This is @GB’s review of the Japanese drama “First Love” starring Sato Tekaru and Mitsushima Hakari. The original title is “First Love: Hatsukoi”. All nine episodes have been released on Netflix. The drama is binge-able this Christmas.
Thank you, @GB –pm3
🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸
Ep 2 is entitled, ‘Your Voice’. It becomes obvious as the episode progresses, that the title is referring to the voice of the past, in particular to Yae’s voice. We start the episode in 1998 with Yae calling HN on the old land-line phone, dying for him to answer her call. He manages to pick up the receiver and they are overjoyed to hear each other’s voices, but Yae’s mother breaks into their telephone conversation. (In a later episode we see that Yae complains of having bad phone reception on her cellphone and that she and HN spent nights talking over the phone when they had to be apart.)
Yae’s mum’s mistake is a fitting foreshadowing of what is to happen in the future, when Yae loses her memory and forgets who HN is. Yae’s mother stops him from contacting Yae and intercepts all his letters to Yae, so that she never receives them. Yae never got to hear his voice in writing or on paper. Mum never tells Yae that she had a boyfriend who had tried to visit her. In the end, Mum wonders if she had done the right thing.
In 2018, HN recognises Yae as a taxi driver in a yellow cab and sets out to find her. He uses his voice to call many taxi companies, to ask if they have a female taxi driver among their staff. When this becomes too tedious a method of locating Yae, HN takes to breaking into all messages on taxis’ two way radios, listening for her voice. His colleague points out that it’s like looking for a needle in a haystack and they can’t hear every message that goes through and that HN can’t know her voice, but HN insists that he’d know it if he heard it. His colleague allows that there are ‘only’ 2 million people in the city and HN might find her if it’s fate. (I prefer to use ‘destiny’ because Yae and HN had made the choice to be together.)
In 2018, Yae has an admirer, Urabe Outaro. He used to study ‘mokkan’ which are wooden tablets used as notepads by ancient people. He tells Yae that these notes were just mundane messages that the writers never expected people in the future to read, and that the mokkan enabled the present generation to hear the raw voices of ancient and anonymous people of the past.
This becomes especially poignant because the raw voice of Yae just speaking brief, mundane messages over the two-way radio, was not anonymous but immediately recognisable to HN. It seems that they were destined to meet again.
In 1998 Yae had liked the song ‘First Love’ by Hikaru Utada. HN and Yae had listened to the song together on the roof and HN had taken the opportunity to kiss her. It was their first kiss. In the present, in Ep 1 we saw that the voice of Hikaru Utada singing ‘First Love’ on the radio literally stops HN in his tracks, and he turns back, instead of meeting his new girlfriend’s parents. When he told the taxi driver to turn back, he was returning to the voice of the past.
Not knowing about Yae’s amnesia, I was all anticipation and rejoicing when Tsuzuru’s infatuation with Uta brought Yae into HN’s orbit once again, but I was crushed, like HN, to find out that Yae did not recognise him or know how critically important he had been in her life.
When Yae comes to fetch Tsuzuru, HN stares in disbelief that Yae could walk back into his life, inadvertently through her son, when searching for her by her voice had not yet fully succeeded. He continues to stare after her in heartbreak when she leaves, because he remains a stranger to her and because he thought she was still married.
It was first the voice of Utada singing, and then the sight of Yae that made HN start to realise, that he could never forget or give up his first love.
Wow, you’re fast @pkml3!! Thanks again. I may have more notes on Ep 2 which I’ll slowly make readable…. maybe??? 🤪 🤯 😣 🤔 😬
😂 I’ve my last Xmas wrappings to do so I’m procrastinating.
@Packmule, I’ve been watching dramas–Korean, Chinese, and Japanese–like crazy lately, but have been JOMOing hard when it comes to writing commentary. It seems lately all I want to do after finishing one show or episode is watch another, rather than stopping to reflect. You probably haven’t seen Episode 10 of Summer Strike, since you’ve dropped that show, but the ML, Dae Beom, falls into a black hole as he had in the past, studying and trying to solve a problem without eating or sleeping. I’m not quite that bad now with my drama viewing habits, but getting close.
