ANI-MOVIES, *Hula Fulla Dance

Hula Fulla Dance is a coming-of-age story with an unnecessary supernatural ending. Written by The Colors Within scriptwriter Reiko Yoshida, this Bandai Namco Pictures production was directed by Gundam veteran Shinya Watada and released in 2021. This is based on the real-life hot springs resort, Spa Resort Hawaiians, which had previously been the subject of the Japanese classic Hula Girls, but it was the first time anime was used as the narrative. The film also was done to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the disasters that hit the Tohoku region. The anime movie was popular enough to get its own manga adaptation, even though it hasn't gotten much notice in America.

Hiwa just graduated high school in Japan and wants to take up her older sister's career of being a professional hula dancer. It's never stated, but its implied Hiwa's sister passed away from the Tokoku disasters, so Hiwa joins the Spa Resort Hawaiians' hula dancing troupe along with four other girls who each have their own dreams and personal setbacks. Among them is Kanna who wants to forge her own path away from her parents, the painfully shy Shion, the overweight Ranko, and Hawaiian native Ohana who came to Japan because she was too short to be part of a hula team back home. The girls screw up their debut performance but get their act together by the time of a national hula dance off where they use an unconventional pop song for their shot. Throughout this, Hiwa keeps dreaming that her deceased sister is coaching her own from the afterlife while possessing a mascot plushie, which oddly enough turns out to be true but not in a horror movie sort of way.

Hula Fulla Dance is a traditionally 2D animated film, although during the dancing performances the animation shifts to using 3D models for the dancers which is a sharp contrast to the otherwise lively graphics. There are some standard shoujo manga cliches, including Hiwa's flirting with her sister's old boyfriend, but it does have a fair message of friendship and entering into maturity. You're not missing out much on this predictable slice-of life feature, even though it might be worth a viewing on streaming.