[ r i n . a i j y o ] – flavor of life, love, and all that you dream of

Just watched the J-movie Crying Out Love, in the Center of the World, starring Takao Osawa, Kou Shibasaki, Masami Nagasawa, Mirai Moriyama, Tsutomo Yamazaki, and Kondo Yoshisawa. Love stories like this put me in an oddly sentimental mood for a while. This one is a touching and realistically grounded story of an innocent, teenage love that finds its resolution in a future different from the one it had originally planned. The gentleness with which the story was delivered was very appropriate. Though slow-moving at times, the characters’ deliberation with their every move kept me waiting patiently for the story to progress.

The tragic tale comes full circle with the conclusion of the movie–Sakutaro, the male lead, finally gets over the passing of his hatsukoi (“first love”), Aki Hirose, and spreads her ashes to the winds of Australia, over Uluru, a sacred place she named in photos.

It wasn’t painfully romantic–it was just right. The cast delivered the right measure of emotion for each scene, each maturation, and each twist. The younger Sakutaro was a delight to watch; his schoolboy awkwardness around the elegant, witty Aki often made me break into a smile.

Made me wish just a little that I was back in middle school–back amongst the furtive passing of confession notes under the table, and the giggling of female classmates as they realized who liked whom (and proceeded to loudly declare it to the rest of the class).

I’ll be looking for more Japanese romance movies; they have a gravity English movies don’t seem to match up to–at least for me. :) Do I recommend this movie to you? Yes, if you are a hopelessly sentimental romantic like yours truly. Drop me a comment and I’ll pass you the movie (playable on your computer only).