I have watched Always - Sunset on Third Boulevard three times and it remains a wonderful movie experience. It gets better with each viewing like a well cooked broth. It is funny and touching at the right time. The pacing of the movie and some scenes felt like they came out of the manga, although it has so much more to offer. The cinematography and music help set a nostalgic feel of what it might have been like in 1950s Tokyo. It is full of spirit and energy where the country is on an accelerated path in rebuilding and redefining itself. There is hint of the Meiji Restoration, where the denizens of Tokyo enthusiastically absorb Western cultures, from pro-wrestling to Coca-Cola. And the building of Tokyo Tower, itself a smaller replica of The Eiffel, symbolizes the emergence of post-WW II Japan - a dichotomy of Eastern identity that embraces Western advancements.The product design and CGIs were top notch for its time, and I love how they use the different stages of Tokyo Tower's construction and the seasonal changes to mark the individual story arcs' progression.The movie embraces its manga roots with sincerity: all the characters' quirks and social slapsticks remain intact. Horikita Maki's Mutsuko is simply adorable as the country girl (check out that rural dialect) trying to make it in a big city. The uncommon romance between the gorgeous host girl Hiromi and the oddball writer Ryunosuke. Plus many more delightful details make Always, not only a funny snapshot of behavioral comedy, but also a touching ode to a bygone era.How can you not love a movie filled with this much heart?

This movie is like a folk tale about the '50s Japan when it was experiencing rapid recovery from the carnage of WWII.Roku-chan (Maki Horikita) is a newly graduate of high school. She's coming to Tokyo to find a job from Aomori. She finds a job at Suzuki automobile shop where she meets Norifumi, and Tomoe. Ryunosuke Chagawa is an aspiring novel writer. He's aiming to win the prestigious Akutagawa award, but for the time being, runs the candy store he inherited from his grandmother and writes novels for the boy's magazine. The story revolves around Roku-chan, the Suzuki family, and Chagawa, in the back alleys of downtown Tokyo.This is the best made of the trilogy (so far) in terms of story, and production. Acting is the most natural, and special effects and props, most restrained.Based on a comic by Ryohei Saigan, the story is about people's life in the Showa period of Japan. It's like watching a museum of that era with live people moving about it. The actor who was doing the role of Chagawa seems to be over acting, and all the characters seems to be just wearing the Showa mask except for Hiroko Yakushimaru who played Tomoe. I can feel realism from her acting. Shinichi Tsutsumi was also over acting, and Maki Horikita didn't convey flesh and blood country girl who came out to Tokyo no matter how much she spoke the Tohoku dialect.So I couldn't shake the feeling that I was watching a museum display in action. Everybody tried too hard to make it look like the Showa period which made it look unauthentic.But out of the three movies of this title, this one is the best made of the bunch.

My wife and I saw this little gem of a film last night at a Japanese festival in Montreal and loved it. That being said I want to comment on the negative reviews about the film.I find the comments veer towards the overly glib and formulaic. The film does not meet this or that film model. It did not accurately represent the the reality of post war Japan (most reviewers are not qualified to knowledgeably opine on that reality). And the most ludicrous of them all; it tried to make me feel too good, etc.Come on people, stop deconstructing; some times a cigar is just a cigar. The story is the story, the acting the acting. Get your heads out of film class and just have a good time if that is where this film leads you. Otherwise, stop trying to keep others from having a good time.

I saw this film on DVD a few days ago and thought it was very well made. While I agree with the fact that it's a too 'romantic' film version of Japan's economic recovery in the 1950's (paid for by the USA of course), it does have an excellent acting cast, great graphics and a good storyline. I'm thinking of course about the failed writer and the boy he takes in - they're so well played by the actors and beautifully so! It does mention the dark side of the economic miracle such as protistution and abandonment of children. No mention is made of the Americans based in Japan and of course the war is mentioned in parts. It does remind me of a film about France (I forgot the name...) in the 1950's and how things changed such as the introduction of freezers, TVS and of course the black stuff - Coca Cola! I'd still watch it, despite the criticism and I do enjoy a 'romantic' film. Besides the Americans have made over romantic films about the 1950's, so surely it's time Japan made one now!