The Tunnel to Summer, The Exit of Goodbyes (2022) Movie Review

The Tunnel to Summer, the Exit of Goodbyes – Movie Review

Director: Tomohisa Taguchi

Writer: Mei Hachimoku, Tomohisa Taguchi (Screenplay)

Cast (Voice Talents)

Marie Iitoyo (Hiru)
Oji Suzuka (Listen to the Universe)

Plot: Kaoru Tono heard a rumour: The laws of space and time mean nothing to the Urashima Tunnel. If you find it, walk through and you’ll find your heart’s desire on the other side…in exchange for years of your own life.

Runtime: 1 Hour 23 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: The Tunnel to Summer, the Exit of Goodbyes starts when we meet high school student Kaoru. He keeps to himself but a chance encounter with Anzu Hanashiro, sees him offering kindness. However, Kaoru is surprised when Anzu joins the school too.

Meanwhile, at home, Kaoru’s father is struggling, and he goes to explore for peace. He finds the Urashima Tunnel, a place with a history of legend. It is said to let you have your heart’s desire in exchange for the time from your own life. Kaoru gets drawn to the tunnel and finds himself losing a week of his life, sending him on his own journey to understand what is going on. Anzu joins him as they join forces to understand everything about the tunnel.

Verdict on The Tunnel to Summer, the Exit of Goodbyes

The Tunnel to Summer, the Exit of Goodbyes is a sci-fi animation movie. It follows two new friends that discover a tunnel that grants their wishes, in exchange for time outside of the tunnel. They look to understand what the tunnel can offer them, as they decide whether to use it to grant their biggest desire.

This movie gets to ask a massive question about life, would you sacrifice time for your deepest desires? With that question in play, we get to see a friendship between two strangers grow, while they try to understand a mysterious tunnel. It highlights how people have dreams and could risk things they can’t control to get them.

The movie does an excellent job of teasing whether the two would go through with their journey into the tunnel. It is filled with raw emotion as well as trying to teach about the idea of loss in life. This gets to continue the trend of outstanding anime coming out this year, following the excellent Suzume.

Where to Watch: Inspired by the award-winning novel of the same name, the bittersweet sci-fi romance opens exclusively in cinemas on the 14th of July.

Final Thoughts –The Tunnel to Summer, the Exit of Goodbyes is beautiful, poignant and thoughtful.