Takaya Shibata

This is the question posited by director Nakamura Yutaro at the start of his latest film, a series of vignettes that bleed into each other. Memories? dreams? Whatever they are, they belong to highschooler Hikari who, along with a friend named Yujiro, get involved with an emotionally unstable man named Takaya. Flash-forward a decade or so and they are all 20-somethings bumbling around on New Year’s Eve night. Hikari has picked up an admirer, Kotaro, while Takaya is shacked up with a young woman named Anzu. A tumultuous night together leads to a quarrel and a truly bizarre New Year’s Day. It’s not a straightforward experience as we surf through these experiences and question whether they are imagined but the feeling of airy freedom and endless possibilities at the end is pleasant.

Young novelist Haruhiko, along with his girlfriend Ririko, are having lunch with his cousin Yoko as she talks about an important night from three years ago. We cut to: Jiro visits a bar run by Akira and Yoko and reunites after a long absence. Akira and Jiro are best friends since college. Yoko and Akira are now married, but Yoko had a relationship with Jiro in her past. The three friends are excited to be reunited, but at the same time, there is a sense of tension. Yoko and Jiro disappeared while Akira was in the bathroom. Two people burning up under the overpass. Akira catches them in the act... Haruhiko begins writing a novel based on these three people. Ririko tries to stop Haruhiko from sinking into Yoko excessively, but the world of novels has an unexpected ending...

Takaya and Sakura have been living in the same apartment splitting the rent. But Sakura wants to move out of there as soon as possible. In addition, Takaya was recently fired from his part-time job, so Sakura has to work harder, even more when Takaya is not motivated to do anything.

函館郊外の書店で働く「僕」は、失業中の静雄と小さなアパートで一緒に暮らしていた。そんな中、ふとしたきっかけで関係を持った同僚の佐知子が、毎晩のようにアパートへ遊びに来るようになる。佐知子と恋人のような関係になりながらも、静雄も加えた３人で過ごす気ままな青春を謳歌していく「僕」だったが…。

A historical period drama directed by Sho Miyake.