This review is spoiler free. Going into KimiAi I had fairly low expectations. Knowing nothing of its twin BokuAi I had simply chosen it to be first at the recommendation of several friends. Given the synopsis and the typical structure these sorts of movies tend to follow I was expecting the whole two movies in any order thing to mainly be a gimmick meant to do nothing but build intrigue without having the substance to back it up. To be fair this assumption wasnt entirely wrong. I wouldnt say these movies are particularly deep they are certainly interesting and wellmade but most of its powerful moments only work in the context presented by this fictional setting. While the two can certainly make bold statements about love and fate they mean very little in the context of the real world. But this isnt always a bad thing. The story the movies are telling is genuinely compelling and rooting for a character across realities and narratives across entire movies in a way unlike a traditional sequel made for a very unique viewing experience. At their core the movies arent too different and a large portion of the scenes in each are shared though they appear at wildly different points in each story. The movies happen over the course of lifetimes which isnt unique to these films but adds to their existence as accompanying pieces these are movies about two different lives from one singular person. They so eloquently explore the ideas of fate by showing how fate can be changed. While the science and concepts might not relate exactly to our reality as viewers meeting it at a halfway point can certainly lead one to change their view of their own world of their own reality. KimiAi struggles a bit in overall quality though. While both can certainly be strong standalone films without spoiling anything KimiAi has a fairly large disadvantage that its twin does not. On its own KimiAi feels a bit held back because in order to support its reverse structure it ends up losing a bit of what makes a story like this great. It still works it works really well but I feel like without its accompanying BokuAi this movie wouldnt be anything too special. There are other aspects from KimiAi that feel a bit stunted by being attached to BokuAi its treatment of time passing is especially strange if one doesnt constantly remind oneself that its just half of the full picture. And there are a lot of scenes that had the film been singular and longer wouldve very much been helpful to stretch out. However none of this makes KimiAi a bad film and I think the fact that it adhered so closely to its goal of being one half of a single characters life story is enough to make up for those discrepancies. In terms of the actual content I love how hyper focused KimiAi is on its two central themes there are a lot of great scenes visually that represent really interesting ideas about fate and love that the dialogue could never do justice. Its visuals sometimes do feel overly subtle its almost hard to tell if some shots were truly intentional or if the stars just happened to align to make such compelling coincidences. It doesnt really matter either way because all that matters in the end is those pieces did come together for our eyes and ears to discover. To quickly conclude the movies are definitely more than their gimmick though said gimmick certainly makes it a commitment to watch and appreciate both. KimiAi is a good movie with some strange moments that is enhanced by the existence of its sister film. P.S. I personally would recommend watching KimiAi first then BokuAi. Despite its lower overall score KimiAi does a lot of legwork to give BokuAi the opportunity to be great. I and many others have compared these movies to last years EEAaO and while I definitely think these movies are not nearly as conventiondefying and bombastically smart as that film the comparison is not without its merits. Ill leave it at that.