Some anime movies have a knack for evoking multiple emotions at once, and Josee, the Tiger and the Fish is one of them, this Japanese romantic drama is not just about two people falling in love, it's about dreams, disability, independence, fear, and life not turning out the way you'd expect.
University student Tsuneo Suzukawa loves ocean life and his greatest ambition is to travel to Mexico where he can study it, but dreams aren't free , and he has to work part-time jobs to save the money necessary to make his dream come true.
So one night, a young woman in a wheelchair rolls down a slope and Tsuneo rushes to come to her aid and introduces himself to Kumiko, who prefers to be called Josee.
Josee lives with her grandmother, who is very protective of Josee, as a wheelchair user her grandmother is concerned about her safety and she rarely goes out alone, so Josee spends the majority of her time indoors reading books, drawing and imagining what the outside world is like; she is very imaginative and has a strong personality, but can also be stubborn and difficult to deal with.
Their first meeting is followed by an eventual job for Tsuneo to keep Josee company, and let me tell you, it's not like the sweet romance stories where two meet each other and they instantly fall in love, Sometimes, Josee can be rude, demanding and bossy, and sometimes, Tsuneo has a problem understanding her.,Nevertheless, he carries on his work and over time the two start to get to know one another.
Through these experiences, more and more of the world comes into Josee's life, she meets people, and she finds that there is so much more to the world than her disability or her grandmother's fears and that she can live how she wants to live.
While Josee is busy influencing Tsuneo's destiny, he's also on a quest to study abroad; meanwhile, he starts to realize love is more than just a feeling, it's a reality, between Josee and him in his head.
Unfortunately, life isn't always fair to those who are doing their best , Tsuneo has massive problems to overcome and is worried about making it to his dream, Josee has to confront her fears of independence and the future, and their relationship is tested to the breaking point as well, and they both must find out if love and determination are enough to help them keep going.
I really enjoy this story because it's not just a story about a man saving Josee, it's a story about her dreams, her talents, her opinions, and her struggles, both of them don't have everything under control, and Tsuneo has his own life to sort out.
The movie is a beautiful portrayal of the concept that sometimes it's okay to risk failure in order to pursue your dreams, and also that loving someone means helping them grow regardless of the obstacles.
Overall, Josee, the Tiger and the Fish is a touching anime movie with a lot of romance, emotional moments, beautiful animation and great life lessons, it teaches us that things happen around us and how we react to them can have an impact on our journey, but that it does not mean that it has to end up how we think it should, sometimes, the people we meet unexpectedly become the very people who help us to see things differently.
Rating: 85/100
Originally posted through scrobble.life/anime.
