A charismatic high school girl with a decidedly rainy day approach to friendship finds just how important connections can be when she is diagnosed with a terminal illness and relegated to a lonely hospital bed. Rina (Keiko Kitagawa: Fast n Furious Tokyo Drift) comes from a dysfunctional family and only contacts her friends in times of need. Her father is completely self-absorbed, and her mother is overprotective to a fault. Much to Rina's relief, a concerned classmate named Maki eventually appears claiming she was a childhood friend.
One day, after discovering that she has a terminal illness, the girl who once viewed her friendships as disposable is forced to sit in her sterile surroundings with nary a friendly soul in sight. Her family is too wrapped up in their own affairs to drop in for a visit, and her friends all realize that she and Rina were good friends back in grade school. When Maki tries to re-connect with her old friend and Rina realizes that she doesn't even remember the friendly girl, it soon becomes apparent just how flawed the philosophy of this fiercely independent teen truly is.
While the film is predictable, it doesn't hinder it from being a touching little piece. Keiko Kitagawa's performance was great, as a new up and coming actress in Japan. Audience will really believe how unmerciful her character can be, and the gradual change of her character's view of companionship towards the film's end.If anything, a narrative flaw on the director's part would be having Maki be concerned of Rina to almost a stalking fan. Even hints of homo sexuality, since they weren't that close in the first place with the enormous sacrifice on Maki's behalf. It just seemed to be case, until halfway through the film when we discover the reason for her almost infatuated care towards Rina. This aside, some shots were dead on delivered, especially scenes with Rina dancing away in the nightclub. With other scenes being hardly accompanied with any background score to heighten the drama, which was disappointing. And one glaringly disjointed narrative which occurs two thrids into the film.
Overall, this is one of the better films to come out of Japan in 2007, and is definitely worth a look. It is as much about teen angst as it about friendship, and what defines a true life companion.
One day, after discovering that she has a terminal illness, the girl who once viewed her friendships as disposable is forced to sit in her sterile surroundings with nary a friendly soul in sight. Her family is too wrapped up in their own affairs to drop in for a visit, and her friends all realize that she and Rina were good friends back in grade school. When Maki tries to re-connect with her old friend and Rina realizes that she doesn't even remember the friendly girl, it soon becomes apparent just how flawed the philosophy of this fiercely independent teen truly is.
While the film is predictable, it doesn't hinder it from being a touching little piece. Keiko Kitagawa's performance was great, as a new up and coming actress in Japan. Audience will really believe how unmerciful her character can be, and the gradual change of her character's view of companionship towards the film's end.If anything, a narrative flaw on the director's part would be having Maki be concerned of Rina to almost a stalking fan. Even hints of homo sexuality, since they weren't that close in the first place with the enormous sacrifice on Maki's behalf. It just seemed to be case, until halfway through the film when we discover the reason for her almost infatuated care towards Rina. This aside, some shots were dead on delivered, especially scenes with Rina dancing away in the nightclub. With other scenes being hardly accompanied with any background score to heighten the drama, which was disappointing. And one glaringly disjointed narrative which occurs two thrids into the film.
Overall, this is one of the better films to come out of Japan in 2007, and is definitely worth a look. It is as much about teen angst as it about friendship, and what defines a true life companion.