Coming this fall from GKIDS is Deji Meets Girl. After its latest screening at Fantasia Film Festival as a compiled film presentation, anime fans who haven’t seen this high school paranormal romance will get a chance later this year. To note, this anime made its debut at the last year’s event, before being shown on Japanese TV as shorts, and getting another round this year.
The story takes place over the summer, making this appropriately timed debut even more appealing, and there’s nothing wrong with having an innocent fling, ala Summer Nights (Grease). Where this series shares a similarity to the musical is in how the boy (Ichiro) admits to taking an interest in a girl he meets at a beach (Maise). As for whether she’ll change her approach to winning his heart–we’re not certain. In the episodes I’ve seen so far, they aren’t officially dating.
Ichiro isn’t a greaser. But he does have that John Travolta charm to make me think of this analogy. In what we learn about this stranger is that he’s running away from responsbility. Beneath that cool exterior hides a scared interior. What he’s fleeing from isn’t exactly made clear, either, until the later acts.
Here, we can experience the paranormal in a fuller story, instead of a broken dream. The only interludes are title card breaks. Pretty soon, we get to see hotel lobbies turn into aquariums and other strange manifestations. There’s nothing spooky about this work, as what’s happening may be a product of their imagination. They only happen when they’re together, and to say it’s magic is hardly the answer. Maybe it’s because their magnetism is causing a rift to form.
The finale teases at the possibility there are more stories to reveal. I hope this alternate Girl Meets World will delve into more mysticism–or rather, a better explanation why these projections happen. When nobody else sees it’s happening, or even says anything, there’s a mystery which I want to see revealed.
It’s rare for me to pay attention to a mixed genre television series because there aren’t a lot of shows that look appealing. Deji Meets Girl is a novel romp because of the soft, surreal moments. And I’m wanting to decipher the symbolism. The images are not universally understood. I suspect only an Okinawan will understand the significance of the manifestations.
Although the compiled presentation won’t reach theatres till Autumn, I’m hoping there’ll be news if there’s more story to come or even a home video release, so I can make sense of the harder to understand sequences. While I can appreciate the high school romance, there’s so much more that needs explaining.
