There’s a moment in the first scene where the mailman casually points out a letter in a stack of bills. In America, that would feel invasive and wrong. But here it’s human. People still have time to notice each other in Komori, where life is lived “day after day.” And when Ichiko references the elders with that line, there is a universal realization that you’re not the first to struggle or live. What feels overwhelming and personal is just what other people have survived.
Ichiko realizes she didn’t come back to Komori to heal. She isn’t enjoying it “from the bottom of her heart.” The peaceful life isn't growth. It’s avoidance.
“Did she even consider me family?” is such a simple line, but it fucked me up. By the end, it’s hard not to see Ichiko walking the same path as her mom, drifting from place to place, telling herself she’s searching for something.
The ending kind of sucks. She leaves randomly, insert time skip, and everything is different. It’s almost like she fell into another version of escape.
The friends, the quiet life she walked away from, THE CAT(!). It makes you wonder if they’re sitting there thinking the same thing Ichiko thought about her mother…. “did she even consider me family?”
In the end, it’s a beautiful film, but think of who pays the price while you “figure yourself out”.
“A storm always comes at the end of winter.”
There’s a moment in the first scene where the mailman casually points out a letter in a stack of bills. In America, that would feel invasive and wrong. But here it’s human. People still have time to notice each other in Komori, where life is lived “day after day.” And when Ichiko references the elders with that line, there is a universal realization that you’re not the first to struggle or live. What feels overwhelming and personal is just what other people have survived.
Ichiko realizes she didn’t come back to Komori to heal. She isn’t enjoying it “from the bottom of her heart.” The peaceful life isn't growth. It’s avoidance.
“Did she even consider me family?” is such a simple line, but it fucked me up. By the end, it’s hard not to see Ichiko walking the same path as her mom, drifting from place to place, telling herself she’s searching for something.
The ending kind of sucks. She leaves randomly, insert time skip, and everything is different. It’s almost like she fell into another version of escape.
The friends, the quiet life she walked away from, THE CAT(!). It makes you wonder if they’re sitting there thinking the same thing Ichiko thought about her mother…. “did she even consider me family?”
In the end, it’s a beautiful film, but think of who pays the price while you “figure yourself out”.
“A storm always comes at the end of winter.”
