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The movie begins at the Kichijoji train station in Tokyo. A young man
stands with a backpack hunched over his shoulder leans against a sign
while waiting for his train. On the opposite platform across from him,
he notices a girl making her way to the waiting line. Something about
her makes him take notice, and he moves to his left in order to get a
better view. A sudden gust of wind picks up her hair and she turns her
head to smooth the wayward strands. But then the train zooms by
obscuring both him and us of a clear of her face as she's about to turn
toward the camera.
In a daze, the young man continues to look at the train before him and
as it leaves the girl has presumably already left with it. He stands
dumbfounded.
The young man is in his apartment making final preparations for his
trip back home. The room is unexceptional and spatially economic. It's
only unique point being a Four Roses poster on a wall and a shelf full
of books behind his desk. He reaches for his tickets hanging on a
letter holder on his bookshelf as he's about to leave. A picture
suddenly drops from this bag. The camera spies the picture and it is a
young attractive, girl in an orange one piece bathing suit. The young
man picks up the picture, observes it for a moment and then leaves. The
camera then rests on the picture for a few seconds.
The young man is going to Tokyo international airport. He boards the
2:00 p.m. flight to Kochi Prefecture. As the plane engine rumbles into
its ascent, he begins his narration. "The first Matsuno and I met
Rikako was on a scorching summer like this. Two years ago when we were
second year high school students..."
A small framed image of Kochi castle, a traditional Japanese castle
with pointy, brown, cusp like, arched roofs appear on screen. The
background is brimming with the ambient wail of cicadas and we get the
impression of a white hot summer. It then cuts to a scene in the back
of a restaurant. We see our narrator washing a pile of dishes in the
restaurant. The young man, we find is named Taku. As more and more
dishes pile on, his best friend Matsuno calls him up in the middle of
work. Matsuno asks Taku to meet him after school, as Matsuno's just
about finished with his afternoon seminar. Taku explains he has an
'emergency' and apologizes for leaving early, to the disappointment of
his employers. We see his bike ride to the school, through buses,
trams, traffic and pedestrians, to his school, distinguished by a clock
capped at the highest point on the building.
As he hurries down the hall, the camera cuts to Matsuno leaning out a
window, in tie and shirt. Taku enters the door from behind and Matsuno
turns around to greet him. He wears glasses and has a scholarly
attitude about him. Matsuno is surprised Taku has arrived so early and
asks him to look out for a second.
Taku proceeds to the window and sees a girl sitting before a teacher.
However, Taku is unable to get a clear view from his angle. Matsuno
explains, the girl is a transfer student from Tokyo, her name is Rikako
Muto. Matsuno has been asked to show her around. Taku casually inquires
whether if it is simply because Matsuno is the class president. Though
Matsuno seems excited, Taku seems indifferent to the situation all in
all until Matsuno reveals that the girl is quite attractive.
Taku now tries harder to get a better look at the girl, but is all the
more disappointed to find she has turned completely in the opposite
direction in order to talk to her teacher. Taku feels it improper to
simply barge into a teacher's office and declines Matsuno's suggestion
that they pretend to have a question in order to get a better look at
Muto. It seems that Taku in having found a job in the summer doesn't
attend any of the summer classes, apparently to some of the teacher's
discontent.
Matsuno asks this response is because Taku's still upset over the
cancellation of the junior high middle school trip. Taku responds that
he doesn't like the way the teachers are trying to make up for that
incident by having a better trip for their high school trip, namely to
Hawaii. Matsuno notes that if it is manipulation on the teacher's part,
they are doing a very good job as many of the student body are quite
excited about the trip.
Taku needing the money for such a trip has taken his job to offset some
of the costs. Matsuno notes that Taku's slipping behind some of the
other student as a result. Taku says he'll simply study harder. Taku
asks if perhaps there's something bigger on Matsuno's mind given his
behavior right now. Matsuno says he only wanted to talk to Taku a
bit.
