To begin with, I am not really a fan of sci-fi stories set in space but the trailer of this anime movie got me pretty intrigued. It felt like the focus was more on the romance of the lead characters rather than about space and the inclusion of music as a subplot seemed interesting. What's more, based on what I heard in the trailer, the voice actors Kim Tae-ri and Hong Kyung were pretty good so I decided to take the plunge in the end. On a side note, Justin Min who was recently seen in the Devil's Plan 2 is voicing the English dialogue for Jay so you might like to check that out as well.
Honestly speaking, the graphics and flow of the animation didn't impress me that much. There were times when the shape of the characters' mouths didn't seem to sync well with the spoken dialogue and the characters' movements felt somewhat awkward. As such, if you are used to the Japanese-style of anime or looking for something close to what Shinkai Makoto's films offer, this might not be up to your expectations.
On the other hand though, this rough-around-the-edges charm about the movie sort of accentuates the analogue vibe in Jay's world compared to the digital world of Nan-young. As a result, the old-school and retro vibe formed a nice contrast with the technologically-advanced side in the Seoul of 2050.
What I actually liked more about this anime movie was the romance of Nan-young and Jay. While there really wasn't anything dramatically new about the progression of their relationship, the fact that they were so different and how they were able to reach out to the depths of each other's souls probably was what that made their mutual attraction so compelling and engaging to watch. Despite not seeing how the voice actors looked like when they spoke, their voices were so good at bringing these two characters to life and I found myself being engrossed with their story, be it the happy or sad times.
As for the space part, I didn't really feel much for it but was glad that it didn't bring the story towards a predictable and probably not-so-welcome ending for those who were rooting for the couple. On the music side though, I am not sure whether it is due to the subtitles which did not convey the meaning of the Korean lyrics well. Somehow, something feels like lost in translation even with my limited Korean proficiency and that's why I didn't think that the content resonated with me.
If you are looking for a good romance story with strong voice acting, I would recommend this. However, from the perspective of the animation's quality and the subplots of space and music, I felt that these aspects had room for improvement. Considering that the movie is just 1.5 hours long, it's not too long to sit through but sufficient to tell a comprehensive story with the necessary twists and turns.
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