I'd like to preface this review by saying I am in no way the leading authority on anime. In fact, I am barley educated in the genre with my only exposure coming from Spirited Away (2001) and the limited episodes of Pokémon I have seen. I say all this mainly as a way of saying that I will not be able to compare and contrast as much as I like, and also as a way of saying that I don't particularly know what makes good anime and what doesn't. What I can do however is tell when I enjoy something and when I don't, and I found Flavors of Youth to be a really enjoyable watch. The film is an anthology consisting of three short films all set in separate cities across China. All three films explore themes of youth and the hardships and simple joys that come with those times. The first short, The Rice Noodles, shows a young man, stuck in a routine job in Beijing, remembering his youth through food with these memories of eating noodles at various points of his life connecting with other memories of family and first love. The second short, A Little Fashion Show, follows two sisters living together in Guangzhou. One of these sisters is a model who is starting to question whether she is too old to model and will be replaced with younger models, and the other sister is a fashion student who is being put through school by the money her sister makes modelling. The third and final story, Love in Shanghai, is the story of three friends who are separated as they get older. Two of these friends have a shared love for each other but are separated when the boy moves to another school he believed she would also be attending, only finding out she had told him so much years later when it is already too late.
The strength of the film lies away from the actual narratives of these stories, with only the third one having a truly gripping narrative which packs a punch. The narrative of the other two stories are not necessarily weak, but they don't pack the emotional punch of the third. The Rice Noodles has a very simple narrative, basically just showing flashbacks of a young man growing up and how food is connected to these memories, especially with memories of his grandmother. This does give an emotional edge to the story when his grandmother later dies towards the end of the film with her final words being about eating noodles one more time with her grandson. The Little Fashion Show goes for a much more complex story, exploring family dynamics between orphaned sisters, the cutthroat nature of the modelling industry and balancing career and life without letting one outweigh the other. It also has a rather difficult section involving anorexia, when the older sister starts getting concerned that she is about to lose her place at the top of the modelling world and starts to starve herself before she finally collapses on the catwalk. It is a rather dark turn for a story which was rather light and charming before this, and also end on a similarly charming note. It is also not explored in much depth and so lacks the emotional effect I think the filmmakers were going for. Love in Shanghai is definitely the strongest narratively as it shows the feeling of first love and lost love and does so in a way that seems very realistic. The actions that the characters take are like those that would be taken by young teens who start to love one another, both not really knowing how to express their feelings whilst also making rash decisions without thinking if it is the best way to go about it for the sake of these feelings. It is a really effective short and it was smart for the film to end on this one. One problem this story does have however is, like the second short, it explores a rather dark theme without going into enough depth or giving it a big enough resolution for it to have the impact their going for, although this time it is child abuse rather than anorexia.
However, as I have already mentioned it is not in these narratives where the film shines but in its animation. It is a beautifully animated film across all three stories with everyone just flowing brilliantly with dynamic imagery that you never get bored even if you are not gripped by the story. As someone who has not seen a huge amount of anime it is hard to see if this is upper echelon of the animation style, but if its not then show me what is because I can't see how it could get that much better than this. And whereas The Rice Noodles may have been the weakest in its narrative it certainly makes up for with its unbelievable animation. Seriously, I was getting really jealous of these animated characters every time I saw them eating noodles they looked that good. I cannot stress enough how beautiful and real the food animation was for this first short. It is essentially just food porn and some of the best-looking food porn you will ever see, the way the liquid of the soup flows and bubbles, the frying of an egg and the sprinkling of topping despite being all pretty mundane tasks have such a beauty about them in this film that I cannot praise enough. The whole animation is superb throughout and I cannot praise these animators enough.
Overall, Flavors of Youth was a highly enjoyable experience if not anything ground-breaking or that substantial. Narratively it is weak in parts, but what it lacks in narrative substance it well and truly makes up for in its beautiful animation. If I was to rank the three shorts I would have Love in Shanghai first due to its ability to have an engaging narrative and beautiful animation better than the other two shorts, A little Fashion Show last and The Rice Noodles sandwiched in between (and I dint just do that for the food pun), but all three are strong on their own merits. Possibly the best thing to come out of this film is my new-found appreciation of the anime style which will lead me into seeing more anime in the future, and if that isn't a ringing endorsement I'm not sure what is.