Fireworks

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Nobuyuki Takeuchi directs. Rei Egami behind the camera. Satoru Kosaki scores. Rie Matsubara cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Produced in Japan. Dialogue in Japanese.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

• 190 minutes exactly — the "classic feature" runtime most directors aim for.
• 2Released 9 years ago.
• 3Part of the "いわい しゅんじ Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.
• 4240+ people credited in cast and crew — a small city's worth of labour.
• 5Directed by Nobuyuki Takeuchi, shot by Rei Egami. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
• 6Original score by Satoru Kosaki. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
• 7Editor Rie Matsubara shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
• 8Suzu Hirose and Masaki Suda and Mamoru Miyano carry the top of the cast.
• 9Marketing tagline: "If only I could return to that moment.".
• 10IMDB entry: tt6317962 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
• 11Classified under 15 themes, including "time warp", "fireworks", "supernatural", "male friendship".
• 12Released under 13 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography

Rei Egami

Original score

Satoru Kosaki

Editing

Rie Matsubara

Production design

Nobuyuki Takeuchi

Runtime

90 min · 1h 30m

Aspect ratio (typical)

1.37:1 (Academy)

Status

Released

Box office

$26,617,621

Original language

JA

Certification (US)

PG-13

IMDB

Fireworks (2017) ↗

Part of

いわい しゅんじ Collection

• 
  Fried Dragon Fish

  1993
• 
  Undo

  1994
• 
  Love Letter

  1995
• 
  Picnic

  1996
• 
  Swallowtail Butterfly

  1996
• 
  April Story

  1998
• 
  All About Lily Chou-Chou

  2001
• 
  Rainbow Song

  2006
• 
  Halfway

  2009
• 
  A Bride for Rip Van Winkle

  2016
• 
  Fireworks

  2017 · this one
• 
  Last Letter

  2018
• 
  Last Letter

  2020

Also by

Nobuyuki Takeuchi

• 
  Tatsuki Fujimoto 17-26

  2025 · ★ 8.7
• 
  Penguindrum

  2011 · ★ 8.0
• 
  MoonPhase

  2004 · ★ 7.8
• 
  SHOSHIMIN: How to Become Ordinary

  2024 · ★ 7.5
• 
  Sarazanmai

  2019 · ★ 6.8

Stills · wallpapers

Selected frames

Full-resolution frames — open one to save it as a wallpaper.

Wallpaper Wallpaper Wallpaper Wallpaper Wallpaper Wallpaper Wallpaper

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

• 

  ▶
  GKIDS Official Subtitled Trailer

  Trailer · Official
• 

  ▶
  GKIDS Official Teaser

  Teaser · Official
• 

  ▶
  SSIFF 2017 Press Conference

  Featurette
• 

  ▶
  Madman Official Trailer

  Trailer · Official
• 

  ▶
  Daoko: Forever Friends

  Featurette

Community reviews

What people are saying

• Alunauwie2025-09-23
  ★ 7/10

  Fireworks is a unique anime adaptation of Shunji Iwai’s 1995 live-action film, blending teen romance with time-travel themes and layered symbolism. Although the animation quality feels underwhelming for a theatrical release, the film redeems itself through a meaningful soundtrack and emotionally charged storytelling. Through Norimichi's repeated returns to moments of regret, viewers are invited to question whether his experiences are alternate realities—or simply vivid escapes from guilt and loss. Read the full review here: (Indonesian version : alunauwie.com)

  Read full review ↓

Production companies

Who made it

• 

  SHAFT

  JP

• 

  Aniplex

  JP

• 

  jeki

  JP

• 

  Lawson Entertainment

  JP

• 

  TOHO

  JP

• 

  TOY'S FACTORY

  JP

• 

  LINE

  JP

• 

  KADOKAWA

  JP

Key crew

• Supervising Animation DirectorHiroki Yamamura
• Animation DirectorMai Otsuka
• Animation DirectorTarō Ikegami
• Animation DirectorKokunen Oh
• Animation DirectorNobuhiro Muto
• Animation DirectorKeiichi Tsuboyama
• Animation DirectorAiko Wakatsuki
• Animation DirectorMasaru Yoshioka
• Animation DirectorErkin Kawabata
• Animation DirectorKosuke Murayama
• Animation DirectorHiroki Yamamura
• Animation DirectorAkio Watanabe
• Assistant DirectorSeimei Kidokoro
• Original Film WriterShunji Iwai
• Production DesignNobuyuki Takeuchi
• Character DesignerHiroki Yamamura
• Animation DirectorRiki Matsuura
• Art DirectionAyumi Miyakoshi
• Art DirectionHisaharu Iijima
• Art DirectionYuki Funagakure
• Art DesignerNaoya Tanaka
• ProducerAkiko Yodo
• ProducerJunnosuke Ito
• Production ManagerTadao Iwaki

Themes & keywords

What it's about, really

• time warp
• fireworks
• supernatural
• male friendship
• lighthouse
• slice of life
• train
• summer
• junior high school
• transfer student
• anime
• transfer
• mother daughter relationship
• based on tv series
• japanese junior high schooler

Release history · US

When it landed

• Premiere2017-10-20· Animation Is Film Festival
• Theatrical2018-07-04PG-13
• Digital2025-09-01· HBO Max

Also known as

International titles

• Uchiage hanabi, shita kara miru ka? Yoko kara miru ka?JP
• Fireworks. Do You Want to See Them From Below or From the Side?JP
• Fireworks, Should We See It From the Side or the Bottom?JP
• 쏘아올린 불꽃, 밑에서 볼까？ 옆에서 볼까？KR
• 打ち上げ花火、下から見るか？横から見るか？：2017JP
• 煙花，應該和誰看HK
• 打ち上げ花火, 下から見るか, 横から見るかJP
• 升空的焰火，从下面看？还是从侧面看？CN
• 烟花，应该和谁看CN
• ระหว่างเราและดอกไม้ไฟ - FireworksTH
• ระหว่างเราและดอกไม้ไฟTH
• AtəşfəşanlıqAZ
• Как будем смотреть фейерверк, снизу или сбоку?RU