A couple nights ago, a friend of mine came to my house, and together we watched Episodes 2 & 3 of First Love. Now retired, she was a high school Japanese teacher for decades, and used Hikaru Utada’s song First Love in her classroom curriculum. Because my friend speaks and reads Japanese fluently, and is well-versed in Japanese culture, it was great to hear her reactions to this show. I will attribute her comments to her using the pseudonym Sensei.
@GrowingBeautifully, when you wrote about Eposide 1, you analyzed the use of the color blue. Both Sensei and I also noticed the prevalence of blue in many scenes. Not only does the prominent use of blue draw our attention, but makes the use of other colors pop out. I looked into the meaning of colors in Japanese culture, and found many articles. Here’s one: https://www.color-meanings.com/color-meanings-japan/. According to this article, “Blue symbolizes coolness, passivity, and fidelity.” But it “…is also one of Japan’s most important lucky colors…” I found it interesting to read in another article (https://kokoro-jp.com/culture/298/) that for a very long time blue and green were not distinguished from one another in Japanese culture. The color(s) are associated with nature, peace, and calm. Indigo has long been used to dye cloth in Japan.
When Yae meets her co-worker Urabe Otaro for bowling lessons on a rainy day, there are many splashes of yellow in the scene outside the bowling alley. Even the tape holding together Otaro’s glasses is yellow! In Japan, as in many other cultures, yellow represents sunshine and nature. We see Yae with her yellow umbrella and yellow rubber boots approach Urabe in a downpour. Otaro is standing, soaking wet, in the rain. He’s dressed in a yellow windbreaker, yellow checked shirt with yellow tie, and carries a yellow bowling bag. The wrist brace on his arm has yellow binding. Sunshine? Rain-saturated windbreaker? Broken glasses? Wrist inflammation? Otaro is the antithesis of Mr. Sunshine: “‘Bad luck, misfortune, and suffering’, that’s Urabe Otaro.” Noting his crestfallen spirit, Yae suggests: “How about we play a game where we say the opposite of what we’re thinking…The rain soaked me down to my socks and it feels so good!…The sky is so clear, my skin feels so hydrated, killing two birds with one stone!” She encourages Otaro to join in, becoming his sunshine and turning around his mood on a gloomy, difficult day.
Because Yae showed Otaro kindness and spent time listening to him, she gained some wisdom from this meek, gentle-spirited man. They go for lunch and have a pleasant conversation. (Note all the red highlights in this restaurant scene!) As they talk, he says, “People are made up of memories and encounters.” Yae counters by saying she believes in coincidence, not fate. Yet in her voiceover in the beginning of Episode 1, we hear her say, “Someone once said life is like a jigsaw puzzle. From our best memories to the horrible experiences we want to curse fate for are all irreplaceable pieces of our lives.” This sounds like an expanded version of Otaro’s belief, which she eventually comes to adopt.
The puzzle parts, the irreplaceable pieces Yae lists in her voiceover in Episode 1’s beginning are:
A lost ticket
A dress worn in December
A stain from an ink called “Blue Hour”
An intimate moment on a winter beach
A Mars rover with your name on it
A pop star your own age
Dreams that never came true
Failed romances
Those who drifted away
Yae calls those fateful mistakes, and wonders if they are filling up her picture. Those are Yae’s thoughts at the time she speaks her voiceover. Since they were given to us so specifically at the beginning of this show, we need to be on the lookout for what she referenced. But at the restaurant with Otero, Yae can’t, or won’t, answer Otero’s question about the encounters that have led her to become a taxi driver. We do not know the reason for her reticence.
I’ve gotten ahead of myself here. Let me start another comment, going back to earlier in Episode 2.
A dress worn in December (the second on Yae’s list of fateful mistakes): In the beginning of Episode 2, we see young Yae getting ready for her first date with Harumichi. We see she’s chosen to wear a blue dress over a white turtleneck.
