April Story

1998

1h 6m

Drama

List

Reviews

81%

Audience Score

1,000+ Ratings

Country girl Uzuki Nireno (Takako Matsu) packs her bags and travels to Tokyo to begin her first year at Musashino University. As Nireno struggles to adjust to the concrete jungle, she befriends Saeko Sono (Rumi) -- a fellow transplant from a rural province -- and joins the University's fishing club. Upon ducking into a bookstore to escape a sudden rain, Nireno's life changes when she comes face-to-face with Yamazaki (Seiichi Tanabe), a longtime crush from her small-town high school.

Read More

Read Less

Panos Kotzathanasis

Asian Movie Pulse

"April Story" has its faults, and is definitely on a lower level than some of the other films Iwai shot before but there are still enough good aspects here for the viewer to enjoy its 67 minutes, plus a number of really memorable scenes.

Rated: 6.5/10

Sep 12, 2021

Full Review

Grant Watson

Fiction Machine

To a large degree it simply does what it is that all Japanese dramas of this type do.

Rated: 5/10

May 17, 2019

Full Review

Harris Dang

easternKicks.com

There aren't many films [as April Story] this quiet that has given me such a still-growing appreciation in my mind and a warm feeling in my heart.

Rated: 4/5

Oct 30, 2018

Full Review

Read all reviews

Audience Member

Takako Matsu's debut film/short. Beautiful, but rather hollow.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

02/04/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Its length feels so justified after watching the film. The story unfolds in the head and leaves with yearning for spring romance.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

02/20/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Lonely Hokkaido girl moves to Tokyo for university and to track down a high school crush. April Story has got to be one of the most modernly Japanese movies I've seen, whatever that means. It's rather emotionally sophisticated for such a lean story, despite the really sentimental tone, and all the little details add up into something really nice. I could have done without the handheld camerawork and the digital lighting enhancing, and I wish the saccharine score was used more sparingly, but those're relatively small complaints. Definitely wanna check out more Shunji Iwai.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

01/22/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Why so short? This movie was so good. gaaah 3,5/5

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

02/18/23

Full Review

Audience Member

BTW: this is a Japanese film, and RT posted the Korean poster. Just saying.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

01/12/23

Full Review

Audience Member

This is a very beautiful and simple short story about loneliness and love. Lovely ending without too much going on.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/20/23

Full Review

Read all reviews

Read More

Read Less

POST RATING

WRITE A REVIEW

EDIT REVIEW

Shunji Iwai

Director

Takako Matsu

Nireno, Uzuki

Seiichi Tanabe

Yamazaki

Kaori Fujii

Kitao, Teruko

Rumi

Saeko Sono

Kazuhiko Kato

Kato

Show Less Cast & Crew

Show More Cast & Crew

View more photos

Synopsis

Country girl Uzuki Nireno (Takako Matsu) packs her bags and travels to Tokyo to begin her first year at Musashino University. As Nireno struggles to adjust to the concrete jungle, she befriends Saeko Sono (Rumi) -- a fellow transplant from a rural province -- and joins the University's fishing club. Upon ducking into a bookstore to escape a sudden rain, Nireno's life changes when she comes face-to-face with Yamazaki (Seiichi Tanabe), a longtime crush from her small-town high school.

Director: Shunji Iwai
Genre: Drama
Original Language: Japanese
Runtime: 1h 6m