As Taku goes toward his bike he remembers that he and Matsuno have been
friends for six years from middle to high school. Despite never having
a class together, Taku feels Matsuno was the person he could call his
best friend.
They met in junior high school when it was announced the trip would be
canceled due to the schools low test scores. The administration felt
that it be proper for there to be only one trip between junior and high
school.
As the teachers announce it over the intercom, complaints swell in the
student body. The fact they scored the lowest in the nation, makes it
difficulty for the school to address former alumni or parents. Only the
hope that the high school students perform better, instills any comfort
to the school. If they don't, 'The junior high students' sacrifice will
be meaningless.'
Discontent, like a weed, spreads across virtually all the junior
students as they hear this message. Taku and several others confront
some of the teachers over this decision. Taku representing the group
says that punishing the students doesn't change the score one bit and
feels the whole thing has been inadequately explained.
One teacher, as he presses his cigarette into an ash tray, suddenly
slams his palm on the desk and angrily responds that had one of them
actually been in the top 100 students of the nation, they actually have
a legitimate complaint. Taku, now visibly upset, retorts that he scored
number 89 last year. The teacher becomes red with anger and feels the
prick of laughter by one his colleagues behind him, at his
embarrassment.
The teacher then shouts back, Taku is only talking like this because
his teacher's a woman.
Taku storms out of the room. Though he didn't expect it, the school
later addressed the issue at an assembly a week later. At a school
assembly held before the student body, the principal high above in a
podium, explains that even the PTA has approved of the school's
decision, though some students still feel a need to such a big deal
out of it. He asks whether any student still wishes to utter complaint
on the situation.
In calling their bluff, most students are too hesitant to respond, even
Taku is wavering. Suddenly, one of the students raises his hands. Taku
immediately follows suit, though his eyes are closed shut as he does
this. When he looks around to see who it is, the other boy is Matsuno,
Yutaka. The other students commend their courage.
The principal, without betraying any hint of emotion, says that for
those who raised their hands, an explanation will be offered in the art
room after school. He leaves.
Taku is the first of the two, to reach the art room. On a blackboard,
he reads that the meeting is postponed. For those who have come, simply
write his name, class number, and reason for complaint on the
cancellation. He picks up a sheet of paper and pencil and scribbles a
response. His complaint, 'There's no reason to cancel the trip. It's
only done to ease the teachers' and parents' feelings.' After he
finishes, Matsuno soon comes in. Matsuno asks Taku to forgive Yamamura
for not even being here to explain the situation.
Matsuno writes his own complaint. 'I don't understand the reason for
the cancellation as it's a one sided issue. Ten or twenty years after I
graduate from this school, I'll still think of this decision as
unfair.'
Taku is surprised by the response that Matsuno has already looked at a
time ten or twenty years later. The two then sit in the room, gazing at
the sun's rays piercing gray clouds. Taku feels that since that time,
Matsuno has developed into a person truly different from the others.
The summer when Matsuno and Taku met Rikako. After Taku gets his bike,
he goes to meet Matsuno at the front gate. Matsuno has already met
Rikako and is talking to her when Taku gets there. Rikako Muto turns
around and we clearly see her face for the first time. She seems
friendly, and Matsuno formally introduces Taku to her.
The introduction is brief, Rikako smiles and says she has to go, but
thanks Matsuno for his help. Taku teases that Matsuno has already gone
after her. Matsuno defends himself, by saying that Rikako was simply
asking for directions to a bookstore to buy her books.
The two head to a mall. Taku makes conversation by telling Matsuno how
one of his coworkers used to be affiliated with the mob. Matsuno seems
unaware of the conversation, but instead is wondering if Rikako has
head any trouble since she's transferred. Taku now realizes the true
intent of Matsuno calling him up. They kick each other around before
they separate. Taku reveals that he was unreasonably upset when he
found out Matsuno was attracted to Rikako. 'Women only look for a guy's
looks,' he muses, 'they never care about what's really inside him.'
