The film adaptation of George Asakura’s manga, Drowning Love, centers on an involved romance between two young people, and benefits from noteworthy acting, particularly from Nana Komatsu. Although it's quite moving, the movie has a jarring quality when considering how young its characters are, and some story developments don’t entirely ring true. Even with these smaller issues, the narrative conveys a significant the…

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 …