Kawaguchi Kaiji’s 9 Love Stories, well, I think you hardly need to know anything more to guess what this one will be about. Kawaguchi Kaiji is the same guy who wrote the original story for a Spirit of the Sun, and his nine love stories are basically what you get after you cross Human Crossing with Sentimental Journey and put the result in a 90-minute movie. If you liked any of the two, or even Seraphim Call or Rumic Theatre for that matter, then you’ll like this one.
This movie basically features nine ten-minute stories about nine different, unrelated adults and the person they love. Five or six of them work: they’re touching tales about their characters, with some nice twists at the end. Three or four of the stories feel predictable, though. They just don’t have the spark that the others have.
Still, this movie is quite a nice recommendation if you like romance, and especially if you’re sick of all the standard high-school romances like me. Even though this movie dates back from 1993, the best stories still feel fresh. The graphics will take a bit of time to get used to, though. There are a lot of broad chins and the girls aren’t busty moe-stereotypes like you usually see. Instead of coming up with an original soundtrack, the creators went with a few classic songs from artists like the Beatles. It’s a bit cheap, but it fits, and it works.
