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I want to say what a beautiful piece of media this is! A delicate story of life and balance. Despite what may happen in the story, the answer is always to move forward with a smile.
The actors have great chemistry. Kentarou and Kasumi lead the cast with their amazing body language and melancholic stares. These two are undeniably great together. If you have seen Sayonara no Tsuzuki, it's almost like watching a seemingly parallel relationship play out. Kasumi always has this expression I call the "Arimura stare." It's when she stares off to the side looking down as if she's looking through time and space.
A lot of things happen in this story to poor Toko. Arimura was the right choice in depicting such a flurry of emotional turmoil and strength. I tend to find she takes on roles a lot where her character is constantly being pulled in many directions, only for her to stand her ground and make her own decisions about what's best for her. That's why I'm so drawn to her roles. She expertly has honed this very specialized talent of the listless soul searching for meaning.
Kentarou plays his part with a gentle nature and ease. His outburst feel more emotional as his character is so reserved. I liked that about his acting. Whenever he was dealing with things, his body language would become awkward and stiff. Thus allowing him to fully express his inhibitions.
I was also enamoured with Kang Ji Young as Han. I loved her acting and smoothness. Each of her scenes felt really relaxed. The dynamic she had with both Toko and Kiyotaka was great!
Amane's part as Shinji was a little jarring at first as an insert rival but he came around. I think Shinji and Toko needed more interactions to make me understand the relationship better. Kiyotaka and Han felt more fleshed out and had better layers built upon it. So I didn't quite feel that much for Shinji. He was a plucky underdog that in the end lost but not forever. His tragedy seemed to be an amalgamation of trying to work your hardest but still losing in the end. Which I think is important in this particular story. He didn't get a fairytale ending. He hid things and lashed out due to all the stress. A trait that many in Japanese society can understand I'm sure.
I liked that this story started with tragedy and then ended with bittersweet ending. There's so many things that happen in this story that feels like a train wreck. It's almost just bad news after bad news that these poor people endure. But I appreciated that they handled each story well. I was not expecting the story to feature the Philippines. That segment took such a drastic turn of events!
Each story I felt had a important message about rebuilding and supporting each other through tough times. I think that's what made me really enjoy this story. Hardships we endure and the power to move forward is something that Japan heavily focuses on. It's a strength of Japanese media. Soshite ikiru is trying to tell us to not dwell on the negatives because we are still here in the end. Things may come and go but we can find happiness in how those hardships led us to the things we have now.
In the end we can always strive to move forward.
The actors have great chemistry. Kentarou and Kasumi lead the cast with their amazing body language and melancholic stares. These two are undeniably great together. If you have seen Sayonara no Tsuzuki, it's almost like watching a seemingly parallel relationship play out. Kasumi always has this expression I call the "Arimura stare." It's when she stares off to the side looking down as if she's looking through time and space.
A lot of things happen in this story to poor Toko. Arimura was the right choice in depicting such a flurry of emotional turmoil and strength. I tend to find she takes on roles a lot where her character is constantly being pulled in many directions, only for her to stand her ground and make her own decisions about what's best for her. That's why I'm so drawn to her roles. She expertly has honed this very specialized talent of the listless soul searching for meaning.
Kentarou plays his part with a gentle nature and ease. His outburst feel more emotional as his character is so reserved. I liked that about his acting. Whenever he was dealing with things, his body language would become awkward and stiff. Thus allowing him to fully express his inhibitions.
I was also enamoured with Kang Ji Young as Han. I loved her acting and smoothness. Each of her scenes felt really relaxed. The dynamic she had with both Toko and Kiyotaka was great!
Amane's part as Shinji was a little jarring at first as an insert rival but he came around. I think Shinji and Toko needed more interactions to make me understand the relationship better. Kiyotaka and Han felt more fleshed out and had better layers built upon it. So I didn't quite feel that much for Shinji. He was a plucky underdog that in the end lost but not forever. His tragedy seemed to be an amalgamation of trying to work your hardest but still losing in the end. Which I think is important in this particular story. He didn't get a fairytale ending. He hid things and lashed out due to all the stress. A trait that many in Japanese society can understand I'm sure.
I liked that this story started with tragedy and then ended with bittersweet ending. There's so many things that happen in this story that feels like a train wreck. It's almost just bad news after bad news that these poor people endure. But I appreciated that they handled each story well. I was not expecting the story to feature the Philippines. That segment took such a drastic turn of events!
Each story I felt had a important message about rebuilding and supporting each other through tough times. I think that's what made me really enjoy this story. Hardships we endure and the power to move forward is something that Japan heavily focuses on. It's a strength of Japanese media. Soshite ikiru is trying to tell us to not dwell on the negatives because we are still here in the end. Things may come and go but we can find happiness in how those hardships led us to the things we have now.
In the end we can always strive to move forward.
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