have to say watching this movie especially with that ending, feel really depressed - yeah very realistic and true to life, but in this case i would've loved if we got an escapist ending - something better then reality - as is the whole movie was chalk filled with character's that were hurt, hurting either themselves or someone else. yeah again very true to life, and yet cause of the "ugly" / brutal reality the ending should've been fanciful... but it is what it is -

before anything i get why people would love Rinko's mother (especially when u get to see the exactly opposite dynamic with Kai, his mother and his surrounding's), but she a tactless moron! i'm all for how she supported her son/daughter - at least at home Rinko had a safe haven cause of Fumiko. but u don't run all over people, just cause u have a misguided need to protect ur child - especially when that child aint a child and can fend and defend themselves - certainly not against an 11 yr old (that has more then enough on her plate) let alone the man ur daughter ended up with - her laughing and announcing "...Rinko lucked out with Makio..." (considering she more or less doesn't have in-laws to deal with) was revolting to witness, and the only thing in my mind at that sec was STFU - like with her intrusively asking a child, about her boob growth - like i said, tactless and utterly moronic ugh

everything else - was sad and sweet - bitter sweet if u will - Tomo didn't have a mother - a woman that even when she was around - wasn't really there for her child, as opposed to a woman that the sec Tomo walked into her life, she was her soul focus - ironic that the "child protective services" came to check on Tomo's living situation, when she was surrounded by love and care - while they (and the surrounding do-gooders, ironic that b*tch that pushed her own son to almost put an end to his life - freakin heart breakin) could care less when she was neglected on the daily, just cause it was done by the woman that gave birth to her - a lot of irony in this movie -

even the ending where the child had to again make the grown-up decision and chose her mother, instead of herself... i.e where she needed to be the adult in the relationship, instead of reaming with Rinko and being a kid - sad really. even though that scene where Hiromi visits her own mother, at long last (as she "abandoned" her when she got pregnant with Tomo) not to mention Tomo's coming back to a clean house - that looked like a home that was taken care of, as opposed to how we see it at the start.. guess u could interpret that into a "positive ending"...