This is a familiar story coming out of Japan: a lovely girl transfers from Tokyo to a small town and finds herself falling for a moody classmate. The movie treats this middle school romance as if it’s more sophisticated than it really is. What makes it stand out are some unusual choices in the editing and sound design. There are moments of extreme melodrama that could have ruined the film, but they're balanced by the overall strangeness. Almost every scene has a different piece of music playing over it—some work well, others don’t—but they all play a strong role, not as background noise, in shaping how we feel about what’s happening. The director uses the emotional intensity of the music to influence her editing style. It's nothing subtle, and I haven't seen anything quite like it before--at least not to this degree, with the pattern continuing scene after scene throughout the entire film. _Drowning Love_ doesn’t seem overly concerned with being a traditional movie as much as it is a live-action adaptation of a manga (which I haven't read). The director—I learned this afterward and it made perfect sense—is a young woman in her twenties. It feels like a statement, "Hey! One of us actually created this instead of an older man!" which might explain some of the music video or video game elements in the presentation. There are a couple of significant issues with it. The first is that it doesn't always make logical sense. The second is that it begins as a typical teen romance (_shojo_, I believe they’re called), then an attempted assault occurs, which elevates the intensity—but this intensity gets lost afterward. And that’s the problem: a middle school girl experiences something traumatic like that, and within two minutes of screen time, it's either forgotten or minimized by everyone until the very end when it's brought back up for the conclusion. There’s also a “sensitive” male friend who is essentially written out of the story after fulfilling his purpose. The adult characters feel like placeholders—they seem awkward and out of place, just as middle schoolers would likely perceive them. That detail deserves recognition. **Nana Komatsu**, known from _World of Kanako_, stars in the film. She’s a capable performer. A young male idol, who dyed his hair blond for the role, plays the brooding boy. They have chemistry, and I appreciated Nana's character as she navigated her relationship with him. He treats her poorly, and she’s determined to change him into someone more vulnerable. And she tells him that much. I find it interesting how Japanese filmmakers use middle school students to portray a **Doomed Lovers** narrative. You look at the actors—they are young, there's no physical intimacy depicted—and they seem innocent, yet they deliver dialogue that suggests a level of wisdom and experience beyond their years. I wouldn’t recommend this to anyone who isn’t already interested in this type of movie. However, it is somewhat different and might offer something worthwhile because of its unconventional construction. I think the ending is intended to be grand and significant, but it didn't resonate with me. It doesn’t build slowly and then provide an emotional payoff at the end; it simply spirals out of control.

Source on TMDB