While it’s somewhat predictable if you’ve watched a bunch of Japanese (or even Korean) films and dramas, Closed Note with Erika Sawajiri, Yuko Takeuchi and Yusuke Iseya is an idyllic portrayal of the warmth and ideals of youth and human nature. The film does a good job of gradually, almost leisurely developing and revealing relationships between characters, through the present and past, through conversation and writing. Another reminder of how our thoughts and feelings can, in a way, transcend time and space.

As usual, I don’t want to give anything away. If you heartwarming/wrenching, sentimental Japanese films, give this a shot (preferably without watching the trailer below).

Yuko Takeuchi plays once again the kind of character she’s good at endearingly rendering.