Ima, ai ni yukimasu

A few years ago, Korean romances took over the market for the romance genre which had been held uncontested by Japan. While at least half a dozen made it big in the Pacific region, the most successful worldwide has to be My Sassy Girl (2001). The onslaught however soon ran out of steam, even for works by MSG's director Kwak Jae-young. His still widely acclaimed Classic (2003) had in fact faded somewhat, and not even bringing back Jun Ji-hyun from MSG could save Windstruck (2004). In the meantime, Japanese romances are making a come back. "Poetic" director Shunji Iwai brought a breath of fresh air with Hana and Alice (2004). It is Ima, ai ni yukimasu, however, that is the best romance coming out of Japan and Korea in the last ten years.

The movie starts with a quaint little house nestled in the most idyllically beautiful, lush green countryside, where a shopkeeper of a cake shop delivers a birthday cake to a young man Yuji, who is making breakfast. We are then taken back to the time when Yuji is six, a year after he has lost his mother Mio through illness and is living a life of mutual support and love with his father Taku. Before her death, however, Mio promised her husband and son that she would come back after a year and stay with them during the rainy season.

When the rain starts, Taku and Yuji find in the woods a woman looking exactly like Mio, who has apparently lost her memory completely. The father and son naturally have no problem believing that it is Mio coming back from heaven, and bring her home. Although in a way she is still a stranger, she seems to accept that she is Mio, and asks Taku to tell her the story of how they first met and fell in love. Through that process, they fall in love a second time (I am assuming at this point that she is indeed Mio). As we share the joy of the family reunited as well as the love story of young Taku and Mio through the flash back, the six-week rainy season is mercilessly coming closer and closer to the end.

All the time while watching the movie, alongside with emotionally becoming more and more identified with these three people whom I came to care for, I found a rational part of me that kept assessing how the story would go. Is it really Mio coming back from heaven to fulfil a promise? Is it a woman who happens to look like Mio but has a story of her own? Or is everything just the imagination of the father and son? The revelation came, not in the form of a super twist dropped like a like a bomb, but through the last twenty minutes' gentle unfolding of past events that provide answers not only to the mystery of Mio's appearance, but also to many things we have noticed throughout the movie that register subconsciously (only subconsciously) as questions. Even more important, we saw another layer about the entire story that deepens our understanding of and care for this family.

But all this would not mean a thing without the wonderful, wonderful performance of Yuko Takeuchi as Mio. Shido Nakamura and Akashi Takei as father and son complement her performance perfectly and, together with the beautiful photography and heart-warming music, make this film the best in it genre in the decade.

The English title of "Be with you" is not devised haphazardly, but has a meaning.

I've always adored Asia. Since I was about 5 years old. This goes especially for Japan. So I guess it's kind of natural that I got drawn to Japanese movies. I've always been a great fan of drama films and why not romance too.

I started to watch this movie without knowing anything about it. The first minute caught my eye right away. The view was beautiful and the music was incredible too. I thought: "This has to be a great film!" So I watched the movie in one breath. It got me, totally. It's a movie to make even the toughest man cry like a baby. Every scene looks beautiful, every dialogue has a deep meaning (at least I found one.) The music is just what the movie needs. The ending surprised me as it was a little bit longer than to be assumed, but it didn't ruin anything. It covered a few holes and made it look good.

If you like touching drama movies, if you like romance even a bit, This is just the movie for you.

I have seen films quite a lot in recent years,but have never shed tears on anyone of them until I saw this one, which is about the true love between man and woman, parents and their child. Before I saw this film, I often wonder if love is really more powerful than life and death, and if this is true, why is contradiction and hatred everywhere? After I saw the film, I feel so moved with it I come to believe love is the most beautiful thing ever existed,though it is the hardest thing to find. I also like to give a 10 to it's soundtrack. Every time I listen to the music, I seem to see the beautiful pictures in the film again,the silent forest,the rain,and the lake. I recommend this film to you all,hope you will enjoy it.

I saw this film in Japan. It is absolutely beautiful, and very moving. Probably the most moving film I have seen in recent memory. The story is very sweet, full of of young love and the love within a family. The second half had me, and every other member of the audience (which spanned a very large demographic range), bawling (one 6yo girl had to be taken out of the cinema she was in such a state). It does seem like a very long film, the ending went on longer than expected, but it tied the film together and fitted with the rest of the film. I love Hana, the end song done by Orange Range. All the elements of this film mesh together perfectly to make it an amazing experience. It's a bit of a pity the DVD doesn't have English subtitles, but for those who know a reasonable amount of Japanese, it's well worth it.

I do not consider myself to be in the target market for this kind of movie (male, late 20's). However, I bought this movie off an online site due to some reader recommendations. After finishing the movie, I was obsessed!!! I couldn't stop thinking about it and couldn't stop raving about it.

The acting and the direction is great, although a bit cheesy at times, but it works well. Yuko Takeuchi is such a beautiful actress. What I mean by beautiful is not her physical appearance (although she is pretty), but by the way she conveys her emotions and makes the viewer believe that she really is Mio. Everyone else does their role perfectly too, and the soundtrack really does a great job, especially the overture towards the end of the movie.

Overall, anyone who has a pulse will enjoy this movie. Personally it affected me a lot and it has turned me into a Japanese movie fan. You will struggle to find a negative review about this movie anywhere, and I really encourage all the males to watch it especially so they can get in touch with their emotional side (haha...). I've seen it seven times within two months and it still affects me each time I watch it. Some of my friends thinks I'm crazy but they don't understand the relationship I have with these characters (hahaha...I can't believe I'm typing this..my friends will laugh at me). Undoubtedly in my books, the best movie ever, and a moment to cherish with loved ones, or even by yourself (so the guys can cry and not feel embarrassed that anyone is looking at them).