#we also watched one about people working at a podunk amusement park in southern japan

[bleachbleachbleach]

It’s a Summer Film! (2021)

In keeping with our tradition of having now watched multiple Director Byakuya movies, last month I mentioned that we were planning to watch It’s a Summer Film! because it was impossible for me to read the synopsis as anything but a Director Rukia Movie: 

"Let's make a movie together!" A girl passionate about samurai films and a boy full of mystery make a film together that transcends time and space.

And omg, it was so delightful!!! It’s about a girl who lost the Film Club’s summer film bid to another girl (whom she then declares her Arch Nemesis) because no one was interested in the weirdo movie she wanted to make, so she sets off to make her own by herself.

Well, with her two friends, Tatsuki and Orihime! Tatsuki is in the kendo club and Orihime is in the Space Club!

Their dynamic is so excellent, and I love that they remain such an important part of the film, even after Renji also comes into the picture. Here’s Rukia (armed with an umbrella) sparring with Tatsuki at their VAN DOWN BY THE RIVER:

Rukia, who is also an enthusiastic artíste in this film, has a very specific idea of the kind of boy she wants as the star of her film:

So when she finally finds him, she gets dead-set on having Renji in her film. Rukia even follows Renji after he jumps off a bridge into a river, which is a clear AU reinvention of the Memories of Nobody bridge exit!!

She also invites him back to the van down by the river:

But there’s something you should know about Renji...

He is from another dimension. A different temporal dimension, to be specific, and the reason he is so afraid to engage with Rukia--DESPITE THE FACT THAT SHE IS THE VERY PERSON HE CAME TO THIS TIMELINE TO WITNESS--is because he’s afraid that interacting with her too much will rend space-time and punch a hole in the universe.

Which would be. Non-ideal. 

In the course of filming, he is compelled to admit this, which, as usually happens when you announce to all of your new friends that you are a time traveler from the future, spurs a chalk talk, which has less to do with dealing with the fact that their classmate is a time-traveler from the future and more to do with making sure the math checks out:

Luckily, Orihime did the math, and she assures everyone that, at least for now, the time paradox is static and all is well.

Universe-rending potential on the backburner, you know what that means? 

It means it’s time to make a fucking movie. 

Two movies, actually--the romcom the Film Club was officially making, and the samurai movie no one but Rukia wanted. Though the two films are initially set up to be rival projects, with Rukia taking the Not Like Other Girls stance, her rival is actually super, super nice (and has no idea they are at war with one another), and instead of fighting a bitter battle to the death, they help each other work towards their joint premiere.

These movies are low-budget, MacGuyver-level productions of of love, of friendship, of summer excursions to shoot on location. Most importantly, it is about the power of storytelling. <333

(Because you know why Renji broke the laws of space-time to come find Rukia in the first place? The future doesn’t make movies anymore, and she was one of the last greats. He fell in love with her movies.)

But sometimes a story can be too powerful. As Rukia struggles to complete her film--changing the ending over and over again, refusing to end it, refusing to end it in the way it seems destined to end--it becomes clear that sometimes, whatever your opinions of fate or destiny or that which has been scripted, you need to let go of the things you love most. 

You lose them to save them.

10/10, EXTREMELY EXCELLENT MOVIE. STRONG RECOMMEND. 

All of the characters are absolutely top-tier, from the mains all the way down to the most random person Rukia recruited off the street to do high-level movie jobs for her. It’s quirky, it’s funny, and combines the best of both words in its meta “a movie about making a movie” + SURPRISE TIME TRAVEL SCIFI splendor.

Good job Rukia!!! You did amazing. ToT 

Director Renji agrees:

#director rukia #kuchiki rukia #abarai renji #bleach au #it's a summer film! #no brain just bleach #i cannot stress enough how utterly endearing everyone in this movie is #i love everyone in this film studio #we also watched one about people working at a podunk amusement park in southern japan #and one about a girl who gets a job at a maid cafe in hokkaido #or at least very north now i can't remember #in any case those were all right but not as great as this one