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“Drawing Closer“ is a beautiful melodrama about life, death, kindness, love, and time. It follows the heartbreaking story of Haruna and Akito, two 17 year olds who are diagnosed with terminal illnesses, her with six months left to live and him with one year. In their shared despair, they meet, fall in love, and save each other. Though the two leads truly love one another, and there are awkward stares, small gestures, gifts and daily visits, Takahiro Miki doesn’t fully focus on their romance.

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Instead, “Drawing Closer” aims to capture how a relationship can save someone from an abyss of despair. How being there for each other is helping Haruna and Akito to value their time again, to smile again, to live again, to learn what love truly is, and to enjoy their final moments together. When they meet, these characters are ready to die,...

The 2020 Japanese drama Drawing Closer offers a heartfelt look at the connection between two teens facing mortality. Directed by Takahiro Miki, the film is based on Aoi Morita’s novel about 17-year-olds Akihito and Haruna, whose chance meeting at a hospital takes an emotional turn. They form a bond despite each having a terminal illness—Akihito has a year to live with a heart condition, while Haruna was born with a disease, giving her just six months.

Led by the performances of Ren Nagase as the brooding Akihito and lively Natsuki Deguchi as the smiling Haruna, the movie focuses on how their friendship develops. Haruna finds purpose in art and faces death openly, helping Akihito rediscover his passion for painting after losing hope. They spend afternoons sharing sketches at Haruna’s bedside, growing close yet guarded about their conditions.

As more time passes, Akihito works to reunite Haruna with an...

Drawing Closer is a tragic romance adapted from a popular online novel, now streaming on Netflix. The film follows the story of two young artists with terminal illnesses, exploring their emotional journey and the impact of their relationship. Ren Nagase and Natsuki Deguchi deliver powerful performances, and the movie is set to become a beloved romantic tragedy of the summer.

Originating as an online novel, self-published, by author Aoi Morita under the original title The Story of How I, Who Was Told I Only Had One Year to Live, Met You, Who Only Had Half a Year (long titles are common in this format), it was shortened to Drawing Closer for the Netflix adaptation. This is the first work by Aoi Morita to be adapted into a film. The success of an online book leading to a feature film has undoubtedly had fans of Japanese cinema excited to see the outcome.

You should receive a Congressional Medal of Honor if you can make it through Takahiro Miki's Drawing Closer without crying. From start to finish, this Japanese adaptation of Aoi Morita's "Yomei Ichinen to Senkoku Sareta Boku ga, Yomei Hantoshi no Kimi to Deatta Hanashi" plucks at your heartstrings like Eddie Van Halen playing "Spanish Fly" for two hours straight. It's in the same class as The Fault in Our Stars, Five Feet Apart, and other YA romances about illnesses, chronic or otherwise. The film has one mode, and it's never coy about its intentions to pry tears from your ducts as often as possible. If you're in the mood for a Shakespearean J-drama about mortality, stock up on hankies and let 'er rip.

Even the staunchest of cynics would probably end up shedding a tear or two after watching Netflix’s Drawing Closer. The new Japanese drama movie, helmed by Takahiro Miki, tells the story of two teenagers who are about to die. There’s a certain template these movies usually follow, and Drawing Closer is no exception. That’s not exactly a bad thing, though, as it’s expertly made and does the job fairly well. I’m sure all of you’ve been heartbroken after watching it (and so have I) and may be looking for some closure. Hopefully, this article does that for you.

Spoilers Ahead

What Happens in the Movie?

Seventeen-year-old budding painter Akito’s world turns upside down when a rare malignant tumor is found in his heart. A cheerful Akito becomes severely depressed. His dream of competing in the prestigious Nika Awards also goes down the drain,...

“Drawing Closer” is a Japanese movie directed by Takahiro Miki starring Ren Nagase and Natsuki Deguchi.

A beautiful and beguiling romantic movie starting from an utterly tragic and paradoxical premise: a boy and a girl fall in love, they share nearly everything in common, but both are suffering from an illness that leaves them with only a few months to live. “Drawing Closer” is one of those films that strikes straight to the heart, stirring the deepest human emotions as it explores the great themes of life: love, living, and death, and in between, the beauty that pervades all around us.

Even though a flower is doomed to disappear, it leaves behind a fleeting moment of intense, profound and genuine beauty. A film that is profoundly alive and profoundly beautiful. If you’re looking for a movie that connects you with profound and inner truths, “Drawing Closer” will indeed cater to your taste.

Netflix has revealed that its Japanese slate for the year ahead includes three films and a seven new and returning series.

The features include Drawing Closer by Takahiro Miki, a director well-known for romantic dramas such as Love Me, Love Me Not and Your Eyes Tell. It follows a young man with a terminal illness who falls for a woman who is also living on borrowed time. The cast is led by Ren Nagase and Natsuki Deguchi.

It is based on a best-selling novel by Ao Morita and is scripted by Tomoko Yoshida, whose collaborations with Miki go back to...

