If you want to read my review of Just Remembering, read this post. In ちょっと思い出しただけ, during the COVID pandemic, a couple of ex-lovers meet, unintentionally, and begin to remember the time they lived together as lovers, only to go their separate ways again.
Yo Nohara (Sairi Ito) is an experienced taxi driver who faces the adversities of the profession during the pandemic. Mainly, at night. Still, she likes the constant feeling of going somewhere.
“I need money. But, it’s not important for me. I simply like this job.”
Teruo Saeki (Sosuke Ikematsu) works as a lighting technician at a theater. But what he really wanted was to be on stage, dancing. Unfortunately, an ankle injury forced him to retire.
“But, it’s fun lighting the stage. It fells like I’m almost breathing and dancing with the performers.”
Because of a client, Yo Nahara makes an emergency stop, in front of a theater. She decides to go in and there, risking a few steps, was Teruo Saeki on stage. From this, the story begins to regress as the couple remembers their most intimate moments in the past, always on the 26th of July of some previous year.
Just Remembering: japanese movie review
On July 26, 2018, it had been two weeks since Teruo had injured his ankle and he spent that period without contacting Nohara, leaving her very worried. From his point of view, Teruo was trying to get his head together, to know if he could go back to dancing or not, without upsetting or making Nohara suffer along with him.
“I didn’t want to trouble you because of my situation.”
From her point of view, Nohara wanted to help during and after Teruo’s recovery. Facing frustration together. Even if he needed to quit dancing and get a regular job, what mattered was that they were happy together.
“Trouble me. Let’s think it out together.”
On July 26, 2017, it was Teruo-kun’s thirtieth birthday. That’s why the movie always goes back in time to the same day of the previous year. To portray a frame of his life with Yo-chan or without, when they had already separated.
That year, Teruo-kun was dancing and working at Yokohama Sea Paradise (横浜八景島) and it was there that they decided to celebrate. As the establishment was closed to the public, he bypassed security and had all the empty space to enjoy with Yo-chan.
“I’ll propose on next year’s birthday.”
On July 26, 2016, the relationship is still in the typically incognito phase. Teruo-kun made contact. But, he remained distant. Yo-chan didn’t understand what was going on between them. But, she already felt that fear and little jealousy of other relationships he had on a daily basis.
“I’m scared I’ll lose myself if we get closer.”
Fortunately, Saeki-san and Nohara-san overcame the typical fears of the beginning of a relationship, let their guard down a bit and were able to demonstrate the feelings they already had for each other.
“Since we become really close, I thought it would screw things up if I say so.”
On July 26, 2015, it depicts the funny and disconcerting moment when Nohara-san and Saeki-san meet for the first time. What connected them and allowed them to live this realistic and bittersweet love story.
Reviewing Just Remembering: having to watch with tied hands who we love suffer.
It wasn’t depicted how Teruo-kun and Yo-chan came to be separated. But, i understood that it was because of the way he dealt with the adversities of life, which had nothing to do with them falling out of love.
They still love each other. But, Yo-chan having to watch Teruo-kun suffer and not being able to intervene seems to have been too much for her. On the other hand, Teruo-kun thought that having to give up the dream would destroy him and dragging Yo-chan along to the rock bottom was too much for him.
It doesn’t matter if it’s a friend or a lover. I think this is one of the cruelest dynamics in a relationship. Life is very difficult and no one wants to subject the one they love to more difficulty. Conversely, no one wants to see the one they love suffering alone.
Why you should watch Just Remembering
I won’t leave Just Remembering ending explained or a download link here, but this Japanese film is so different, with a faithful purpose to reality, that in several moments where there would be a soundtrack, to create an atmosphere, there isn’t. This brings an aspect of reality to the plot.
Also, portraying the timeline with a backwards script is genius. Makes you think of many things. For example, if you saw the end of a relationship that hasn’t started yet, would you live it anyway? Would you say the things you wanted to say while you could?
Just Remembering trailer
I really feel that you will like this one. So I decided to do this Chotto Omoidashita Dake review. Go ahead, immerse yourself in the story, the environment and the soundtrack.
And come back later to tell me what you think in the comments. Putting the script backwards made this Japanese movie amazing.
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