Sometimes two people with a miraculous quantity of interests in common meet and fall in love. Then things get complicated, as we see in 2021's Hanataba mitaina koi wo shita (花束みたいな恋をした, "Fell in love like a bouquet"). This is a cosy little romantic drama, refreshing among modern Japanese love stories due to having a lower level of implicit contempt for imperfection. It owes a lot in tone to American romantic comedies of the '90s and early '00s. The stars are cute and genuinely charming.
Mugi-kun (Suda Machiki) is a comic artist who loves trendy movies and music. He's a bit of a snob. One day at a cafe, he remarks to a friend that someone seated at another table can't be a true music fan because they're not paying attention to the left and right labels on their earbuds. Unbeknownst to him, a pretty young college student, Kimu-chan (Arimura Kasumi) is making exactly the same observation. But it's not for some time that these two connoisseurs properly meet, when they both miss a train one evening.
Once they get talking, they grow increasingly excited by how perfectly their tastes align. It's fun watching them have fun, they're both very cute and the viewer can bask in the warm glow of this depiction of a perfect little relationship.
I was surprised to see a modern Japanese romantic movie that depicts two people moving in together, having premarital sex, and ultimately shows the urge for financial success being the issue that finally drives a wedge between the two. One thing I really liked about that was that I could easily see people in the audience sympathising with each character's opposing point of view. Kimu wants to keep love of art as a top priority in life, Mugi wants to focus on accumulating enough money so that they can eventually have a comfortable marriage. It's not entirely realistic, of course, the two already have a fabulous apartment. But it's a fair argument.
I was pleased by the ending, which I won't give away. It seemed like a ray of hope for Japanese culture.
Hanataba mitaina koi wo shita is available on Amazon Prime in Japan.
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