The adult Yae’s home, although adequate and clean, is obviously one of someone with limited means. In contrast, Tzuzuru lives in a luxurious home. He lives with his father, his father’s second wife, and their two young daughters. We can figure out this is a second marriage for Tzuzuru’s father because of the conversation around the table. We learn that Tzuzuru’s father is a brain surgeon, and that he’s quite controlling. He even scolds his dinner guests how to eat steak (don’t add sauce) and manage condiments (don’t mix wasabe in soy sauce). He’s successful attracting women. His philosophy? “You start with your goal and work your way backwards…Speed is the key with surgery and women.” Tzuzuru is noticeably annoyed by the following exchange: (Father’s friend) “But I’m begging you to not screw it up this time. You got such a beautiful, young wife.” (Father) “I’ve learned my lesson.” Tzuzuru clanks down his flatware, most of his steak uneaten, and asks to be excused from the table.
An intimate moment on a winter beach (the fourth on Yae’s list of fateful mistakes): The first date of young Yae and Harumichi includes a romp along a windswept, snowy shoreline. Namiki finds a stick and draws a number in the sand, saying, “The chances of two people meeting with something in common is said to be 200,000 to 1…And getting to know someone, that’s two million to one. Becoming closer from there is 20 million to 1. Someone you can call a friend is 200 million to 1. And a best friend is two billion to one! And then…when it comes to meeting your soulmate. That probability is…Six billion to one!…Basically, miracles are crazy, right?!” And he gestures, rapidly and repeatedly pointing between himself and Yae. This scene is bookended by scenes of Namiki listening at many different times and places to the walkie talkie, scanning taxi drivers’ transmissions, and his finally hearing Yae’s voice.
That scene, Namiki miraculously finding his needle in the haystack, hearing and recognizing Yae’s voice in a city of 2 million people, leads into the scene where Yae encourages sad sack Otero to look on the bright side. We then see Namiki come to the office of Keisei Transportation to find Yae. He confirms that she works there, but it is her day off. We’re then bounced back to Yae and Otero in a restaurant enjoying beers, food, and conversation, and Yae hears Otero’s belief that “People are made up of memories and encounters.”
Namiki Harumichi’s memories of Yae, and his efforts to find his first love again, have been consuming him. Yae is still a big part of who Namiki Harumichi is, even after being apart a long time. Is Namiki as much a part of the adult Yae? It doesn’t appear to be so. Her world is defined by her job as a taxi driver and her relationship with Tzuzuru, whom she only sees on occasion.
The Odds
While in 2018 HN attempts to locate Yae by listening for her voice on the two-way radio. in the past, teenaged Yae calls HN loudly by name. He’d turns to see her beautiful in her turquoise blue coat and stands speechless for a while.
Their date is at the beach. As they walk hand-in-hand through the snow to the beach, HN starts to tell Yae about the amazing odds they had beaten, in getting to meet each other.
HN : “The chances of two people meeting with something in common is 2 million to 1.
HN finds a stick (tied with a blue cloth! I tell you this show keeps placing blue before our eyes) and draws a line in the sand so that he can write the amazing odds, starting with 1/2,000,000
HN says the chances of getting to know someone …that’s 2 million to 1.
Becoming closer from there is 20 million to 1.
Someone you can call a friend is 200million to 1.
And a best friend is 2 billion to 1!
And then, when it comes to meeting a soul mate, that probability is …”
(HN erases the previous figure to write ‘6’ in front of the ‘000,000,000’
“6 billion to 1!” Yae giggles and thinks they should add in all the other conditions that could affect the probability, but HN dismisses those.
He indicates the two of them : “Basically miracles are crazy, right?!”
Yae thinks and agrees : “Totally! Miracles are crazy!”
On the sand, HN brings Yae closer to him to crouch with the number ‘1’ he had written in the sand. They feel that they have beaten the odds to be the miracle couple, destined (more than fated) to be united.
Cut back to 2018, adult HN who has fallen asleep while listening to the two-way radio finally jolts awake to hear Yae’s voice calling in a job. In a city of 2,000,000 people with multiple taxi services on the road and the greater chance that he’d miss the relevant broadcast from Yae, HN had, after some 20 years of separation, beaten the odds, and found Yae by her voice.
