Sono toki wa kare ni yoroshiku (2007)

Director:

Yûichirô Hirakawa

Writers:

Takuji Ichikawa (original novel)
Kaoru Ishii (screenplay)

Release Date:

2 June 2007 (Japan)

Genre:

Romance

Plot Keywords:

Based On Novel

Cast

Takayuki Yamada	...	Satoshi Toyama
Masami Nagasawa	...	Suzune Morikawa / Karin Takigawa
Takashi Tsukamoto	...	Yuji Igarashi
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Riki Honda	...	Ikuo Matsuoka
Masaya Kikawada	...	Takayuki Natsume
Keiko Kitagawa	...	Momoka Katsuragi
Fumiyo Kohinata	...	Goro Toyama
Ryôko Kuninaka	...	Misaki Shibata
Emi Wakui	...	Ritsuko Toyama

Also Known As:

Say Hello for Me (International: English title)

Runtime:

Japan:114 min

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Company:

Hakuhodo DY Media Partners

The legacy of "Be With You" lives on.

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

This movie is extremely similar to "Ima, Ai ni Yukimasu" (Be With You) and "Tada, Kimi wo Aishiteru" (Heavenly Forest), based on a novel by the same author, Ichikawa Takuji. In fact, the stories are so similar that it's almost self-plagiarism of past two movies, developing the story through rare and possibly imaginary illnesses. Unlike the other two movies, I felt some scenes in this film were cheesy. Why then, did I rate it 10/10? Because it follows the proved formula for a Junai (pure love) genre movie, while adding refreshing twists.

The first film of TBS Junai Trilogy: "Sekai no Chuushin..." (Crying Out Love...) started the Japanese Junai film craze in 2004, but it was the second of the trilogy: "Ima, Ai ni Yukimasu" (ImaAi) that perfected the ultimate Junai formula of an unknown girl appears before a guy, reveals a fatal illness, and most importantly: climax with a epiphany/flashback/narration sequence by the tragic heroine, and ends with a feel-good/inspirational afterthought for the dead. This formula has since been implemented in "1L no Namida" and major 2006 Junai films such as the last of the TBS Trilogy: "Taiyou no Uta", "Nada Sou Sou", and "Tada, Kimi wo Aishiteru" (TadaAi). What astonishes me, is how this film managed to gather a main cast made up entirely of actors who previously starred in these notable Junai films. Yamada Takayuki was in "Sekai no Chuushin" TV drama series, Nagasawa Masami of "Sekai no Chuushin" movie and "Nada Sou Sou", Tsukamoto Takashi of "Taiyou no Uta". Even Kohinata Fumiyo, who played a doctor in "Ima, Ai ni Yukimasu" appears as the protagonist's father as a doctor again.

It's impossible to watch this movie without being reminded of previous "pure love" movies. What really separates this movie from the rest though, is that a traditional Hollywood happy ending is used for the very first time. For 3 times after the 75th minute, I thought this movie would end. Each time, it would've ended in a tragedy, but in the very end, the two main characters got together, and damn, it works! The last 20 minutes of this movie was designed and executed exceptionally well through twists, which turned out to be practically abuse of the fact that most Japanese love stories of this kind end in tragedy. Some lines and scenes from earlier part of the movie (including the title, "When the Time Comes, Say Hello for Me"), was reused in a very refreshing manner.

Despite its shortcomings such as repetitive theme and cheesiness, which possibly resulted from limitations in acting or directing, I consider this movie to be in the same league as "ImaAi" and "TadaAi", as it touched me the same way, and had equally impactful if not more powerful story, cinematography, and music/theme song.