying on the island with Mio and returning home to a past tainted by sad memories.

The Stranger by the Beach was a beautifully drawn mess. The story didn't flow smoothly, the characters acted erratically, and the romance was severely lacking in depth. Just about the only thing I liked in The Stranger by the Beach was how gorgeous it looked. Everything else, from storytelling to character development, felt shallow and ham-fisted.

As a stranger to the original manga, I didn't know anything about the story, the characters, or the lore behind the franchise. While I was able to follow what happened in the movie, what I saw was just not very good. It suffers from adapting the important events that happened in the source material, but not capturing the emotional context as to why these scenes are special. Maybe manga readers will have the needed knowledge to appreciate each moment, but a new viewer like me is left unguided.

The romance in The Stranger by the Beach does not feel coherent. It assumes the characters have developed intense feelings for each other when we see nothing of the sort on-screen. Their thoughts and personalities also seem muddled, and we are never given enough clarity when a character is suddenly moody or upset. They are frustrating to watch, especially Shun in the second half of the movie, when he wallows in self-pity and internalized homophobia.

All these elements are made worse by the poor pacing in the movie, with awkward transitions and disjointed plots that stifle any momentum in the narrative. The Stranger by the Beach jumps from scene to scene chaotically, introducing sudden conflict at a moment's notice. Even a harmless compliment about Mio's appearance can be taken the wrong way. These misunderstandings feel so juvenile, and it's not cute watching grown adults act like emotionally stunted children.

Visually, this is a gorgeous movie that has a stunning amount of detail drawn into the backgrounds. With colourful and vibrant visuals, the attractive character designs come to life energetically. At least this movie is pretty to look at, even if the exquisite art can't save the hollowness of the characters or the aimlessness of the plots. Sadly, I cannot recommend The Stranger by the Beach, a beautiful shell of a movie that is sorely lacking in substance and coherence.