As the second semester starts, Rikako Muto quickly makes a name for
herself, as an athlete, student, and all around pariah. The boys around
the school ogle her from a distance, as she trounces her opponent in
Tennis. The fact she's from Tokyo seems to add another layer of
mystique to her personality. Even Taku joins in their comments, to
Matsuno's disappointment. Matsuno comments that Rikako seems out of
place. She has few friends and her icy personality, generates an air of
arrogance around her. In class, she will only gaze forlornly out the
window.
To Taku, Rikako's coldness seems to be a symptom of her unhappiness. At
night, when Taku's at dinner, even his mother seems to have heard about
Muto's excellence in school. When Taku asks how she knows about Rikako
already, it seems that through the gossip chain, Muto's mother has had
problems at home and left with her son and daughter. Taku wonders if
Rikako's parents and divorced and whether or not her father still lives
in Tokyo.
Taku thinks that if Rikako had not left Tokyo, then she could've gone
to an exceptional high school. But now being a part of a divorced
family, her chance for success is less certain. Taku feels parents
never understand the children when they have a divorce proceeding.
Taku's mother objects and the two have an argument about whose fault it
is. In the end, Taku's mother asks that he be more considerate of
Rikako and help her with the transition.
At night as Taku was in bed, Matsuno calls him up at night. Matsuno had
went to see Rikako as she had been absent from class that day. Rikako
had been living alone since she arrived, and Matsuno was worried that
something might be wrong. In her house, Matsuno simply saw she was in
bed. The conversation felt more awkward in the silence that
followed.
As Taku went out for the night, he stared at the harbor and ocean
outside, muttering, "So that's the kind of girl you like. Matsuno."
Two months later, March has arrived and the school finally gets around
for the trip to Hawaii. In the hotel lobby, Taku with an upset stomach
isn't able to go out to the sea. Taku warns us, 'This is the school
trip that ruined my life.'
As Taku heads back to his room, he's caught by Muto. She asks him for
some money. Shyly, she walks toward him, Taku's surprised at the
suggestion, wondering if she's spent too much. Muto reveals that she
has lost all of her money. Taku's taken back by the fact that someone
like her could lose all of her money, liquid currency, rather than
checks.
Taku starts telling her she ought to be more serious with her money,
when Rikako begins to laugh. 'I'm sorry, you sound like an actor in an
old fashioned movie,' she explains. As they sit down, Rikako says that
she had brought roughly $ 400 and didn't choose traveler's checks
because they were too troublesome. Taku begins to lecture again, saying
they were explicitly told to bring only $ 200 at the most and ¥
30,000 in traveler's checks.
Rikako seems irate about this and shouts back. 'What' You're talking
like a teacher' Are you really that good of a student' You're much
different from what I've heard about you. I'm disappointed.' She looks
away from him and rests her head on the straw chair she's sitting
on.
Taku comments on her arrogance and Tokyo accent. Rikako seems more
apologetic. Taku continues by saying he doesn't sound like an old
fashioned actor. Rikako at this point begins teasing him, 'Morisaki-kun
you're kind of mean aren't you'... Do I really speak with a defiant
attitude.' Rikako apologizes and says that she thought people who spoke
with such an accent didn't exist anywhere that they only spoke like
that in the movies for effect. But in Kochi, it seems everyone spoke
like that and it's a thought she's kept to herself until now.
Taku suggests she continues the practice of keeping that opinion quiet.
Rikako continues, saying she often has to ask the people what they're
saying because the accent is so unfamiliar to her, so much so she feels
they really hate her. None of he boys ever approach her except for
Matsuno.
Taku says Matsuno was a good guy and asks if that's how she decided to
ask him. She answers that it is, and reveals in her conversation that
Matsuno has explained how they met, how much of a trouble maker Taku
was, and other assorted histories of Taku's life. She says that she
knew he worked all summer for the trip, and felt he had some extra
money on hand.
