The Love Letter (1995)

The Plot
Hiroko Watanabe's fiancé Fujii Itsuki died two years earlier in a mountain climbing accident. While looking through his high school yearbook, Hiroko in a fit of grief decides to write a letter to him using his old school address. Surprisingly she receives a reply, not from the dead Itsuki, but from a woman with the same name whom had known Hiroko's fiancé in school. A relationship develops between the two women as they continue to exchange letters and share memories of the dead Itsuki. 
(Credit : IMDB.com)






The Cast

• Miho Nakayama - Female Fujii Itsuki / Watanabe Hiroko 
• Etsushi Toyokawa - Shigeru Akiba 
• Miki Sakai - Young Female Fujii Itsuki 
• Takashi Kashiwabara - Young Male Fujii Itsuki 
• Bunjaku Han - Female Itsuki's mother
• Katsuyuki Shinohara - Female Itsuki's grandfather

Foxi Feels
This could easily be my favorite Japanese movie of all times.


I'm not quite sure why, really.


Coz as with most Japanese dramas, this movie has the pace of a brisk crawl. The cinematography is only o-kay, even though there are some wonderful scenic depictions of the Otaru, Hokaido village life. And I can't say much for the supporting cast to save their souls especially the second lead guy, Akiba (played by the ordinarily competent Etsushi Toyokawa)...I'm just not feeling it, man, not feeling it....


So, why is it my favorite movie of all times then?


Again, I don't really know.


Perhaps it's because of Miho Nakayama's pretty face and the fact that she tackled her two diverse roles very effectively; maybe because of the sheer melancholy of the plot; definitely because the hotness of Takashi  Kashiwabara (Kassy)(with him playing the male Fujii Itsuki, I would term him as the first lead guy); also because of the dynamics (even through letters, most of the time) between Hiroko and the female Itsuki; possibly because of the interactions between the two young Itsukis and probably because of the very concept of 'what could have been'.


The whole scenario of the movie is pretty simple if not different.

Watanabe Hiroko

Girl writes to dead fiancé, dead fiancé replies letter, girl thinks it's a letter from heaven, but girl then finds out it's not. Girl then meets another girl with same name as dead fiancé, girl finds out girl-with-same-name-as-fiancé once knew fiancé; and girl finds out that the girl-with-the-same-name-as-fiancé looks like girl.

Miho Nakayama as Watanabe Hiroko

Confused much? Ok, let's try this again then, shall we?

Miho Nakayama plays Hiroko, the girl with the dead fiance. Not really over him even after 2 years of losing him - even with the dead fiance's bestfriend waiting in the fringes to take over his place in her heart. She wrote a simple letter tell him, the dead fiance (let's from now on call me the male Itsuki, shall we?), asking how he is and that she is fine. Lo and behold, she receives a reply.


But after prodding further, at the encouragement of Akiba, the dead man's best friend and her boyfriend in waiting, Hiroko finds out that the letter was sent from a female, also named Fujii Itsuki (whom we shall term as the female Itsuki form hence forward) and that she was once classmates of the male Itsuki...there...are we on track, so far?

Miho Nakayama as Fujii Itsuki

Hence, they began writing to each other, mainly with Hiroko wanting to know more about the male Itsuki as how the female Itsuki remebers him. It started out as wonderful fact finding for Hiroko and a 'bad' reminiscing period for the female Itsuki - apparently the adult male Itsuki was the strong and silent type, and in truth, even Hiroko herself did not know much about what goes on in his head or heart. While the female Itsuki remembers her male namesake as a bully and a constant pain in her life, for whatever short period that they had to endure together.


Through the eyes of the adult female Itsuki, both ladies went through his little quirks and often unfathomed behaviour. 

Sweet Memories - The Fujii Itsuki Story

The final revelation was both devastatingly heartbreaking and emotionally uplifting for both Hiroko and female Itsuki...but I won't spoil it for you by letting you know why.

For the viewers, the ending is bitter sweet and will probably leave you clutching the portion of your t shirt above your left chest really tighly. Awww....

Side note : For the die hard romantics, since the body of male Itsuki was never really found after the climbing accident, the story gives an open ended ending that can only be closed in the fanfiction realm....oh no, I feel a fanfiction coming my way...help...(smiles)!

Kassy as Fujii Itsuki

For me, this is the movie that introduced me to one Takeshi Kashiwabara, or Kassy, as his fans call him. This was the time when the Japanese movie stars are really quite characteristically good looking. Takeshi Kanesheiro (even if he is part Taiwanese), Takizawa Hideki, Takuya Kimura and Odagiri Jo.


Nowadays the Japanese stars are....I dunno, bland? I think I'm gonna receive hate mails pretty soon...but Matsumoto Jun as THE heart throb of the current times? Oh, come on...!!! He even puts the 2AM boys to shame with his utter nerdiness and feminity. Come on, guys, be a man! A real one, please! I mean you can still have long hair and all, but you can still look rugged. Ne : Jacob Black, anyone? Good asian examples would be KimuTaku, Sukkie as Kang Mu Gyul (even Sukkie in the Korean take of Kimi wa Petto is iffy), Takeshi Kaneshiro (despite the amount of foundation he uses). Ok, ok, I'm digressing again.

Kassy Then

Kassy Now

Anyways, where were we? Kassy, yup. This is one actor who looks good being broody. Smiley Kassy is only so-so. As an actor, Kassy puts enough emotion for us to identify with his I'm-too-cool-to tell-you-I-like-you character. He is the epitome of that teenage crush that very girl has.




Coming back to the Love Letter - directed and written by the renown Shunji Iwai, the movie not only won acclaims and awards for best film and music, but it also bestowed best actress, actor and new comers awards to all the four leads.


Miho Nakayama was not only beautiful but also outdid herself by stealing the limelight (from herself) as the adult female Itsuki.


It has been a while since I last watched The Love Letter, but would watch it again if I can dig it out of my CD box. 


Despite the slow pace of the movie, you should seriously invest in some time to give it a try too. Trust me, it is one romantic movie that you would like to add to your library of romances.

The Love Letter (1995) Movie Trailer

credit : thepingbook.com