The film was released July 22nd, 2021 in theaters in Japan and on Netflix globally.
This film provides examples of:
- Affectionate Nickname: Everyone calls Yui "Cherry" as in the English pronunciation of sakura which is cherry blossom. Yuki is also known as "Smile" online. Overlaps with Only Known by Their Nickname when it comes to Cherry's friends, Beaver and Japan as well as Beaver's rival Toughboy.
- Arc Words: Sakura. It's not only Cherry's real name, but the album Mr. Fujiyama looks for is called Yamazakura. Sakura Fujiyama is also the name of Mr. Fujiyama's late wife who also happened to sing the record he's looking for. Finally, Yamazakura can translate to both mountain cherry blossoms, also known as sakura leaves, and buck teeth.
- Catchphrase: Smile's "Smile. For. Me!"
- Crash-Into Hello: How Cherry and Smile initially meet.
- Headphones Equal Isolation: Cherry admits he wears headphones so that others don't talk to him.
- Hidden in Plain Sight: The clock in the elderly care center was another of Sakura’s records.
- Ironic Nickname: Smile doesn't like to show her face.
- Love Confession: Cherry recites his haikus about Smile at the festival and declares his love for her.
- Luminescent Blush: Cherry’s whole body turns pink whenever he’s embarrassed.
- Maybe Ever After: At the end on his moving day Cherry confesses his love to Smile by reading her his haiku through a speaker during the summer festival, Smile starts crying Tears of Joy and the movies ends. Subverted in The Stinger which shows both their shadows on the floor kissing while watching the fireworks together.
- My God, What Have I Done?: Smile is mortified after she accidentally destroys the record Mr. Fujiyama was searching for.
- No Antagonist: The story is of two teenagers falling in love with each other and the conflict stemming from a situational inconvenience rather than an actual threat.
- Plot Parallel: The story of Mr. Fujiyama and his wife has a lot of similarities with Cherry and Smile: Mr. Fujiyama's wife was an idol singer that also had buck teeth, they both fall in love under similar circumstances as Cherry and Smile.
- Shipper on Deck: Once it’s clear Smile and Cherry like each other, their friends start showing their support for them. Beaver and Toughboy even spray paint one of Cherry’s poems on road signs, encouraging him to confess his feelings to Smile.
- So You Were Saying...?: Cherry is interrupted when he tries to tell Smile he will be moving away in August and he doesn’t finish his statement when she prompts him. She later finds out when his mother stops by the care center is talking to one of the employees.
- Tragic Keepsake: In a way, the “Yamazakura” record is one for Mr. Fujiyama as it’s his late wife’s record and he wants to listen to it one last time. Because the record is so rare, he has been having a hard time locating it.