Thanks @Welmaris. Our posts on the same part of Ep 2 crossed in hyperspace. What a wonderful show this is that sets us observing, thinking and wanting to pen our thoughts. We can see meticulous planning and writing has gone into the making of this gem.
First Love and Titanic
When Otero is talking with Yae in the restaurant, asking about encounters that led to her becoming a taxi driver, she looks uncomfortable and says, “Nothing much to talk about.”
Otero: “Really? But…I bet there’s something. Some event that influenced your life. Like a fateful encounter…how about…in Titanic? Jack was that special someone to Rose.”
Yae: “Sorry, I haven’t seen that movie.” And she ends that conversation by draining her glass and ordering another beer.
We then see Namiki entering a nice-looking modern apartment. A woman–presumably his fiancee–sitting on the couch says, “Welcome home. Why am I crying so much when I know it’s going to sink?” Playing on the TV is the movie Titanic, at the iconic scene where Jack and Rose are at the bow of the ship. “Where were you?” Namiki answers, “Just out.” Yup, this relationship is on a crash course and will sink. The implication is that the woman is already aware that is in her future.
We then see the past. Young Yae and Namiki are standing in line to see Titanic. He suggests seeing Armageddon instead, since Yae has already seen Titanic five times. (Yae) “I cried the most the fifth time.” (Namiki) “How can you cry when you know it’s gonna sink?” But Yae prevails in the choice of movie, saying, “Well, I like what I like.” We see the two of them in the theater, watching the iconic scene at the bow. Yae looks enthralled, and Namiki is bawling his eyes out. After they leave the theater, Namiki talks Yae into reenacting the bow scene. As they stand in the corner of a second-story railing, she lifts her arms. (Namiki, in English) “All right. Open your eyes.” (Yae, in English) “I’m flying, Jack!” And after a few moments of relishing the moment, her arms extended to the side and his arms wrapped around her waist, they dissolve into laughter and run away. Going to see Titanic may have been their first date, because they’re both wearing the same clothing we saw earlier when they met at the place they’d agreed upon during their phone conversation. It’s also the same clothing we see them wearing when they go the seashore and have a conversation about the probability of being soulmates.
We end the sequence of Titanic-related scenes with Namiki and his fiancee cuddled on the couch and watching the movie’s closing credits scroll on the TV. They look like they’re in a comfortable relationship. Namiki even has a pet bird perched on his head. It’s not flying, despite being out of its cage. Perhaps its wings are clipped. Perhaps Namiki’s are, as well.
The hair tie
In Episode 1, Tsuzuru is seen on a break at school watching on his phone a dancer. Before she started, she took a tie out of her hair and set it down. Later, on a night Tsuzuru has dinner at Yae’s house (we see from a a calendar on her wall and a cake in her refrigerator that it’s to celebrate his 14th birthday), he dashes off, saying he’ll be back at 9pm. When he doesn’t return on time, Yae goes looking for him, using clues from his and the dancer’s Instagram accounts. Tsuzuru had gone to see in person the dancer do live streaming. When Yae finds Tsuzuru, he’s sitting dejectedly, holding something. It’s a hair tie with a blue & clear glass decoration. Yae asks if the dancer is his girlfriend; he says he’s a fan that hits like on all her posts. He tells Yae he wanted to meet her, but was too late. Rather than scold him for running off, being late, and making her worry, Yae says, “She’s lovely, isn’t she?” Her calm acceptance of the situation opens the door for Tsuzuru to share with Yae, for the first time, some of the music he’s composed.
In Episode 2, after an encounter with the dancer who practices in the courtyard of the building for which he works security, Namiki asks his co-worker, “Anyway, was there anything in the lost and found like a blue hair tie?” This is right before Namiki asks his co-worker if the walkie talkie on his desk can intercept signals. This draws a connection between the dancer, her lost hair tie, and Namiki’s search for Yae.
