This had the potential to be a very powerful story, however the level of angst pile on is akin to torture p*rn. Granted, the Japanese are one of the best at film noir and striking heavy tones, but at times it can be overdone. It seems to me that this story was made as bleak as possible just so it can seem tortured. Sometimes this works but in the case of this drama, the better story or the better direction would have been to rein in the tortured narrative somewhat as it didn’t fit the overall direction of the things that had been established about the story and also it needed a bit more in-depth backstory and time to sit with the secondary characters in order to make it work. We needed to have more of an emotional connection with the secondary characters in order to see them as grey, complicated humans instead of one dimensional antagonists. It would have made their outcome feel like the only possible ending for them instead of it feeling very disconnected from the narrative and their only function being to be the catalyst for a climax/obstacle/angsty vibes. Essentially we were missing the pay-off for the emotionally tortured ending to resonate with the viewer. I know the ending is supposed to be bittersweet with an optimistic outlook but that’s not what you get from it. That’s why I say there’s very little pay-off.

I can’t fault the acting and I think they had a good premise with the story. It’s just the pile on of the bleakness (there’s a time and a place for this), and some of the story direction that lets the narrative down, but quality-wise it’s not a badly written or executed story. If not for these things (which unfortunately dragged the score down substantially) this could have been at the top of my drama list with a 9.5 or a 10. Because this movie is technically well made, I couldn’t give it lower than an 8. It’s a proper movie, filmed artistically and professionally.

*Please be advised this review is based on me watching this movie three times over a 2 year period in order to give it as much of a chance as possible.