The Stranger by the Shore

In a seaside town in Okinawa, Shun, a writer rejected by his family, lives alone. On the shore he meets Mio, a high-school student who has just lost his family and does not speak. A quiet closeness forms between them. Three years later Mio comes back and makes Shun an offer. The film is not interested in romance. It is interested in the cost of being accepted: Shun was cast out by his own family and cannot risk being refused again, so he keeps away from Mio. The film presents his retreat not as cowardice but as a learned defence. The form is soft animation: the sea, summer light, a pale palette and few characters. It runs a little over an hour. Akiyo Ohashi directed, from Kanna Kii's manga. The production is Studio Hibari's. Taishi Murata voices Shun and Yoshitsugu Matsuoka voices Mio. Who it is for: viewers who like calm animation and two-hander relationship stories. Who it is not for: anyone after depth of story. It is short, has almost no supporting characters, and the ending stays unfinished for anyone who does not know how the manga continues.