Had some downtime at home and decided to catch up with some movies :)
Ima, Ai ni Yukimasu (Translation: Be With You) is a film based on a novel by Okada Yoshikazu. It stars the actress Takeuchi Yuko as Aio Mio and Nakamura Shido as Aio Takumi.
The story is about a father, Aio Takumi, and his six year-old son, Yuji, trying to fend for themselves after Mio's death. Takumi himself has health problems and finds it difficult to cope up with work and taking care of his son. Yuji, on the other hand, holds on to a picture book his mother left him that talks about the Archive Star where he believes his mother is staying until the rainy season. When the rainy season starts, Yuji and Takumi then find a woman in the forest who looks exactly like Mio with no memory or knowledge of her identity. This new Mio lives with Takumi and Yuji, trying to remember everything about the pair.
What I like about the film the most is the way Takumi and Mio's love story was told. Their story was short but sweet and simple. It showed the audience that even if we are faced with hardships, we must rise up, no matter how difficult, because there is hope and we could accomplish anything if we just tried. It also talks about the difference in choosing things that we want and need. Sometimes the things that we want may not exactly be what we need in our lives. Although this choice is difficult at times, you must always be true to yourself and do what you feel is right.
Can I just say, Takeuchi Yuko in this film was brilliant. It needed to be said. This woman never fails to make me cry in her films. Ugh.
