DVD RC2 (playable in all European DVD-players), NTSC

Director: Nobahiro Yamashita
Producer:
Cast: Yui Natsukawa, Koichi Sato
Running time: 121 minutes
Released: 2007 [Japan]
Genre: Drama
Sub-genre:

Audio: Japanese
Subtitles (removable): English, Japanese
Features: Anamorphic Widescreen, Dolby Digital 5.1,
music video, theatrical trailer, TV spot
Distributor: Asmik [Japan] 2007

After the twisted verve of bizarre black comedy The Matsugane Potshot Affair, acclaimed director Yamashita Nobuhiro returns to simpler, softer times with the 2007 youth romance A Gentle Breeze in the Village (a.k.a. Tennen Kokekko). Yamashita again takes on a subtle coming-of-age tale, but unlike the spunky wannabe rockers of Linda Linda Linda, the teens in Tennen Kokekko are far removed from the city and ordinary school life. Based on a popular Kuramochi Fusako manga, the film follows a small group of students in a remote rural town, casting a gentle, observant eye on their daily lives and growing pains. Though manga adaptations and pure love films have become nearly ubiquitous, Yamashita's unrushed direction and Watanabe Aya's (Maison de Himiko) remarkable screenplay cleanly sidestep the genre cliches, a perfect case of achieving more with less. Embracing the innocence and insecurities of youth with simplicity, clarity, and sensitivity, Tennen Kokekko is a small, genuine, and gracefully rendered film.
Soya (Kaho, Gamera the Brave) is in her second year of junior high, but things are a bit lonely as she is the only student in her grade. In fact, there are only six students in her entire school, all of different grades studying in one classroom. The oldest of the group, Soya has a very close relationship with the other kids, but she can't help feeling lost at times in a tiny school and a quiet town whose population dwindles by the day. Everything changes when a boy from Tokyo, Osawa (Okada Masaki), transfers to her school and, what's more, he's in the same grade as her.