Later in the episode, Namiki sees on one of his security camera monitors that Tsuzuru is seated in the courtyard where the dancer practices. He comes out to shoo away Tsuzuru, and sees him holding the hair tie. Namiki immediately assumes it is the blue hair tie lost by the dancer, and asks Tsuzuru to give it to him. Tsuzuru refuses, hides the object behind his back, becomes defensive emotionally, gathers his things, and stands to leave. Namiki says, “She won’t be coming today. You should only come here while I’m on duty. I can’t say for sure, but try this Saturday evening. But don’t skip school. Or you’ll end up like me.” Tsuzuru realizes he’s found someone who recognizes, accepts, and even supports his dreams.
After a scene where we see teenage Namiki and Yae share earphones, listening to Hikaru Utada’s song First Love, and a kiss–possibly their first–we see Tsuzuru gathering equipment in his bedroom, stuff it in his backpack, then escape off his balcony so he doesn’t have to meet with his new tutor. He sneaks into the building Namiki guards; Namiki appears to be expecting him, and motions him toward the dancer’s location. First Tsuzuru, then Namiki break into a run in the corridors leading to the courtyard. When Tsuzuru sees the dancer practicing, he stands transfixed, Namiki by his side. Watching Tsuzuru, Namiki looks amused. When the dancer finishes her practice, she runs to Namiki. She asks if he found her hair tie. He signals Tsuzuru to bring it out, and asks his name.
“Tsuzuru. Kosaka Tsuzuru.”
(Taking the hair tie from him and putting it in her hair) “I’m Uta. I’m 16. I dance, but I hate putting labels on myself. If I had to say, I’m an expressionist, I guess.”
T: “You admire Sayoko Yamaguchi, you’ve been obsessed with ’90s expressions you found on YouTube, and you cut your bangs too short today.”
U: “You a stalker?”
T: I follow you on Instagram. My account name is ourson627. [His birthday is on the 27th, so perhaps June 27th.]
U: No way. Ourson? The one who’s always the first to like my posts? Thanks, Tsuzuru!
Because of the hair tie, Tsuzuru is not only able to meet Uta, but also find a friend in Namiki, who recognizes in Tsuzuru the signs of a young boy with a crush.
What’s in a name?
My friend Sensei jumped when she heard Uta say her name. First of all, it translates into English as song. Secondly, it is the root word in the surname of the composer of First Love: Hikaru Utada, who also goes by the mononym Utada.
Later in Episode 2, we see Tsuzuru having lunch with Yae. She’s telling him the names of his music compositions she really likes, and he beats her to saying them because he can read her so well. Yae asks how it was for him, meeting Uta. After expressing how wonderful it was for him, Tsuzuru says to his mother, “Thank you. My name. It’s the first time I felt happy hearing someone call me by my name. Why did you name me Tsuzuru?”
Y: “They say…kids manifest their own names. Maybe that’s why. I knew it the first time when I saw your face.”
Back in Episode 1 when Yae was shopping in a department store but not finding the right gift, we see her try out a fountain pen. To test the pen, she wrote the name Tsuzuru (per the subtitle). I took a screenshot of what she wrote and sent it to Sensei, who found that the word translates into English as compose, spell, write, bind (books). For this young man, the first translation is most fitting.
Uta = Song
Tsuzuru = Compose
Seems like a relationship that’s meant to be!
Once again on their day together, with her encouragement, Tsuzuru leaves Yae to go watch Uta dance in the courtyard while Namiki is on on the job. At an agreed-upon time, Yae walks over to meet Tsuzuru after the practice session, which ends when Namiki gets off duty. And this is how, as adults, Noguchi Yae and Namiki Harumichi finally meet face to face. Tsuzuru (compose) and Uta (song) have brought them back to their first love.
Or not. Namiki immediately recognizes Yae after their long separation. Tsuzuru introduces Yae to Namiki as his mother (the first time in the show this relationship is confirmed out loud), and Yae’s face registers no recognition of Namiki. She only seems to know of him through what her son has told her. Namiki stares at her, stunned into silence. It takes Tsuzuru calling Harumichi’s name to bring him out of his reverie. After the exchange of pleasantries, Tsuzuru and Yae turn and walk away from Namiki, who falls back into a stare. Then a tear wells in his eye and falls down his cheek. Excellent emoting by Satoh Takeru. We see devastation in his face without him being overwrought.
