"Necessities of Life in Youth") is a 2018 anime/donghua anthology drama film directed by Li Haoling, Jiaoshou Yi Xiaoxing and Yoshitaka Takeuchi and produced by Noritaka Kawaguchi.
A Japanese-Chinese co-production between CoMix Wave Films and Haoliners Animation League, it was released in Japan and in China on August 4, 2018, and globally on the same day by StudioCanal and Netflix.
[2] The film is based on the tradition of "four basic necessities of life", like each other and is divided into three storylines: Taking place in Hunan Province and Beijing, Xiao Ming reminisces about his memories with his grandmother through his love for San Xian noodles.
Taking place in Guangzhou, Yi Lin is a fashion model and her younger sister Lulu is a student in designing clothes.
Yi Lin, seeing no purpose in continuing her career in the fashion industry, asked Lulu to help her learn how to design and sew clothes, triggering an argument between the two sisters.
Years later, Li Mo, now taking care of his own motel in a renovated shikumen, sees Xiao Yu in the front door and smiles.
In a post-credits scene, the prominent characters in each segment finally meet up with one another in an airport, content with the simple joys of life and the future that lies ahead.
[3] Kim Morrissy of Anime News Network gave the film an overall grade of B, praising the "polished background art" while criticizing the "weak character animation", and said that "Flavors of Youth may be far from a masterpiece, but I'm glad that it brought the talented artists at CoMix Wave Films together to portray this sentimental image of China's beautiful cities.