BLISS RATING: ★★★★★
“What makes life so sweet? Cupcakes to eat and someone to love” – Maria Williams Johnstone
This is a simple basic story of love. Presented with great care with full understanding of the characters. And proves that even in a repressed society filled with rules, protocols, and defined traditions, you can still flourish love. In addition, define clearly what that love is and subsequently earn a place in perhaps your own peaceful, loving world.
This story is a remarkable, unpretentious tale of love between two rather sequestered men who know exactly what is happening to each other and in the end, summon just enough gritty determination to overcome the societal shackles of ‘acceptable’ behavior. Altogether remarkable in its softness and beauty.
Nozue (Takeda Kouhei) is a ‘middle-aged’ man, successful at his work as a supervisor. He enjoys helping people and solving problems. That makes him a resource to the individuals who work under him as he is fair and helpful. His talents have not gone unrecognized by others in upper management, but he does not want to move up into more responsibilities. He is an individual pretty much set in his ways. And has given up trying to find someone to be with as time has passed him by. He seems to take pleasure, although it may not be great, in his routines and schedule and rarely deviates from his established habits and customs.
The closest to him is Togawa (Kimura Tatsunari) who is his assistant and admirer from afar. Younger than Nozue, he dotes over him. Togawa is a hard-working individual who is obviously in love with Nozue and has been for a long time. Of recent, Togawa has gotten to spending more time with Nozue and convinces him that trying new things will keep him from aging too rapidly. He brings new experiences in food and entertainment that Nozue would not have thought to do on his own, all under the guise of helping him stop the ageing process.
It is simply a joy to watch their relationship grow slowly at first. Both needing each other but not yet realizing that. They become almost inseparable under the safe umbrella of pretending to help Nozue to experience ‘anti-aging’ experiences. Their cat-and-mouse game continues as both banter about wanting and desiring to be together but always realizing the futility of two men ever having a serious and stable and acceptable relationship together. Coupled with the ever-looming Damocles sword of a perceived insurmountable age difference hanging over any relationship. Each awaken in the other desires, pleasures, and the enjoyment of life that they were not expected to experience. But in a sad way because it was all so tenuous in as much social customs, mores, and norms dictate how much is allowed. I find the imagery of love between two Japanese men to be serene, intensely intimate, laid-back, but sad, reserved, and so so fragile.
As the relationship intensifies, Togawa finally exposes his true intentions to Nozue. He kisses him and tells him that he has been trying to seduce him and confesses his love for him. “I like you so much, I could die” and finally lets it out that he cannot hold it in any longer. He explains from the beginning that he is the one who has given his life meaning, taught him how to love life, and wants to learn to do that with him. Togawa explains the position he has put Nozue in and if all that is available to him is to continue to work for him so he can at least be near him and help him, he could live with that. He realizes that Nozue may not feel or be able to reciprocate the same feelings as him, but just to be near Nozue is satisfying enough. That is an astonishing personal sacrifice to make.
Nozue finally tells Togawa that he is going to take a new position in a department that is away from him. As they part, Togawa does one more simple gesture of love for him. Stoically, Nozue realizes that Togawa has all along given him a reason to live and enjoy life and is the sole source of these feelings. He simply cannot lose him and if he does not take a chance, he will never find love, happiness, joy, and no doubt a sense of purpose to life.
Impulsively, yet focused, he runs back to Togawa and tells him, “I want to experience with you, new happiness you have yet to know and me too. The good and bad. Don’t just be a part of my life. Please stay with me for my entire life.” He convinces Togawa of his sincerity. Togawa responds to the ‘elephant in the room’ by saying, “Having an age gap or being in a minority is the same as having different hometowns or cheering for a different baseball team. It’s nothing.” And so, begins their love story, perhaps for life.
Who really S.T.O.L.E. this series? This is easy to award. Both Takeda Kouhei as Nozue and Kimura Tatsunari as Togawa were remarkable. There is such intensity to their performances. You felt deep down that both were attracted to each other but because of age, society, and personal boundaries, they were unable to truly develop a relationship until the realization that the time to develop one was fast slipping away. They brought both sadness and joy to their roles. It is a remarkable love story of two men careening towards ‘middle age’ where your life does indeed change especially in expectations of your society. They gave these characters depth and showed us the vulnerabilities of each as well as their individual fragilities. You cared for these two and want them to be happy. Kudos for these two actors that made their characters feel so real, relatable, and giving us a glimpse to their journey to love. I laughed and cried along the way with them. Most importantly, I cared about them. They made me – believe.
Softly, gently, this love story is told through the eyes of two men just on the precipice of redefining their status in life to becoming ‘middle-age’. Perhaps in certain societies, their lives in terms of love are ‘over’, as expectations devolve. This is never so more evident than in the last scene with them sitting stoically eating breakfast. Looking and acting like two ‘normal’ men being together. Yet definitely exchanging between them how important each is in their individual lives and how much they want to be together. Not just in a physical sense of being together but with time itself as well. Not only is this moving but so profoundly sad as they are truly unable to declare outwardly their love for each other, except by occasional glances or smiles to each other when in public.
While captivating that they are together, very few will ever know or see the real depth of their love for each other and will certainly not be accepted by their society. My tears were both happy and sad ones.
This is a phenomenal story told affectionately and enchantingly.
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