I’m sure at some point everyone thinks about what they would do if they had the power to stop time. In the new anime film Fragtime, shy highschooler Misuzu uses it to escape awkward situations–and to peek under the skirt of Haruka, the most out-going girl in her class.
Of course, the trick is that when Misuzu lifts Haruka’s skirt, she finds that Haruka is suddenly also able to move about freely in the time-stopped world. From then on, whenever Misuzu stops time, it stops for Haruka as well. Together, the two develop an odd relationship–one that, at first, only truly exists during each three-minute time stop. The two play pranks, get petty revenge, and just do things they aren’t normally allowed to do in their own, time-stopped world. Beneath the surface, however, things are actually a bit more complex.
*This article contains spoilers for Fragtime.*
Image source: 「フラグタイム」アニメ公式 / Fragtime Anime Official
Misuzu is a young woman afraid to be herself. She keeps a low profile in class and escapes into books whenever possible. When people try to include her–to break through her shell–her first instinct is to run. She is deeply worried that she will do or say the wrong thing and that people will come to hate her because of that. Thus, in her point of view, it’s better to be socially isolated–that way there is no possibility of her being hurt. And that’s before getting into the whole fact that she is a teenage lesbian in a country where being one makes you an object of comedy at best and ostracizes you at worst.
Image source: 「フラグタイム」アニメ公式 / Fragtime Anime Official
Haruka appears to be the exact opposite of Misuzu. She’s a social butterfly, easily the most popular girl in class. She has tons of friends, is awesome at sports, and even has dating experience. To Misuzu, Haruka is a manic pixie dream girl–her wild first friend and first love all rolled into one. Of course, as Misuzu gets more and more attached, she becomes more and more fearful of being hated by Haruka.
The twist of the film is the fact that, on the deepest level, Haruka and Misuzu are the same. Like Misuzu, Haruka is deeply afraid of being hated by others. However, while Misuzu chose to retreat from socializing, Haruka decided to do whatever was needed to be liked by everyone.
Image source: 「フラグタイム」アニメ公式 / Fragtime Anime Official
To do this, she worked to become a mirror of sorts, responding to each of her classmates and teachers in the way that makes them the most pleased–even to the point of taking mental and physical abuse. She has taken extensive notes on each of them and then pounded those notes into her brain with collection-upon-collection of flashcards. In her mind, there is no “Haruka” with her own wants and feelings. There is only the Haruka that others see–the various “Harukas” that she becomes.
Discovering this, Misuzu is forced to confront the idea that Haruka doesn’t actually like her and enjoy being with her. Haruka only acts as a manic pixie dream girl because that is how Misuzu wants her to act.
Image source: 「フラグタイム」アニメ公式 / Fragtime Anime Official
However, in the end, it becomes obvious that the things they did during the time stops were not things Misuzu wanted to do–after all, all she really wanted to do was run away. Therefore, in the time stops, it was the true Haruka who came out–the one who wanted to act out without repercussion, free from being everyone’s perfect woman.
The relationship between Haruka and Misuzu in the time-stopped world was the only real one she ever truly had. And more than that, in it, Haruka found a person who loved and accepted her for who she was. From that point, all that was left was to finally bring their relationship–and thus the true Haruka–into the real world for the first time in years.
Fragtime was released in Japanese theaters on November 22, 2019.
Top image source: 「フラグタイム」アニメ公式 / Fragtime Anime Official on Twitter
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