Taku not wanting to drag the inevitable asks how much she needs. He
decides $ 300 would be enough. Rikako bows her head and asks if she can
have ¥ 60,000 instead. She smiles politely. Taku being a poor
schlep, goes in an elevator to get his money. Which he hid in
pantyhose, stuffed in his pants.
Taku feels it would look awkward just handing her that money, and
Rikako comments he's too serious a person, but if he wishes it she'll
give him a handkerchief and he can fold the money in it and hand it
back. This is what they do.
Taku feels like this is some kind of illegal business transaction.
Rikako suddenly serious, tells Taku she'll give the money back, but not
anytime soon. She also says not to tell anyone about this, as she
doesn't want her 'mama' to hear about it. Taku seems surprised by that
choice of words. Taku seems even more nonplussed. Matsuno comes up and
Taku begins explaining himself the best he can.
Matsuno says when he asked Rikako for a date, he was surprised she said
yes and used him to fill some of the conversation. Taku says he was
surprised that Rikako asked him for a loan. Matsuno is surprised to
hear this as well. He then suggests the two go to downtown for a walk.
Taku agrees.
Later at night, during a party, on a barge over the water with fire
lamps and music, Rikako searches out Taku. She angrily tells him that
Matsuno has already offered to give her some of his money. Furthermore,
she wishes that he never tells anyone else about this as he's getting
her in a lot of trouble. 'You're a very talkative guy aren't you?'
Rikako accuses and curtly leaves. Taku says to himself, 'What kind of
girl is raised like that?'
The next day, the school returned home to Kochi. Taku bought some
secret photos of Rikako from a friend as a way of holding it against
Muto. But in the end, he never acted on his intentions. Third year
started and the two were placed in the same class. Rikako found her one
and only friend in high school, a quiet girl named Yumi Kohama.
Rikako never returned the money and eventually Taku felt she completely
forgot it. Until one day out of the blue, Kohama calls Taku. She sounds
very distressed, and says she's calling from the airport. Apparently,
Rikako and her had planned to go to a concert so they wouldn't be able
to go home. But at the air port she suddenly revealed that the two of
them are going to Tokyo.
Kohama, said she was going to the bathroom and called Taku up for help.
She doesn't want to go to Tokyo but at the same time she doesn't want
to go home otherwise, Rikako's mother would find out the trip was never
to the concert in the beginning.
Taku a little confused by the sudden turn of events and asks why is he
being asked for help and not someone else. Kohama says that, Rikako
told her that she once borrowed money from him and feels that they must
be on good terms. Kohama ever more, near hysterics, begs Taku to come
to the airport before she hangs up.
Taku runs out of his house and realizes why Rikako borrowed so much
money from him. He takes a taxi and fumes along the trip about Rikako
had deceived him. Kohama is eagerly waiting at the entrance for Taku,
and is relieved when he finally arrives. Kohama says, Muto's in the
bathroom because she's been feeling queasy and hopes she'll feel more
queasy so they can cancel the trip.
Taku says why couldn't Kohama, being Rikako's best friend, give a few
lectures or two about the whole thing. Kohama says, it's simply that
Rikako really wanted to see her dad in Tokyo that she couldn't really
get herself to say something.
Rikako makes it back and is not happy. 'Why are you here!' she barks at
Taku, 'Yumi did you call him?' Yumi fearfully says, they shouldn't be
lying to their mothers, why couldn't Rikako just have told her mother
about this. Rikako says, her mother would never have allowed it and
that she's been planning this trip for some time.
As she forcefully holds back a tear, Taku offers a solution. Kohama is
to go home and tell her mom that she felt sick and Rikako is going
ahead because she doesn't want to waste the tickets but thinks Yumi
shouldn't go on in her condition. Since Yumi's mother doesn't know
Rikako's there's no way this story can be verified.
