I wish more “kids” movies like this were as emotionally intelligent. Absolutely outdid my pretty mid expectations. Almost all the characters were memorable - surprising for a movie like this. I thought I wouldn’t like something like the lil epilogue but it was quite clever with the foreshadowing. I don't think it's wrong to complain about it being formulaic when the visceral nature of Kokoro's story is quite unique. Aki's story was also good if a bit more formulaic. Subaru was extremely unmemorable. Moe's role was left somewhat unexplained considering how important she was to the conclusion. These are minor complaints, though, and they onlymake me want to read the novel. Exactly the kind of movie I wish I saw in middle school (though I doubt I would have liked it then).