First of all, the story is obviously amazing. It is based on the true story of a couple from Okayama. While I haven't taken the time to look into their story fully on its own, there is a YouTube video showcasing something that happens in the movie - which is how the movie ended up being made in the first place. Basically, the story follows the love of Hisashi (Sato Takeru) and Mai (Tsuchiya Tao). One day, Mai collapses and slips into unconsciousness due to an extraordinarily rare disease. While doctors think that she may never wake up again, eventually she does and has to relearn how to do everything on her - from walking all the way to speaking and writing. It's impossible to go into further detail without more or less spoiling the whole movie, but basically we are shown the journey that these two people in love took together.
In terms of casting, I am biased considering how much I favour Sato Takeru as an actor. That being said, I am always a little hesitate with movies that require a showcase of extreme emotion coming out of Japan. Depending on actor, I find that they are shown as being extremely awkward and it often seems to come off as unnatural to me. Granted, given his performances in both Ruroni Kenshin and If Cats Disappeared from the World, I should not have doubted his abilities for an instant. He was awesome. On the other hand, I am less familiar with Tsuchiya Tao. She has been a rising star for the past few years and has therefore been in a wide range of films and also experimenting on variety TV. After seeing her in Orange, I wasn't that drawn to her. However, she excelled in this role. The agony that she had to showcase, as well as having to act as someone who had to go through complete rehabilitation were impressive to say the least. My mind has been blown away by the ability in which she navigated dealing with such difficult physical requirements. She also exceeded my expectations with her displays of emotion. The other main and supporting actors were all also excellent in their roles. Everything felt very smooth and natural - loved it.
Music was good - the standard for this kind of melodramatic, romantic, based on a true story kind of movie. I don't really have anything to say other that the music was always suitable for the particular moments. I do wish the music had drawn me a bit more into the story though. I found myself feeling distant at certain peak moments in the movie and the music may have been at the root of this problem.
Overall it was an excellent movie and I highly recommend it to anyone that is found of the work of Sato Takeru and Tsuchiya Tao. Anyone that likes melodramas will likely enjoy this movie but may be a bit disappointed by the distance they feel between the extremely emotional bits of the film.
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In addition to the story and the well execution of it, the performances were really good. Especially from the girl, who was amazing. She played the coma state perfectly without overdoing it and she also potrayed her rehabilitation process really well.
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The story has a really great pace; it starts with our two main characters meeting each other for the first time, how they fell in love, how they got engaged and how they started planning their wedding. This part of the plot was more fast-paced, but didn't feel rushed at all. Then, when the main part of the story aka Mai falling into coma finally started, the movie blossomed and became an emotional roller coaster.
Watching Hisashi taking care of Mai was both heartbreaking and beautiful. Nowadays, it's hard to imagine that such true love exist. To devote 8 years of your life to someone who doesn't have big chances to wake up and to take care of them with such love... it made me tear up a little. The actors, especially my love Sato Takeru, did an amazing job at portraying the emotions of their characters and that made the movie way more touching and emotional. The acting in the movie felt very natural, I must say. They didn't exaggerate, it was somehow realistic.
Overall, an amazing movie and I would recommend it to everyone, especially to the romance enthusiasts. And to Takeru's fans too, of course, he was way too sweet here, you'll regret if you don't give it a chance.
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Tear-Jerker
I didn’t expect anything going into this but I was surprised to find myself so captivated into the story. The characters are simple and sweet. The actors were both amazing. Takeru’s simplicity wins his character.I do think this could’ve been more successful and interesting though, if the director had intended on it. The scenes feel kind of scrappy? I don’t know how to explain but there’s a weird discomfort with the camera rolling. This movie could’ve worked better, had there been more effort put into dialogue and scene quality. The acting and strong storyline really saved the narrative.
Nevertheless, sobbed my heart out by the end of this movie and that itself makes it more memorable for me.
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I was really looking forward to watching this movie for a long time now and I ended up getting pretty disappointed after watching it.
The true story alone is amazing and inspiring but the director poorly executed it, in my opinion.
The first 40 mins or so were the worst. I didn't feel any chemistry between the leads and whatever few emotions they showed looked forced. After that, it got a little better, but it still wasn't good enough.
I was actually nervous about how Tao was going to act, but she turned out to be the one who acted the best. From the time she started falling ill onwards, she acted pretty well.
In my opinion, Sato Takeru was the worst (yeah yeah shocking lol) cause he looked mostly emotionless and lifeless throughout the movie and he had this weird fake looking smile on his face that was so out of place, especially during the first half of the movie. There were times he expressed his emotions properly but most of the time he wasn't good.
Plus, I didn't like the background music. It was as dull as Takeru's acting.
And I can't help but compare this movie to "The Vow", which is also a true story, with a slightly similar plot. In that movie, unlike this movie, the chemistry was to die for and Channing Tatum played his role very well.
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Un final perfecto.
LA protagonista me dejo los pelos de punta con su actuación en todas las etapas de la peli, desde el comienzo al fin.
Pd:las pelis japo las miro con mucho miedo porque son durisimas pero peliculas como esta me recuerda que por mas dura que sea la historia no significa que no sea una mala historia.
PEQUEÑO SPOILER NO AFECTA EN NADA :
La parte de la boda de su compañero de trabajo fue la que mas me emociono, no recuerdo otra peli/drama en donde llore tan fuerte pero de emoción/tristeza , fue un llanto con una sonrisa en mi cara(realmente no exagero largue un llanto sonriendo ).
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