Yumi's joy to this proposal is matched by Rikako's disagreement with
it. She merrily skips to the telephone to call her mother. Taku notes
how well Yumi's been raised, in looking at the way her emotions have
shuffled from fear into glee.
He finds Rikako glaring at him. She says this is the first day of her
period and that because she has anemia she feels even worse, it's
something men don't understand. Taku asks if she's still going to
Tokyo. Rikako says she'll get the money from her father when she
arrives.
Taku suggests if she would like him to accompany her to make the trip
easier. Rikako suddenly perks up and says if he'll really do this.
Taku stands there with his mouth open and dragged into the
situation.
On the plane, Taku asks if her father even knows about this trip and
whether or not he'll even be there to greet them. Rikako says she
doesn't expect her father to be at Haneda airport but that she'll ask
him for a place to stay for Taku. What she really wants is out of
this trip, hopefully move in with her father and stay in Tokyo.
As they walk out the airport, Taku feels that Rikako has once again
conned him into something, yet at the same time he didn't like the
idea of her just going to Tokyo alone. As they walk along the suburbs
with trees branching out of the walls, Rikako fills Taku on the
little details of their history.
As they reach the apartment of her father, Rikako says he's been
alone a long time and Taku adds that he'll probably be very happy to
see her. She presses on the video intercom and hears a woman
answering it. Rikako asks if this is the Muto residence and is papa
there.
Rikako's father picks up the phone and tells her to wait in the
lobby. Rikako's mood suddenly becomes sour. Rikako's father comes
down and says he's surprised by the sudden visit by his daughter. He
asks if she came alone. Rikako introduces Taku as her boyfriend and
says he came along with her since it's the Golden Week.
Rikako's father suggests tea, but Rikako cuts him by saying she'd
much rather see her room. Taku is asked to wait in the lobby. As he
waits a woman in her mid thirties with glasses comes down the stairs
and leaves. Taku rather bored in the lobby is eventually arranged a
hotel by Rikako's father who also recompensed Taku's loan.
As he sits on the metro, Taku crosses his arms discontentedly. He
muses that Rikako is truly an unfortunate person who has pity, from
the bottom of his heart. Eventually, he finds the hotel and later at
night, he calls up home. He rushes the question of where he is by
saying he's in Tokyo and quickly hangs up when he hears a person
pounding on his door, to his mother's chagrin.
When he opens it, it is Muto who barges in crying. She says she'll
stay here tonight as her father did pay for the room. She weeps
uncontrollably and presses herself against Taku. Taku not sure what
to do in this situation, compares his situation to soap operas. He
gently and slowly puts his hands on her shoulders.
Later as she's more settled, he asks if she'd like a beer. She
shakes her head and says she wants an alcoholic beverage called
Kokuhai. She drinks quickly and hands it back to Taku for another.
Muto reveals that her father is leaving with a friend for the
Holidays. Taku trying to lighten the tension says, 'Well it is the
holidays.'
Muto ignores his remark and continues, addressing her anger without
really talking about it directly. She finds her room completely
remodeled and full of ugly wall paper. She hates green. Taku adds
on pithily, 'yeah green is bad.'
Muto gulps another Kokuhai and continues on the failure of interior
decoration with respect to her room. She pours herself more drinks
while politely nods his head as he hears the tirade. Muto says that
when her fighting, she'd always sided with her father as she
thought her mother never knew what was going on and only separated
her brother and herself from their friends.
Now when she needed it, it seems her father wasn't on her side.
Taku advises that when they go home tomorrow, Rikako ought to be
more polite to her own mother. Especially since, she rented a place
for herself out of protest.
Rikako corrects him by saying she rented a place out because she
didn't think all three of them living together was a good idea. And
now visibly red from Kokuhai, tells Morisaki to mind his own
business.
Taku sighs and turns on the television. When he looks back, Rikako
has already passed out. He lies on the pillow and gets her some
blankets. For himself, he goes to the bathtub, and before he goes
to sleep he says is also unfortunate.
