Quick Review #39: "Yomei 10-nen"

Title: Yomei 10-nen / 余命１０年

Rating: 8 /10 

Recommended for: 

Those who like a bittersweet love story without being too overwhelming and are fans of the cast

Liked:

- To be honest, love stories like this headed for an inevitable tragic end are aplenty and pretty predictable in terms of how the story would develop. I haven't read the original novel so my opinion is solely based on this movie. While there were no surprise or unexpected twists in this story, I thought that the way how the developments were laid out without going too overboard on the drama or emotions. There was a fine balance between the sad, happy, romantic and heartwarming elements in this story so it made this movie more palatable than I expected.

- This movie really stood out for its fine visuals such as the aesthetically pleasing sakura scenes, at the ski resort during winter and summer at the beach. To top it off, the cast pairings looked good with each other especially the lead couple played by Sakaguchi Kentaro & Komatsu Nana. I was a bit concerned previously because of their age gap in real life but surprisingly, they still looked quite compatible as a same-age former-classmates couple. Nao and Yamada Yuuki were also very nice to watch - just too bad that the movie never explained clearly what happened between their characters towards the end.

- The acting from the cast as a whole was simply great. While the story lacked novelty and surprises, the acting covered up the gaps with compelling yet not overwhelming portrayals of the characters. Even the supporting cast like Kuroki Haru and Matsushige Yutaka had their moments to shine. I especially liked Komatsu's performance - she really nailed the conflicting emotions in Matsuri very well especially how she underwent changes in her mindset after reuniting and falling in love with Kazuto (Sakaguchi).

Disliked: 

- While the film as a whole was a fine piece of work, I think that those looking for this to be different from the numerous love stories out there might be a bit disappointed. Then again, such stories are somewhat bound by a standard formula where they can't deviate too much and put in a lot of unnatural or unexpected twists to spice up the story. As such, while I don't think there are any major flaws in the movie, I would still find it difficult to say that it can be considered as a top-notch classic in this genre. Perhaps the lack of a strong theme song or BGM to accentuate the atmosphere or vibe of the scene was what could have made this different e.g. what Hirai Ken's "Hitomi wo tojite" did for "Sekai no chuushin de ai wo sakebu".