Monday, July 05, 2010

Boku no Hatsukoi wo Kimi ni Sasagu


僕たちの恋愛には、タイムリミットがある。
There's a time limit on our love.

Boku no Hatsukoi wo Kimi ni Sasagu (僕の初恋をキミに捧ぐ/I Give My First Love to You) is a touching 2009 Japanese romantic film that focuses on the love of two kids that grew up together - but one of whom has an incurable illness. It stars Inoue Mao, Okada Masaki, Harada Natsuki, and Hosoda Yoshihiko. The summary is as follows:

Takuma, a boy who is told he will die before he’s 20, and Mayu, a girl who is in love with him… The story begins when they are little kids. Mayu, whose father is a doctor, meets Takuma, who is hospitalized in her father’s workplace. They develop feelings for each other, but Mayu learns of Takuma’s grave illness and that he will die before he turns 20. The distraught children make one promise for an uncertain future. Time passes, and the girl becomes a young woman, and the boy, a young man. Mayu continues to support and love Takuma. On the other hand, Takuma, who knows his days are numbered, pushes away his feelings for Mayu and distances himself from her. He cannot stand to see her cry or hurt her more than he already has. Then Mayu meets another man who has feelings for her, and Takuma meets a woman who has the same illness, and their feelings for each other begin to waver. Misunderstandings, unsaid thoughts, the frustrations and chagrin of youth… What will become of their love while the clock keeps ticking away in Takuma’s life?

I'm a sucker for tragedies. It also helps that I like Inoue Mao and I still remember Okada playing Sekime in Hana Kimi. :) So I wondered how they would be together in a movie with a storyline that could even be said borders on being overdone, but I have faith in them. ^^ Well, I actually began watching this without subs, but even though I understood some, it wasn't much. I finally found a subbed version, so I watched it again - much better. It's really cute and I love the development between the characters from when they were little kids up till their first year of high school. You don't feel like you're missing out and the acting didn't make me cringe. Instead, it just made me feel all giddy inside - and incredibly sad at those moments. I enjoyed it greatly and I admit that I was tearing. A lot. It's a bit uncomfortable when people are around you and it's at one of those moments in the movie, even with the headphones on.

And your dad making strange comments like, "Is that you? She has your hair! Wait... her face is also like yours too!" My parents seem to think Inoue Mao and I resemble one another; it happened with Hana Yori Dango as well and they asked me why I took a picture of my eye and posted it online. -__- I had just started watching the first scene where they shot a close up of her eye. I think she's too pretty, haha. Plus, my hair is never manageable. Sorry, off topic.

Like I said, it was sweet and endearing and it was touching and heartbreaking at other moments. It touched upon topics like death, organ donations, and love - it was especially memorable when you see an 8 year old make up his will, all colorful-like with drawings and such. There are the mandatory ups and downs and all in all, I loved it. :) Plus they look really good together, haha. I kept on rewatching my favorite scenes.

You can watch it here.

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