Next morning, Rikako is banging against the bathroom door. She was
upset with Taku that he didn't get up any earlier, as she needed
to shower and use the sink, something she had to go to the first
floor to do. Taku disheveled and looking beat like a whipping boy
apologizes to Rikako with little actual conviction in his
words.
Rikako tells Taku he has to excuse himself for 30 minutes in order
for her to brush up to meet someone down in the lobby. Her father
he asks? No, an old boyfriend.
Taku then takes a walk, and looking at the size of Tokyo wants to
go to a university there. He feels that his mood is better because
Rikako is trying to cheer herself up. When he gets back, Rikako
has finished prettying herself, and is leaving. Taku thinking he
can catch up on his sleep, is interrupted by Rikako on the
telephone. She tells him to come down into the lobby. 'What's
next?' Taku asks himself.
Downstairs, he finds Rikako talking with her old boyfriend. Taku
sits between them and is subjected to their pointless chatter
about how Okada two months after Rikako left had already started
dating another girl. They banter about who is pretty and college
entrance exams. Taku's patience is tapering away. It blows out
when Okada makes a remark against Rikako's mother.
Taku leaves calling the whole situation absurd. In the bedroom,
Taku says he once thought of Rikako as such a proud headstrong
person, but in truth she's just an insecure girl. Muto soon
comes back to the room and sits down. She laughs at the absurdity
of the situation herself. The thought they once went out now seems
risible. She says she once thought Okada was such an ideal person,
but when really he was just a self-centered individual. He never
asked whether or not Muto liked Kochi or what she felt but only
talked about himself.
Muto says she'll stay at an Aunt's for the night, it's too weird
to be staying in the same room as Morisaki. They'll meet at the
airport counter tomorrow, 'It turned out to be a pretty horrible
trip to Tokyo don't you think?' she concludes. Taku feels that in
those few moments Rikako suddenly grew up.
Back at school, things returned to normal. Rikako only hanged
around Yumi Kohama. While being shunned out by the other girls and
she pushes them away as hard as they do her.
Summer picks up and cicadas are once again crowding the air.
Matsuno and Taku are on the school roof top talking about what
they'll do after college entrance exams. Matsuno hadn't scored so
well on the latest series of tests. Suddenly, Matsuno holds his
feelings back to ask Taku a personal question. He asks if Taku
really did go up to Tokyo with Rikako. Taku asks how he found out
about that. Matsuno says it's a big rumor around here.
Taku says he hasn't heard about it, and Matsuno replies that's
simply a courtesy that they don't want to make fun of him in
public right now. Taku feels is irate over hearing this, he says
that Muto only wanted to see her father. Matsuno says he already
knew this.
Taku asks from who, is it Yumi, Matsuno says he heard it straight
from Rikako herself, when he asked her about the rumor. When they
ran into each other at the library, and were walking home. Over a
bridge above sailboats resting in the harbor, Matsuno works up the
courage to ask Rikako. Her tempers pick up and she shouts back,
'That story again. Yeah I sure did go to Tokyo with Morisaki-kun.
And I stayed in a hotel room with him for the whole night. But
what does that have to do with you!'
Matsuno, looks down and says quietly that it's because he likes
her. Rikako is almost speechless by his response. She pauses for a
beat and says hesitantly at first and then much more strongly that
she always hated Kochi, and the accent, and the boys of Kochi. The
idea of her being the girlfriend of someone from Kochi repulsed
her completely. She walks away, leaving Matsuno with the wind
knocked out of him.
Matsuno says that her response was kind of rough and Taku clenches
his fist. Her comments to his best friend drive him into frenzy.
He says that's why Matsuno hasn't scored so well on the recent
exams. He runs down the stairs and barges into Rikako's class
room. He demands she leaves with him.
