One Week Friends

Yuki, a high-school student, notices that his classmate Kaori always sits alone and wants to be her friend. She refuses. She tells him why: every Monday she loses her memories of her friends. Family and lessons remain, friendships are erased. Yuki does not give up and starts again every week. Kaori begins keeping a notebook. Shosuke Murakami's film adapts Matcha Hazuki's manga. The narrative does not explain the condition scientifically; its interest is in what it means for a relationship to have to be built from nothing again and again. The repetition also sets the film's structure. Haruna Kawaguchi plays Kaori and Kento Yamazaki plays Yuki. Who it's for: Viewers who like Japanese youth romance, manga adaptations, and narratives built on memory. Who it's not for: The premise is not scientifically coherent and the narrative leans on melodrama. The repeating structure also tires after a point.