Why doesn’t Yae respond to Namiki with recognition? Is she being petty and pretending he doesn’t matter to her? Or is she truly clueless as to his identity and importance in her youth? We will find out in the next episode.
Thanks @Welmaris! How lovely to have Sensei to give us more in depth understanding that’s lost in lack of translation. I knew that Tsuzuru meant ‘compose’ but I didn’t check out ‘Uta’.
I’d love to be able to watch with someone who is conversant with the language and culture of the various countries’ shows that I especially enjoy.
I like that so unlike Tsu’s dad, both his mum and HN hold back on controlling, nagging/scolding, or patronising Tsuzuru, but instead manifest patience and a willingness to listen without judging. By being this way, they both at about the same time, elicit Tsu’s positive friendship and trust. They’d make great parents of a teen!
A pop star your own age (the sixth on Yae’s list of fateful mistakes)
This really isn’t the thread for it–the one on Episode 1 is more fitting–but I’ll do this here anyway since I covered above two other things referenced in Yae’s show-opening voiceover list. This means three out of a list of nine are revealed by Episode 2.
In Episode 1 we see Yae’s mom come pick her up after she finishes her shift at Blue Planet, a shop that rents and sells media. It is Yae’s birthday, and her mom has brought a little pastry into which she sticks a candle. After the birthday song is sung and the candle blown out, Yae gratefully eats the pastry despite it being leftovers from her mother’s work. As they drive home through the falling snow, the announcer on the radio says, “Our next song is from a new artist debuting today. At the age of 15, this singer-songwriter is gaining a lot of attention. This is Hikaru Utada with ‘Automatic’.”
Mom: “Which means, she’s the same age as you. Wow, that’s impressive. Kids these days are something else.”
This is some of what Wikipedia has to say about Hikaru Utada: “…She released an English-language debut album Precious in early 1998, but it was a commercial failure. In the following year, heavily influenced by R&B and dance-pop, a Japanese-language debut First Love was released and became an immediate success. Backed by the success of singles ‘Automatic’, ‘Time Will Tell’, and ‘Movin’ On Without You’, the album sold two million copies in its first week in Japan, topped the Oricon charts for six non-consecutive weeks and went on to sell six million more throughout the rest of 1999. First Love eventually became the country’s best-selling album of all time.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hikaru_Utada)
Another Look at the Titanic
While I like and agree with @Welmaris’ take that we’re watching a sinking ship, and applying that to HN’s and Tsunemi’s relationship, in actual fact, it was also applicable to HN and Yae’s relationship as well, but in the more distant future.
(Timeline??? I’m doing this just roughly.
I’m guessing that they fell in love at age 15 (1998), dated until age 20 (2003) when Yae had spent around a year in university. The accident occurred and they were separated. By the time Cadet HN had gained his wings, I’d think he was 22 (2005) years old. His letter to Yae mentioned that it was about 2 years since the accident. Yae was already expecting Tsuzuru. He was born in 2005?
That would make HN and Yae 35 years old in 2018, when Tsuzuru turned 14.)
In one of the multiple match cuts (thanks for the technical term @pkml3) in this series, when Yae says she does not believe in fate but only in coincidences, Outaro asks Yae about the movie, Titanic, possibly to illustrate that Jack and Rose had met on the boat by coincidence, but that they had a sad fate, Yae becomes uncomfortable because she cannot remember that she had indeed watched that movie many times, but perhaps she had an inkling (the 6th sense of the later episode title) that she had. To avoid the topic she says she’d never watched it.
This cuts to HN coming home to his girlfriend, Tsunemi who’s sniffling over her rewatch of Titanic on TV. She says : “Why am I crying so much when I know it’s going to sink?” Words that HN himself had applied to Yae in the past. This likely triggers his memory of himself as a teenager queuing in the snow with Yae to enter the cinema. Once again, Yae is the only bright spot of colour in a sea of drab coats.
