I Wish

I've heard, anecdotally,  that children with separated parents long for Mum and Dad to get back together. Certainly that's what Koichi, the star of I wish, wants. He and his Mum have moved in with his grandparents in Kagoshima while his little brother Ryu lives with Dad in Hakata. Conversely, the last thing Ryu wants is for his parents to reunite - he really hated them fighting. Ryu and Koichi maintain their relationship by cellphone, umprompted by adults,  which seems remarkably successful.

The big news of the moment in Kagoshima is that the bullet train is about to run from there. Koichi hears that when two bullet trains pass for the first time, the energy generated will cause wishes to come true. So he hatches a plan to be in place for the vital moment.

In good school project style the plan is worked out in detail - where the passing will happen, how to get there, how much the train fare will be. Koichi and a couple of friends work it all out and go all out to find the money at their end, and Ryu does the same at the other end.

I wish is a pretty refreshing watch. It's seen from the kids' viewpoint and their scheming goes ahead with very little adult interference, though adults are conscripted as needed and  prove remarkably helpful. Each of the eight children involved has a unique wish and you get a definite sense of the things that each child struggles with in day-to-day life. It's a little slow moving but is a generally good-humoured and entertaining watch.

My rating 3.5/5