His Motorbike, Her Island

Obayashi goes full in on this youthful romance. After a short introduction in the city, he moves his film to the countryside and serves up a very idyllic, sweet and explosive romance. Fans of Hausu may be surprised, but dig deeper into the man's oeuvre and you'll find he made plenty of softer youth dramas.

A biker kid is threatened by his girlfriend's brother and decides to take a little road trip. He takes his favored bike and leaves everything behind. Not long after he runs into a mysterious young girl. When she invites him to her island, he decides to take a change and accepts her invitation.

I'm not entirely sure if the alternations between color and sepia made much sense here, but at least the cinematography was pretty impressive. Performances are fine, the energy of the film is great and there are a few memorable moments, the soundtracks pretty cheesy though and the film does have some pacing issues. But if you love Obayashi's work, it's definitely worth checking out.