DESCRIPTION

CAST

ANIME Slice of LifeNon Non Biyori
MANGA ComedyNon Non Biyori
OVA Slice of LifeNon Non Biyori: Okinawa e Ikukoto ni Natta

REVIEWS

• 

  sediew

  80/100
  Cute girls doing cute things but this time: vacation time! It's a wholesome relaxing journey in Okinawa.

  This is one of the most relaxing anime movies I’ve ever seen. It’s the perfect non non biyori movie, everything is wholesome, no lewdness, no weird anime tropes, it’s really a family-friendly relaxing movie.

  Okinawa really reminds me of my country. The movie reminds me of the trips I’ve been going with my family. It’s really the pacific vibes (haha Pacific Ocean), and makes me remember all the fun I had when I was a child and how I get attached to the place I’ve been staying in, similar to the inn shown in the movie.

  I just loved how realistic this movie was with the way the children acted and the adults too.
  If you want to watch a relaxing movie with your family, this is the one.

  __[Spoilers I guess]__

  Let's start from the beginning and I mean, the real beginning: The OVA. It's about the preparation and the last day spent in their homeland, but the movie showed how Suguru won the tickets to Okinawa. I liked the connection and gives more context. Then they start their journey and reach the ill, where they meet Aoi a child who worked there with her mother.

  

  They probably own the inn. They go to the beach, do their activities, and it's all wholesome.
  I liked how they decided to divide them into different rooms, it felt planned and this shows the authors have already experienced these type of trips. One thing I wanna talk about is that the kids are comparing how organized and obedient Aoi is compared to Hatsumi (If you have seen the series you pretty much know how Hatsumi is a bad student lol).
  During the first night, Hatsumi finds out Aoi's secretly playing Badminton when she was ordered by her mother to wash or do something with the dishes, Hatsumi talks to her and realizes she is a member of the badminton club of her school, so Hatsumi asks her to help her practice but Aoi mentioned to do it.

  One of my favorite moments is when Renge woke up and didn't realize they were already in Okinawa, that happens to me too. During that second day they go snorkeling and the music and animation were beautiful. The ocean looked beautiful and right now I'm next to the ocean too, yeah I'm at the beach.

  

  Poor Hikage, she was too dizy with the airplane and now with the waves. Later they hike through a small jungle which reminds me of my days especially the mangroves trees; Kazuho is a cool teacher btw. They kayaked and of course Komari and Hotaru got stuck with a mangrove. That was funny.

  

  The rest of that day and journey just made me nostalgic lmao.

  During the third day they convince Aoi to act like a tour guide and as I said they finally played badminton together, they found weird sand at the beach and during the night the stars were beautiful, I can say it was the climax of the movie with all that beauty and relaxing experience.

  

  And the final day was the goodbye day. Renge was not able to find dolphins but drew a lot of stuff and a first-grade elementary student draws better than I do lmao. The drawings were actually good and beautiful with only crayons.
  The last drawing made me emotionlal: Hatsumi and Aoi together.
  Don’t tell anyone that Non Non Biyori made me emotional. Hatsumi was building a really good friendship with Aoi. It’s sad when you have to go, I relate to that so much. I had even ended up crying like Hatsumi when I had trips like that.
  It was not a "sayounara" moment anymore, it was more a "see you next time" moment. Made me happy again.

  

  The movie after all was Non non biyori pinnacle, really beautiful and gave us a little story of friendship and companionship. I really wish I could spend my days as a child with them, they're funny and entertaining.

  It's no masterpiece but it was what I needed: a confy and relaxing 1 hour of watching cute girls doing cute things: vacation edition!

  
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• 

  pseudo

  95/100
  Meaningful adventures and character development in a newfound place that retains the infectious Non Non Biyori charm.

  __This review contains full spoilers!!!__

  I consistently refer to and summarize various frames, instances, and plot points throughout the film in order to discuss them in this review. If you have not seen this movie and you wish to, please turn away now and go watch it! If you liked the seasonals, Vacation is right up your alley.

  If you'd like to, [please check out my review for the entire series here!](https://anilist.co/review/19010) It's __spoiler free__, so even if you haven't seen Nonstop yet, you won't be in for any surprises.

  ---

  A lot of people like this movie a little bit less compared to the main seasonals. At a glance, it’s not hard to see why - the gang take a break from their quaint adventures in Asahigaoka on go on an actual journey involving planes and trains to Okinawa. Anyone that fell in love with the sense of place that the first two seasons were able to evoke might have felt that this movie was a bit out of the series’ element. However, I think that this film is as good as the rest of the episodes before it, albeit in a different way. Gone is the intimate familiarity of the characters’ hometown, but with new horizons, we continue to see Non Non Biyori’s central ethos of living in the moment, this time through a vacation. It’s a different angle on the same themes, and I think it’s one that’s executed well, and one that compliments the main series extremely well.