Amazon Prime Video has doubled down on its investment in Japan with six local originals greenlit and an additional foray into live boxing.

At an event in Tokyo on Wednesday, Amazon revealed a reboot of “Takeshi’s Castle,” the iconic game show starring Kitano Takeshi that aired on terrestrial network TBS from 1986-1989. The reboot, with the working title “Takeshi’s Castle ProjectModern Love Tokyo," the Japanese adaptation of Prime Video’s original romantic anthology series "Modern Love." The series stars Asami Mizukawa, Hiromi Nagasaku, Yûsuke Santamaria, Sôsuke Ikematsu, and Naomi Scott, with episodes directed by Kiyoshi Kurosawa ("Wife of a Spy"), Naoko Ogigami ("Close-Knit"), Ryuichi Hiroki ("Ride or Die"), Nobuhiro Yamashita ("Matsugane ransha jiken"), and Atsuko Hirayanagi ("Oh Lucy!"), who also serves as showrunner. Set for 2023 is "My Lovely Yokai Girlfriend" a half-hour, young adult romantic horror adventure-comedy series about two outcasts directed by Takahiro Miki and created by Yalun Tu...

Doubling down on investment and expanding its offer in Japan, Prime Video has unveiled a slate of new Japanese originals including a reboot of iconic game show Takeshi’s Castle and a local adaptation of anthology series Modern Love. The streamer revealed the lineup at a showcase event in Tokyo today, where it also announced it will livestream the World Bantamweight title fight between Naoya Inoue and Nonito Donaire on June 7.

Among other new offerings are YA romantic horror adventure-comedy series My Undead Yokai Girlfriend created by NCIS: Hawaii and Grace alums Yalun Tu and Zach Hines; a movie adaptation of Ryota Kosawa’s bestseller Angel Flight; and second seasons of The Masked Singer and The Bachelorette Japan which will debut this summer. Further, an April 22 premiere date for the first season of Bake Off Japan has been set with judges Toshihiko Yoroizuka and Yoshimi Ishikawa, and hosts Maki Sakai and Asuka Kudo.

Korean pop sensation, Bts will provide the original theme song for upcoming Japanese movie “Your Eyes Tell.” With Bts member Jungkook among the composers, it is the first time that the best-selling band has participated with a film in this manner.

The song and the movie share the same English-language title, though the English title of the song is presented as “Your Eyes Tell” and the film also goes by the Japanese title “Kimino mega toikaketeiru.” The song features as a track on the new “Map of the Soul: 7 – The Journey” album being launched Wednesday for the Japan market.

The film is a remake of the 2011 Korean movie “Always,” which was directed by Song Il-gon. The retread is directed by Takahiro Miki and stars Yuriko Yoshitaka (“We Were There”) and Ryusei Yokohama (TV drama “Your Turn to Kill”). It is set for release by Gaga Corporation on Oct. 23 this year.

Adaptation of Ryuzo Saki’s novel Mibuncho marks the first time Nishikawa has directed a film based on another writer’s work.

Japan’s Gaga Corp has picked up international rights to Miwa Nishikawa’s Under The Open Sky and plans to launch sales on the film at the Cannes Marche du Film Online next week.

Currently in post-production, the film is based on Ryuzo Saki’s novel Mibuncho about a middle-aged man who has spent most of his life in prison and struggles to fit into society when he is finally released.

The film marks the first time that...

Adapted from the best-selling novel by Takafumi Nanatsuki, this movie shares a similar thematic concern as the 2016 hit anime movie “Your Name”. However, unlike the anime movie, “My Tomorrow, Your Yesterday” felt long-drawn, rendering the effect of its potential ending sequence to be less than climactic.

The movie features reputable stars Nana Komatsu in the role of a 20 years old student, Emi Fukuju and Sota Fukushi in the role of Minamiyama Takatoshi, a visual arts undergraduate who falls in love at first sight with the former. The premise of the movie may seem slightly oversaturated or melodramatic, considering the couple’s mutual attraction and interest in each other. It may even seem a bit too automatic for both of them to be so interested, just as the movie portrays them to be. However, the clairvoyant or sceptical audience would have had a hunch that something is not right and surely,...

Japan’s biggest film company, which produces, distributes and exhibits its own product in partnership with leading media companies, Toho has brought a line-up to Tiffcom full of present and future hits.

The biggest is “Weathering with You,” the love story animation by Makoto Shinkai that surpassed the $100 million mark only a month after its July 2019 release. Its worldwide box office, with distribution in 135 countries, now totals $380 million.

Also high on the line-up is “Love Me, Love Me Not,” an ambitious dual-media project that includes an animation produced by A-1 Pictures, and a live-action film directed by romance genre veteran Takahiro Miki. Both are based Io Sakisaka’s hit comic about four high school students – two guys and two girls — who have complex family situations and tangled feelings about each other. The endings, however, are different, motivating fans to experience both anime and film. Release is set for 2020.

Targeting an...