The class stops talking and begin the gossip of the two. Rikako
says that Taku shouldn't go see her in class given the awkwardness
of their situation. Taku says that the only reason they stayed in
the hotel was because she insisted. This decision has gotten him
into big trouble. He thinks she's, 'the worst!'
Rikako slaps him for what he just said. The other students peering
out of the doors gasp.
Taku, slaps Rikako even harder she did him. The students gasp's
once more but with greater enthusiasm. Rikako says, Taku sure
likes looking after his friends.
Taku says that the trip was terrible for the both of them.
Summer then settles, so that autumn may rise. Leaves yellow and
wilt as the days draw out. The other students prepare themselves
for the school festival, except Rikako who walks home by herself.
Her grades go higher and higher and by the time the last festival
of their high school lives comes by Rikako has generated
considerable animosity by the other girls.
She refuses to join the dance troupe and practice. As Taku brings
some of the festival equipment to the trash, he spots Rikako being
confronted by a group of girls. The argument is heated and they
all demand Rikako shape up. But for each attack, Rikako barks back
with equal fury. The arguments reaches the climax when one of the
girls accuses Rikako of flirting with the guys, including
Yanagida-kun. Rikako yells back that who ever it is she tempted,
she'll confront him and tell her she hates him. The girl who made
this comment, has tears, begins to strike Rikako.
She's held back, but the girls leave Rikako. One says, they don't
have to cry over her and that they have misjudged her all
along.
At this point Taku comes out of the corner and says that he's
rather impressed with the way Rikako handled herself, that in the
end it was her attacker who left crying. 'You're quite something
else,' he sums up. Rikako slaps him hard across his left cheek.
'Idiot! You're the worst!' she shouts. Her anger are replaced with
tears and she runs off crying.
Matsuno walks up behind Taku and asks him why he didn't help
Rikako from the group of girls. When Taku explains what he felt
about the whole thing that Rikako was able to fend for herself and
have the other girl cry, Matsuno rolls back and punches Taku hard
on his right cheek, knocking him down into the trash. 'Idiot,' he
says contemptuously and walks off. Taku, says, that he had hoped
the next day things would be normal and Matsuno and he would talk
as if the things that had just transpired never came to be. But,
that didn't happen as Matsuno and he did not speak to each other
for the rest of the year through graduation. In the end, Rikako
went to Kochi University, Matsuno went to Kyoto University, and
Taku to Tokyo University.
The image crops on Taku's face and signals the end of the large
flash back. Taku's plane has arrived at the airport. Taku leaves
his memories to get his bags. As he walks out of the airport, a
car stops beside him. It's Matsuno offering a ride. The two have a
friendly conversation about their schools, getting used to the
schools and the culture. From Kyoto and Tokyo the two come home
and the friendship of the two which was severed a year ago, at the
moment seems to have healed until the original scar is no longer
visible.
Taku asks Matsuno to come in with him, but Matsuno declines the
offer. He says they'll see each other at the school reunion
tomorrow. Matsuno apologizes for punching Taku a year ago. Taku
jokingly replies that, he now knows why Matsuno offered him a
ride, he adds that they should go for a walk.
Along a pier, over the ocean, as the sun begins to set, they
quietly stroll along. The sea glimmers and they peer at the sea
gulls flying toward a cloud. Matsuno says, the reason he punched
Taku a year ago was because Matsuno realized Taku held back his
feelings for his sake. Taku doesn't say anything and Matsuno
understands. The two look out for an hour into the ocean before
they went home.
The reunion at a local restaurant is a glitter of conversation
passing between the former students and the gossip crowds the air
like the smell of food. Laments and boast, success and
shortcomings are shared over lots of beer. When one of the
students suddenly confesses his love for another, all the
conversations turn to them.
At Matsuno and Taku's corner, one large student, motivated by
alcohol, stands up and announces that he had all along liked Yumi
Kohama, except she isn't around to hear it. Kohama she says was
always behind the more successful Muto. Then in a slip, he reveals
that he always thought Muto was cute, or at least he did whenever
he noticed Taku was looking at her.
