My Tomorrow, Your Yesterday

Takatoshi decides to speak to a girl he sees on a train, and to his surprise Emi says yes. The relationship moves quickly, but she cries from time to time and will not say why. Then he finds her diary and understands what is wrong: her time runs backwards. Today for her is his tomorrow; she is living in reverse, and the day they met was, for her, the day they part. The real pain the story builds is this: she lives every day not for the first time but for the last, and she knows from the start what will happen in thirty days. The film uses that not as a puzzle but as an extended mutual farewell. Takahiro Miki directed, from Takafumi Nanatsuki's novel, with Sota Fukushi and Nana Komatsu in the leads. In the second half the film moves entirely to Emi's side and replays the same scenes from the other direction; every detail that made no sense in the first half falls into place. Who it is for: anyone who likes Japanese romantic drama and love stories that play with time. Who it is not for: anyone looking for logic. The construction does not obey its own rules everywhere, the emotion is aimed at directly, and the last half hour plays for tears.