  ---

  The movie starts with our main four hopping into Kazu-nee's ride and taking a trip to the department store. What I really liked about this is that it serves as an "onramp" to the idea that this movie will center around a vastly different setting and location. Keep in mind, our main characters — and by extension, us, the viewers — have never substantially ventured far from Asahigaoka before. Aside from the one beach episode that was a couple of train line transfers away, the _vast_ majority of screentime thus far has taken place within the quaint comforts of Non Non Biyori's hometown. I liked that the writers were careful to use the term "field trip" to sort of signal the idea that this movie moves outside of the bubble we've spent the last 24 episodes being familiar with. Of course, this department store trip also serves as the main premise for Natsumi's brother winning the Okinawa tickets, but that's not the reason why I liked this part of the movie. It's a relatively minor detail overall, but I appreciated this small little tidbit of foreshadowing that was offered. It's the tiny technical things like this that I personally think elevate the movie over the already excellent seasonals before it.

  ---

  Now we get into the meat and bones of this movie, the trip to Okinawa itself. For the most part, the middle of this film (which is the majority of it) is the Non Non Biyori we all know and love. Endearing, hilarious, and carefree characters living their lives to the fullest through the company they share with each other. And although it's a given that I still really liked this part of the movie (it's why we're watching this series, after all), it doesn't stray _that_ much from the NNB formula of previous episodes and seasons. As such, I won't be going into a lot of detail about this portion, simply because there's not much to talk about.

  ---

  Now, enter Aoi. I love the presence of Aoi in this movie because she helps facilitate the biggest character development we've seen in Non Non Biyori thus far - her friendship with Natsumi. Natsumi is normally a very free spirit and isn't one to get overly emotional or sentimental. She's the most rambunctious of the cast and tends to be very fickle. However, she finds comfort within Aoi in the fact that they're the same age; a rarity in the Asahigaoka social circle. While Natsumi has her sister and brother as family and close confidants, the prospect of having a friend the same age as her is something she didn't realize she yearned for. Considering Japan's very rigid social context, it makes complete sense why she would want to befriend Aoi. To Natsumi, Aoi is someone that isn't older than her, younger than her, or related to her — Aoi is just someone she sees as her equal and the potential to become a friend in the truest sense of the word.

  ---

  Through Aoi, we get to see Natsumi become a lot more earnest and grounded as a character, a large departure from her usual demeanour. She's more gentle, more sensitive, and more kind. That's not to say that she didn't have these characteristics in her beforehand, but seeing this change in her through another person that she can relate to is very nice to watch. We also get to see some development from Aoi's side as well. She's a very honest and hard worker that likely doesn't get a lot of guests her age at the inn that her family runs. When we see her enjoying the company of our main cast and genuinely befriending them, you can't help but smile. It's like the vibes in this friend group are immaculate and infectious.

  ---

  Welcome to this movie's budget-dump scene. Well, the entire movie is beautifully animated and features a lot of gorgeous aspect-to-aspect transitions, but this scene with the stars and the glowing algae stands out. Here, our main four (plus Aoi) are truly alone with no one but themselves, the starry sky, and the ethereally lit water. They've been stargazing before, but never with someone outside of their group and never by the water. It's the culmination of a journey that features all the familiarity they're used to, yet with just enough novelty that makes this experience one they'll carry for the rest of their lives.

  ---

  Here, we see Natsumi and Aoi exchange a heartfelt thank you with each other. They're each halves to a whole that they never thought they needed, taking solace the fact that they were able to find each other. Despite their respective worlds where they never expected to encounter someone they relate to so closely, they met. This conversation is the emotional high of the movie. Unfortunately, after all the happiness and satisfaction, all journeys must come to an end.

  ---

  Once again, we see a side of Natsumi that we've never seen before. Having spent time in a newfound place and making her first profound connection outside of her hometown, Natsumi is at her most vulnerable when faced with the inevitable prospect of parting ways with Okinawa, and especially Aoi. It's this cathartic depth to the Non Non Biyori movie that makes this movie so strong and compelling to me. Through this scene, we come to realize the meaning that an adventure adds to our lives, yet the bittersweetness that comes with our eventual return. Natsumi experiences this firsthand, and having become intimately familiar with Asahigaoka for 24 episodes prior to this movie, so do we.

  ---

  But of course, it's not all sad. Journeys are transient, yet they stay with us for the rest of our lives. Our main cast returns home reflecting on the immensely enjoyable time they had in Okinawa, despite only being there for four days. Natsumi was able to enjoy a type of friendship she's never had before, and carves a place for Aoi in her heart, promising to stay in touch with her and cherish her.

  ---

  Scroll back to the very first image of this review, then come back to this one. Do you see it? That picture was one of the very first establishing shots of the movie — Renge heading out of her house to go hang out with the other three. At the end of the movie, we're then called back to the same frame, the times of day reflecting both the start and the end of a journey. Finding comfort in both the experience and its conclusion, feeling fulfilled and satisfied with the time you spent breaking away your ordinary life, even if only for a little bit.

  ---

  At the end of the day, am I writing a whole bunch of words and going into a lot of detail for what's just an ordinary, fluffy slice-of-life? ...Yeah, I am, but that's because I think that the real strength of this movie is that it ventures beyond this. We get to see meaningful character development in the cast, but especially Natsumi. We get the Non Non Biyori charm in a place completely different than the town we're used to seeing. We experience the emotional highs and the bittersweet feelings that come with embarking on uncharted territory, and we gain a greater appreciation for the novelties life has to offer as a result. This movie is Non Non Biyori in all of its glory, but with a little extra that might move your heart more than the original series did. That's the essence of this trip.

  Thank you for reading:)

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