Taku dodges the question and Matsuno says nothing. The large
student, Yamao, then collapses from his drinking. As Taku helps
him out, one female student, one who tries repeatedly through the
film to accept Rikako, mentions that she had seen Muto in Tokyo.
She says Muto regrets saying the things she said in high school to
Matsuno. The student also says Muto has become ever more beautiful
since then. When she suggested that Rikako come to the student
reunion, she felt she couldn't make it as she had to go home.
Taku has a flash back of seeing Rikako at the train station. He
asks if Rikako had been accepted to a University in Tokyo. The
student mentions that perhaps she did, as it was rumored Rikako
took exams for Kochi and another university possibly in Tokyo.
Taku smiles at this thought.
He asks the student whether or not she greeted Muto like a friend
that she hadn't seen in years and she says she did. She confides
that even though she never liked Muto in high school not one bit,
when she saw her the other day it was like as if the idea she
hated her was inconceivable. The one year since then has changed
everyone's opinions and time, like a great ocean, smoothed out the
most jaded edges of their hearts.
Matsuno and Taku both mull quietly as she continues to talk. Taku
asks if this is simply nostalgia over what has long past and a
regret of irreversible actions. The student answers that even Muto
feels this way, that she feels she was very narrow minded in high
school.
Suddenly a girl in a red vested suit comes in. It's Yumi Kohama
and Yamao, as a bear in winter, wakes from his inebriation upon
hearing her name. He slouches forward in a slovenly, uncoordinated
manner, shouting the girl's name. Yumi cringes in fear at not
knowing what's going on. Yamao soon falls over again causing the
puffer fish ornament hanging above the restaurant to shake. He
continues to shout, 'Kohama.'
As they leave, Yamao is still drunkenly wandering.
Outside, Kohama says she met Rikako in Tokyo and told her she
couldn't make it to the reunion. Kohama also said, she wanted to
meet a person she knew but wouldn't give a good description of
him. Muto said only that he was the kind of person who would sleep
in a bath tub.
Taku takes comfort in what Yumi said. The group then looks behind
them at Kochi castle lit up by lights. It's the castle shown at
the beginning of the flashback on the plane. Its silvery splendor
blossoms fully in the cool summer, night. As everyone looks at it
in admiration, Taku thinks that the castle is only a waste of
electricity. Yet if he were here, alone with Rikako then the
castle would truly be something beautiful. It is an image to be
shared with someone close. Taku says in high school he always
wished he could've found Rikako and talked with her about the many
quotidian things of great inconsequence, the little, imperceptible
points of life that ultimately crush us with their details.
As he looks at the castle, all the things Rikako has said to him
come back. Borrowing money, his accent, telling Matsuno, at the
airport, to Tokyo, staying with him at the hotel, the end of the
Tokyo trip, the fact that he's the worst, but the last thought he
has is Rikako in summer clothes in Tokyo, saying playfully that
the person she wants to see is a person who would sleep in the
bath tub.
At Kichijoji train station. As Taku walks up the platform he sees
Muto again in a nice blue dress, reading a book. A train zooms by
but only this time Muto seems him as well. Taku runs down the
stairs across the passing to the other side of the platform. Once
he gets there the train has already begun moving. He looks
disappointed in having missed her again, but he suddenly notices
something in his right corner.
The camera then moves in a 360 degree turn as standing behind him
is Rikako Muto. Taku turns around and they look at each other.
Taku wipes his mouth. He seems quite happy. Rikako bows politely
and the wind picks up her hair. She straightens it and looks at
Taku in a face, these words can't seem to encapsulate. The image
here dissolves into a water color. Taku closes the movie with
these words, 'Ah I feel. That I really liked her.'
The credits commence, the end song plays, and we see more water
color images of the two from various scenes in the movie. The
final image being them walking along the beach in Kochi.
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