He’d suggested that they might switch to watch Armageddon instead (LOL. Yeah great shift from just the death of a shipload to the end of the world!!) but Yae vetoed it.
Young HN asks Yae how she could want to watch Titanic more than 5 times.
Yae : “I cried most the fifth time.”
HN : “How can you cry when you know it’s going to sink from the start?”
Yae : “Well, I like what I like.”
(We find poignantly that Yae retains this characteristic. She will repeat seeing, listening to, eating whatever she likes. She is persistent that way, just as HN is persistent in searching for her. This is our hint that she will still like what she liked in HN before, even when she can no longer remember him.)
In the end it’s HN who is blubbering in the theatre, while Yae watches the movie dry-eyed LOL.
After the movie they re-enact the scene of Jack and Rose on the bow of the Titanic, sans the kiss. LOL. They are in the bright light of day, looking forward to all kinds of possibilities.
HN back hugs Yae, like Jack : “Alright, open your eyes.”
Yae arms outstretched, like Rose : “I’m flying, Jack,….” we hear the music of Titanic’s, ‘Love Will Go On’ swelling as we get a great aerial view of them. The camera goes around them showing us the wide open space before them, in direct imitation of how it moved in the movie (great job camera team!)
What a good way to see HN’s and Yae’s unfettered imagination, to know that they share a common dream to fly and likely in tandem, the way Jack held on to Rose. They break off to laugh and run away because people are staring, just as in the future, they would have to put their dreams on hold.
It strikes me, that just as Outaro might have wanted to suggest to Yae, that this was a movie where an unlikely couple had coincidentally met, on a boat that was fated to sink, we are watching instead a like-minded couple destined to be together, (the one in 6 billion chance miracle) aiming to fly.
From the bright, unbounded outdoors of the past, we cut to adult HN watching Titanic in the dark with Tsunemi, but even as she leans on him, he seems to remain in a brown study, miles away (with Yae?). We cut once more to HN really in the dark, at work indoors, lighting his way with a flashlight as he walks the empty corridors the hem him in. This is a far cry from the dream he’d shared with Yae.
A bit more on Your Voice
2018 Tsuzuru sends his music to his mum and gets a lot of encouragement. She says everyone should hear his music. His music is his voice.
Tsuzuru with HN’s help, gets to meet his great ‘idol’ or crush, Uta. Uta is pleased to befriend Tsu who’d been the first one to like all her posts. She says she dances but prefers to be considered an expressionist. Her dancing is her voice.
Because Yae had generously let Tsu meet with Uta, Uta gets to hear Tsuzuru’s music and to appreciate his talent. (It has impact for his future.)
When Yae goes to Northern Lights to meet Tsuzuru, she’s startled to see HN who stares at her in disbelief and hope. Unfortunately neither sight nor sound of his voice triggers the memory of him in Yae’s mind.
However, Yae likes what she likes, and is persistent. Not only did she watch Titanic more than 5 times, but she kept listening to the song ‘First Love’ over and over again. As an adult, she will visit her favourite Napolitan restaurant 5 times or more as well.
HN sheds a tear thinking that she’s out of his reach, but he does not reckon on how any opportunity that presented itself for them to speak to each other could offer a chance at reconciliation.
I like that in this romance, the action comes from both parties who work towards their couple-hood. Both Yae and HN made the decisions that would bring them together, and acted on them.
@packmule3 Thanks for this post. @Welmaris @GB Thank you for your great comments on this drama. I only started watching this drama after reading @packmule3’s earlier post on this, and I really liked this. I liked the nostalgic tone throughout the drama, the background songs, the past-present storyline, and even the minor characters like Yae’s colleague with an unrequited love for her. There was something very poignant about this drama, like a forgotten past that only shows up in dreams. I’m just glad the ending was happy.
Hi @Phoenix yes, isn’t this just a lovely, heart-tugging drama? In between other shows, I keep coming back to this show and new thoughts and realisations still pop into my mind. As you say, “like a forgotten past that only shows up in dreams” is very apt. I’m so glad that we get to see that the dream can become reality in the two most crucial ways for Yae and Harumichi.