Boku wa Ashita, Kinou no Kimi to Date Suru (Tomorrow, I Will Date With Yesterday’s You) Movie Recap

Posted by zsa86

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I’m on hyper drive. Yay! I finally found time to finish this one. It has been hibernating in my drafts for a year and I’m super glad to share this awesome movie with you guys.

The movie’s storyline captivated me. It’s like a fusion of The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, two of my favorite movies of all time. Just a little advice if you want to watch the movie yourself though, you have to be very patient on how the story unfolds itself. You may find some scenes strange at first but everything will be answered one by one towards the end. I think it’s the main reason why it didn’t feel draggy at all. Plus, there’s an added element of Sci-fi into it. All in all, it’s not your typical romance movie and despite the frustrating ending, it’s still the best ending the OTP could ever have.

Truly, great love finds ways. No matter how impossible or how brief it is for you to be together, if you really love someone, you will grasp every opportunity you get.

Movie Recap

On February 15th, TAKATOSHI MINAMIYAMA (Sota Fukushi), a visual arts undergrad, is on his usual train ride to school when he sees and falls in love at first sight with a girl. He’s obviously tensed but he can’t let this chance pass him by so when she gets off the train, he approaches her. With all the courage he could find, he asks for her number and straightaway declares he loves her. Yes, he knows it’s too sudden and out of the blue but he can’t help it. However, the girl tells him she has no phone. Takatoshi thinks she’s not interested, so the girl explains she really doesn’t have a phone. This lighten up Takatoshi’s glum mood.

They formally introduce each other and there, he knew her name’s EMI FUKUJU (Nana Komatsu) and she’s studying hairdressing. Takatoshi is actually feeling giddy when he learns they’re both 20 years old. Their encounter is cut short when Emi’s next train arrives. Before they part ways

, Takatoshi asks if he’ll see her again tomorrow. Emi, strangely, sheds some tears and says she will. The next day, Takatoshi boards the same train but Emi isn’t there.

Though heartbroken, Takatoshi moves on. He’s busy doing his assignment at the local zoo when Emi suddenly appears. She looks at his giraffe drawing and recognizes it as “the one displayed in the school”. Confused, Takatoshi asks why she’s there. Emi casually answers he told her he’ll be there. He doesn’t remember telling her anything about it, he let it go. He then takes her to his favorite place, a lake. The place where he nearly drowned when he was 5 years old. He thought he’ll die back then. Thankfully, a mysterious woman saved him. Emi shares she had the same near-death experience herself. Someone also saved her. Before they part ways, Emi gives him her most coveted number. Tehehe!

SHOICHI UEYAMA (Masahiro Higashide), Takatoshi’s friend and self-professed love expert, notices him happily staring at his phone. He jokes on Takatoshi’s half-pint progress and convinces him to just man up and take it to the next level since he already confessed. Though a bit reluctant, Takatoshi follows his advice. Thanks to Ueyama, he successfully invites Emi for a movie date.

Takatoshi is about to meet Emi when a classmate informs him his assignment, the giraffe drawing, has been hanged up in the school’s wall. This reminds him of what Emi said the other day. Again, he doesn’t think much of the coincidence.

Takatoshi is pretty excited for the date. Per Ueyama’s date tips, he browsed the area first and made sure he’ll share her things he likes. Spending time with her, he learns she’s a big eater. He also notices how they like the same things. It’s like they’re compatible in everything. While watching the movie, he sees her quietly crying. Thinking she’s just too absorbed, he smiles fondly at her. Awww! This guy’s smitten.

The day is about to end. Takatoshi shares he feels strange being with her. She admits to feeling the same since it’s her first time being on a date. In fact, she admires him for courageously telling her he loves her. The truth is, she has been watching him for a long time. Without beating around the bush, Takatoshi asks her to be his girlfriend. Smiling, she warns him that she’s frustrating, selfish and food pretty much dictates her mood. Takatoshi says it’s fine. In that case, she says yes and cries. Seems she cries easily too.

The next day, Emi meets Ueyama. The two will be helping Takatoshi move in to his new apartment. Ueyama leaves first and when they’re alone, Takatoshi tells Emi that since they’re already a couple, they should just call each other by their first names. Emi agrees and she’s being teary-eyed again.

While unpacking, Emi sees a locked box and asks Takatoshi about it. Turns out, he’s keeping it for the mysterious woman who saved him. She gave it to him when he was 10 years old and told him to return it when they meet again. Up until now, he wonders if they’ll really see each other though.

Emi is hurrying things since it’s already nearing midnight, her curfew. They walk side by side as he accompanies her to the train station. She’s feeling cold so he volunteers to hold her hand for the very first time. Again, Emi cries. From then on, they see each other almost every day. Unknowingly, “Until tomorrow” becomes their motto.

Emi cooks beef stew for dinner. And Takatoshi is kinda surprised that it tastes like his mom’s cooking. Confidently, she says it’s because she added chocolates in it. Now, this gets his attention. How come she knows that? She shrugs off his curiosity with a simple “You told me so”. This time, he can’t let it pass. Nope, he didn’t and besides she seems to always know something. Just like what happened with his giraffe drawing. However, Emi thinks it’s just mere coincidences. Takatoshi continues to speculate that maybe she can predict the future. Emi jokingly answers it’ll be great then since she’ll have the chance to at least win the lottery. On a serious note, Emi asks if she does have that ability, will he want to know his future. Takatoshi abhors the idea. Emi smiles. Good thing she’s just a normal person.

