2 Best Movies to Watch by Nao Toyama

With its slice-of-life approach, A Sign of Affection immediately tugs at the heartstrings with its sweet romance between a deaf university student and a multilingual traveller from manga duo Suu Morishita. The anime adaptation sees the world in Yuki’s eyes, with delicately lined shapes and pink-tinted watercolor paired with Sumire Morohoshi’s sweet voice, and it’s lovely to see the unjaded, kind way she interprets the world. The series does have some of the familiar romance tropes, like love triangles, wingman friends, and the glowy, bokeh lighting, but it’s sort of the point in this charming show. A Sign of Affection likens the careful, hesitant way of falling in love with the way Yuki interacts with the world, or rather, the reactions abled people have to her disability.

Genre: Animation, Comedy, Drama

Actor: Kaede Hondo, Nao Toyama, Ryota Osaka, Sumire Morohoshi, Takeo Otsuka, Tasuku Hatanaka, Yu Miyazaki

As one grows older, only then do they realize the benefits of youth. It’s all there in the title, but unlike other transformation stories where the protagonist reincarnates into a different, younger persona, Grandpa and Grandma Turn Young Again is much more mundane as they turn into their younger selves, but still keep to their calm, small town suburban lifestyle. It’s less exuberant than other stories– there’s no mystery to solve, no conspiracy to uncover– but it’s just so funny to see everyone around them react to the youth they attained, like make them enter their district’s sports team. But as the show progresses, and they continue their day-to-day lives, the show reveals itself as the celebration of the simple, small town life that once wasn’t a guarantee due to the war, the good life that many forgo for the city.

Genre: Animation, Comedy

Actor: Mamiko Noto, Nao Toyama, Shin-ichiro Miki, Shiori Mikami