Every Action Has Consequences
The story continues three years after the original drama. Sawa is living alone in Mihama, a small coastal town where everyone seems to know each other. She gets a job working at a local restaurant and vows to leave her past completely behind her. This all changes when Sawa reunites with Kitano-sensei, who comes to Mihama to present a lecture on fireflies. As you can expect, a series of dramatic events unfold.Personally, I thought this movie was perfect ending to this series. Not 'perfect' as in "everyone ends up happy", but perfect as in the movie really encapsulates the essence of drama. It left me feeling as if someone punched me in the gut and quickly helped me up off the ground. The movie was emotional, dark, and intense. The final scenes are shocking, yet still manage to leave the audience with a sliver of hope for what could happen next. Just like the drama, the scenes were simplistic but draw you in. This movie highlights the ugly side of infidelity and reminds the viewer that every choice has real consequences that must be faced one way or another.
Because the drama ended with Noriko placing a restraining order on Sawa, the viewer starts the movie with an appetite for either retribution or rebellion, maybe even a strange mix of both. Even after seeing what they've been through, one can't help but get angry at Kitano-sensei and Sawa for the choices they make, and the things they do. One's happiness is important, but at what cost, and at who's sacrifice? The movie does not hold back on questioning the audience's moral compass, and this is one of the main reasons I enjoyed the film so much.
The music was the same from the drama, with a few enhancements to memorable tracks. The theme song "Place of Love" by LOVE PSYCHEDELICO added a great touch to the movie's soundtrack. The cinematography was nice and really did the story justice.
As for the acting, hands down the best performance goes to Ito Ayumi who played Noriko. The movie actually gave emotional depth to her character that helped me empathize with her better than I ever did watching the drama. As the story progresses, we slowly see Noriko descend into a place of helplessness and pain, a very stark difference to the angry, condescending personality we see towards the end of the drama. Ueto Aya's delivery was flawless as well; she easily convinces us that she *is* Sasamoto Sawa.
This is one of the very few compelling dramas on adultery I have seen, and if this genre suits your interests then it's definitely worth a watch. I would recommend this movie only after watching the original drama for context (both are great!).
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Why wasn't a perfect Ending?
It is important to be truthful in a relationship. If you fall in love with someone despite being married, it is better to face the truth and confront it instead of resorting to deception. You should give a clear signal and then start a new life. The main characters faced hardships in their relationship because they started it in the wrong way. After three years, both of them were living separate lives. One divorced her husband, while the other was still living with his wife unwillingly because of her manipulative behavior. Eventually, they met again, but the ending was tragic. I was hoping for a perfect ending, but the unsatisfying conclusion left me disappointed.Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
Love Prevails Above All
I was disappointed to see the ending of Hirugao the series (2014) to see that Yuichiro just went back to his prison warden wife Noriko as if nothing happened, and Rikako went back to her psycho controller husband like it was no big deal. Only Sawa stood by her choice for love with conviction. She got a divorce from her clown husband and moved to a new town. She lived a pure lifestyle for 3 years and then fate brings Yuichiro back to her once again. She chooses to attend his lecture and the love story is rekindled once again. Noriko’s psychopathic nature gets turned to new heights as her jealousy makes her do very bizarre things like asking them to perform their “union” in front of her in a hotel room. She is truly so weird and disgusting. She thinks that an affair is just lust and bodies in friction. But what Sawa and Yuichiro have together is pure. They actually spend time with each other in a silent bond in the forest and the creek and that lifts their love to sacred heights. It’s something that Noriko could never imagine. She simply doesn’t understand their love because she is not capable of reaching that frequency. So she just resorts to her evil and manipulative ways like throwing herself off a balcony to manipulate Yuichiro into coming back to help her. Well that short time that Sawa was with Yuichiro was so precious and beautiful- when they were living together. And even though Noriko’s evil and vengeful nature made her kill Yuichiro in the end, the last thing that came out of his mouth was “I love Sawa” and the ring he bought was passed on in love between innocent children- their love was innocent, although it was dressed up in “adultery” by the world’s definition. Love won in the end. Even though Noriko killed the form of her husband, and lied to Sawa saying that “he apologized and came back to me in the end” as she tries to control the narrative, Yuichiro’s heart was with Sawa, and God blessed Sawa with Yuichiro’s child as she says in the end the little life that is growing in her womb gave her a new meaning in life. Noriko was using pregnancy and motherhood as a form of control and manipulation (saying things like “I want that baby” like it’s an agenda item on her to do list), but the baby was born only to the one who held love as sacred. Sawa and Yuichiro’s bond was so beautiful- I wanted them to be together so much. Noriko’s anger and vengeance carried on even after killing her husband and her hatred continued even after his death as she tells Sawa that she will hate her forever, but Sawa didn’t hold any hatred in her heart towards Noriko for what she did. That shows the purity of Sawa’s heart and the evil inside the wife’s heart. That’s why a pure soul like Yuichiro left his evil wife. She was nothing but a controller and manipulator. It was a tragic ending in form, but truly it was triumphant for love. Even though adultery is seen as just s*x, this love story showed the innocence of love preserved as Yuichiro’s ring was passed on to innocent children as they shared their love.Was this review helpful to you?
