This is Nobuhiko Obayashi at his most grounded, largely refraining from his trademark pop art experimental techniques, yet he appears very much in command of the frame here - this still feels like a film only Obayashi could have made. It's hard not to be enchanted by the human warmth and kindness at the center of his vision of the world, an endearingly hopeful and sincere ode to human connection transcending what would have likely become just another run-of-the-mill coming-of-age story in the hands of a lesser director.