When a film starts as joyously as this one, I was all set-up for something totally charming. Everyone's happy, there's some sweet sequences and everything seems too good. Then we get something truly terribly and gut-punching, and that is where the themes of this story start to develop. We see topics of grief, isolation, the importance of communication and the complexity of family life. However, there were some decisions made both in the casting and narrative in the second half that didn't work for me. The introductions of certain characters seemed to conflict with how they were being talked about. Plus, some choices in the story felt out of place to me and made no sense as to why they would be happening. While I appreciate the unexpectedness of the events of the second and final acts, they just didn't sit well with me for one reason or another. The performance of lead Fumino Kimura is a particular highlight. There was great emotion coming from her even at her most subtle. Even with those issues I had with it, this was still a pretty solid drama. It brings out genuine heartbreak with added complexity in character development. It got a bit too contrived for me at times. But the good certainly outweighs everything else.

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