Putting her hairdressing skills to good use, Emi cuts Takatoshi’s hair. They’re casually talking when Takatoshi unintentionally drops the honorifics to her name. This is a big step for them, prompting Emi to cry.

On March 1, they’re quietly watching movies. Sexual tension lingers in the air and the inevitable needs to happen. Takatoshi leans for a kiss and the next thing we know, they’re both lying in bed, naked. After the deed, Takatoshi sleeps soundly. Emi, on the other hand, cries silently.

Like usual, Takatoshi sends her off before midnight. This time though, it’s Emi who initiates the kiss.

Returning from the train station, Takatoshi discovers Emi’s journal which she purposefully left on the table. Much to his confusion, Emi wrote the entries backwards, the first page being March 16 and the last February 15. He then receives a call from Emi. She instructs him to bring the box at his school tomorrow. She will reveal everything then. When the clock strikes 12, the line gets cut off.

The next day, Emi discloses that she comes from a different world where time flows in the opposite direction. The future he knows is her past. It’s true when she said she has no ability to predict the future. It’s because the future he knows is already slready part of her past. She shows him the key to the box and they open it together. There he finds a picture of them together with his family. They’ll take that picture in the future. Its proof that everything she’s telling him is true.

She is also the mysterious woman who rescued him. They can only meet every 5 years when the moon waxes and wanes in 30 days. When she saved him 15 years ago, for her, it was 15 years in the future. He will also be the man who will save her when she’s 5. They met because they saved each other’s lives on both ends of their progressing times in opposite directions. And since this is the only time their age matches, this is also the only time they can pursue a relationship.

Her memories of him fades as time goes on so she keeps a journal to remind her of him. Takatoshi asks if she has been following the journal when she’s with him. She confirms that she does. Takatoshi is shocked and hurt by the revelation. All the while, when he thought everything was perfect, in fact, too perfect, she was only acting. Everything is scripted. Everything is fake.

The truth is too much. Takatoshi can’t take it. He tries to avoid Emi, hoping that if they won’t follow the journal maybe they will have a different fate. Emi’s devastated. Why is he saying things like that? Takatoshi bitterly replies it’s because it’s painful to be with her. He can’t be with someone who doesn’t even have any idea of the time she spent with him. The Emi he knew yesterday is not the same Emi he knows now. Though he sees her, she feels different.

Takatoshi is feeling down and broken. He accidentally bumps into Ueyama who, thankfully, puts some sense into him. Ueyama says that passing by each other is nothing but a natural occurrence. Even the Moon and Earth are going past each other. They spin around but maintains a certain distance. If Takatoshi’s going to think about it, he’s actually lucky to have the chance to be able to meet and talk to the one he loves. He shouldn’t let this chance go since even the Moon moves 4 meters further away from the Earth every year. All the more reason for them to talk.

Pondering on things, Takatoshi wonders how Emi manages to accept everything. How can she be with someone whom she cannot share some memories with. Then he recalls every moment she cried. He never understood it before.

Takatoshi: It wasn’t her first time. For Emi, that was her last time. Everything that was a first for me, for Emi, all of it… was the very last time. And yet… she was smiling.

Now it’s clear. He calls Emi and informs her he’ll be mean to her tomorrow. But she shouldn’t worry about it because he’ll eventually get over it. He finally understands why it’s painful and why he wants to overcome it. It’s simple, he loves her very much.

From that point on, they spend their days cherishing every moment. They follow what’s in the journal and make memories that their future selves will connect to. Looking at the stars, she recites what he said on the last day they’re together, “We’re not passing each other. The edges have been tied into a ring, connecting us as one”.

Like what is written on the 29th day, they visit Takatoshi’s parents. This is where Emi learned the secret ingredient to his Mom’s cooking. They enjoy the meal and, as a remembrance, took a family picture. This explains the picture inside the locked box. Before they go, his Mom tells him to come often with Emi. His Dad may not show it, but he’s pretty happy he came by.

On the bus ride home, Takatoshi can only ask why, of all freakin’ people in the universe, can’t he make a family with her. Crying, all she can say is “Sorry”.

March 16. It’s Takatoshi’s last day with Emi. It’s also her first day to meet him. In exchange of the haircut, he will make a painting of her. As expected, she’s a little shy. Takatoshi can only look at her with longing. Before they start, she asks him to relay a detailed description of what happened when they were together. The journal she has is only semi-detailed since he narrated it to her when he was already 25 years old. Aww, so they will see each other again after five years. He willingly obliges. He starts with the first day he saw her at the train and so on.

In the middle of it, she remarks that making a journal like this may take away the fun in dating since everything seems scripted.

Takatoshi: Seeing you today, I finally understand. The only reason why I managed to experience joy and pain and everything else up to today is because you had hung in there for us.

Like her, he seems to cry easily too.

They spend the remaining of the day at the train station where Takatoshi first saw Emi. She asks whether she had been a good girlfriend and if he was happy. He sadly smiles. Yes, he had an awesome time.

It’s time. From then on, she’ll gradually go back to his past and she will no longer be his girlfriend. Then, they’ll just pass each other. Takatoshi differs. Like what Emi recited, Takatoshi says, “We’re not passing each other. The edges have been tied into a ring, connecting us as one”. He holds her hand and when it’s midnight, she slowly disappears.

And then, we get to see a reversal of perspective.