Asian Drama

As with the rest of his oeuvre, duplication and mirroring of female characters once again informs Hamaguchi Ryusuke’s latest work, Guzen to sozo. It would not be out of place to make a literary analogy and, if one were to regard his two previous films (Happy Hour and Asako I & II) as novels, this new work could be described as a collection of short stories. The film’s recurring rhythm amplifies this effect. The three episodes, which each revolve around a woman, are in turn divided into three movements, like a piece of music. They tell stories of an unexpected love triangle, a failed seduction trap, and an encounter that results from a misunderstanding. The fragmentation serves to emphasize rather than undermine the exquisitely organic storytelling and mise en scène. Although most of the action takes place in a single space and involves just two actors, not once does it feel like filmed theatre. The secret lies not only in the writing, but also in the notion of a more complex temporality in each episode that flirts with science fiction in the final instalment. The moments we witness are crystallized into touching universal destinies marked by choices, regrets, deception and coincidences. They are the film’s true protagonists.

Takuya Okada is a high school student. He visits his classmate Mamizu Watarase in the hospital. Mamizu Watarase suffers from the mysterious ailment “Luminescence disease.” People who have the disease show a faint sparkle under the moonlight and the sparkle gets brighter as their death gets closer. Mamizu Watarase is not allowed out of the hospital and she will not live long enough to become an adult. Takuya Okada offers to help her carry out her wishes before she passes away. He also tells her how he feels about her, but Mamizu Watarase’s death is approaching.

Kumi, Hyo, Chihaya, Tatsuki and Kanna all prepare to graduate high school. Their relationships are strained as they struggle to figure out how their life goals and divergent paths can accommodate their high school friendships and loves.

Morino Hotaru is a second year high school student who has had an unrequited crush on Otaka Ren since junior high school. One day, while on a school trip with Ren and her good friend Yamamoto Shiori, their bus gets into an accident. When Hotaru wakes up, a young man who is dressed fully in black appears in front of her. He is Kuro, a grim reaper. A shocked Hotaru shoves him away but he has shocking words for her, “I’m your guide. Morino Hotaru, listen carefully. You’re dead.” Hotaru learns that if she does not get over her attachment to three things within 49 days, she will end up becoming a ghost bound to a specific physical location and cannot rest in peace. She had slept for one month after the accident and has only 19 days left. And so, Hotaru sets out to settle the three lingering regrets with the limited time she has, in the company of Kuro. One of them is to confess her feelings to Ren, her crush of five years. However, when he is in front of her, she finds it impossible to tell him how she feels. As Hotaru settles her first lingering regret, dark clouds begin to gather over her and Kuro …

The story follows seven friends and how a few stay back in their hometown Maebashi, while others go to Tokyo to pursue their dreams.

Furuya Towa is a handsome guy who has always had girl admirers, but has never had a girlfriend and remains a virgin. He resolves that he will get a girlfriend, and casually picks the cool and beautiful freshman Misono Miwa. When he attempts to spontaneously ask her out, she refuses him aggressively. But the more Towa thinks about her, the more he falls in love with her.

Furuya Towa is a handsome guy who has always had girl admirers, but has never had a girlfriend and remains a virgin. He resolves that he will get a girlfriend, and casually picks the cool and beautiful freshman Misono Miwa. When he attempts to spontaneously ask her out, she refuses him aggressively. But the more Towa thinks about her, the more he falls in love with her.

Kumi is a transfer student at a prestigious high school. She meets Hyo who is handsome and kind. Kumi falls in love with him and has her first kiss with him, but Hyo is famous for being a womanizer at school. After she discovers his true side, she gets hurts, but her feelings for him don't go away.

When a new disease called the Bugster Virus or "Game disease" begins infecting people across japan, the ministry of health works with GEMM Corp., a major video game company, to create the Cyber Rescue Center or "CR" and recruit a group of Doctor Riders including Emu Hojo AKA Kamen Rider Ex-aid, a medical intern with incredible gaming skills, and Hiiro Kagami AKA Kamen Rider Brave, a young genius surgeon who has never had a failed operation. Together with the help of Poppy Pipopapo, a Bugster reprogrammed to help them, they set out to cure the japan of the Bugster Virus. But they soon find that they aren't the only Doctor Riders out there and that the CEO of GEMM Corp. has his own motives in all this that could threaten their mission.