While the 2006 anime adaptation by Mamoru Hosoda remains the strongest adaptation of the 1965 novel so far IMO, Nobuhiko Obayashi's 1983 treatment of the material should be considered as a classic in its own right, constituting a return to form for the director whose immediate post-Hausu years were kinda erratic and lackluster. Here he's in full command of his distinct visual style once again, where both mainstream and experimental filmmaking collide in a unique blend of youth drama and psychedelic dream worlds, sort of a cheesy and surreal teenage utopia, weirdly free of conflicht yet eventually quite tragic and touching.