Happyend

You have a choice

What I took away from this film is that how clearly relevant it is now. That in a time were you can see a world changing for the worse what can you do ?

You make a choice. strive for change or give up and live your life as best as you can.

For the young youth in this film they kind of do both. They don't want to change and give up the last year they have together. But they also don't want to live in world where their privacy is no longer theirs'. It is a question I think many people have asked themselves during a time where certain areas of the world are being changed for the worse and they say how can I do anything about this.

But in reality people can evoke change while also not having to give up.

without looking at the deeper side to this film it is just about understand the changes in life and in adulthood. It is a difficult time and there are struggles we all have to face. The idea that the people you have spent so much time with, you may not see again.

This film is beautiful in story and cinematography.

It may feel long but i really enjoyed the concept and how it reflects present day.

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Have you ever had a friend who has completely different opinions on life ? If so, how did you handle that? Happyend(2024) is a Japanese coming-of-agemovie which talks about this and many other such things I don't see representation in media much. It's set in near future dystopian world which I can't help but think is inspired by 1984 by George Owell. Oh it doesn't have Big Brother as such but I felt throughout that the idea was pretty similar.

I personally prefer to consume Asian fiction more compared to Western fictional because I feel I tend to connect to their storytelling more. A major reason for that is I find Asian culture collectivism bleeds into their stories and so does Western individualistic mindset in theirs. I find a sense of homeliness in Asian fiction and a sense of isolation in Western fiction. Happyend blended those feelings perfectly. Maybe it's because the director is both Japanese and American as I could find both the ideologies blended perfectly in this.

There's a sense of comfort as we watch these teenagers dynamic, their everyday gimmicks, their treasured friendships but there's isolate in the way they drift apart because of their different opinions.

This movie speaks to you in such a personal and political way. You cannot look away. The two protagonists' view points are explained beautifully and what makes them think that way is also portrayed. The movie wants us to think. It doesn't pick a side. You can see your way of thinking represented in any of the characters. I personally agree with Yuta's character. But what I love the most is the film adapts this amalgamation of opinions, acceptance of other's opinions perfectly. A lot of people are head-strong in their belief system. They will not change it no matter what. There are people who change their opinions after listening to others or give the other perspective a chance while still holding on to their opinions. There are people who don't do anything substantial while having a loud morale voice and there are people who actually do something concrete yet refuse to talk much about it.


It's movie about youth standing against authority that tries to monitor their every moment which makes it a coming of age movie. But we, as adults also face this dilemma every single day. Whether to accept this unfair reality of fight against even if doing so won't change much. It's a beautiful movie with lots of symbolism and the most wonderful part is, it will make you have entirety different perspectives and readings of the screenplay. This was mine. Thanks for watching.

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