Title : Bride for 8 years, 8 years engagement
Episodes : Movie
Genre : Tragedy, Romance, Amnesia, Family drama, Drama, Slice of life, Real story
Story : 8 out of 10
Characters : 9 out of 10
Cinematography : 8 out of 10
Bride for 8 Years is a touching story based on a real one. With a strong cast and simple cinematography, the movie manages to execute its concept nicely.
Story
Hisashi and Mai fall in love and plan to get married. Their happiness is ruined, however, when Mai gets ill out of nowhere and she quickly goes into a coma. Her parents tell Hisashi that, since their daughter isn’t waking up, he must move on and forget about her. However, Hisashi finds that difficult to do.
After a few years, Mai wakes up. Everyone is rejoiced and congratulate Hisashi. However, the doctor informs him and Mai’s parents that the girl has forgotten everything she had ever experienced and she now has the mind of a small title, just beginning to learn the world anew. Which means she doesn’t remember Hitshi at all.
The movie presents a tragic love story that is close to real life and yet so strong that you can’t help but feel sorry for Hisashi and root for their love. So, the love story was the main focus of the movie, as well as Hisashi and his struggles to deal with the loss of his bride and accepting his reality. Overall, the movie managed to deliver the story without overdoing it. And it was exactly what this story needed to not end up being a cliché rom-com.
Characters
Even though Mai is the one who receives the tragic turn of fate, the main character is Hisashi. He is a man with strong character, who keeps thinking positive and doesn’t give up. He loves Mai and it’s clear that he is going to do anything for her. Sato Takeru has shown so far a wide variety of roles, from action characters to dramatic ones, but here, he was excellent, without going overboard with his emotions and performance. His chemistry with Mai was really good, as well, and helped a lot in this movie, which is mostly based on the performances and the strong plot.
Tsuchiya Tao portrayed Mai, a girl who loses everything after falling into a coma for years. Her transformation was incredible and she was excellent when she was performing Mai’s rehabilitation process.
Cinematography
The scenes were simple and realistic, exactly what this movie needed. Even though some sceneries were incredible, most of the movie was shot in the hospital and in urban areas, focusing mostly on the story to sweep the audience off their feet rather than the cinematography.
Overall
Overall, I’ll rate this movie with 8.5 out of 10. Nice pace, dramatic story, strong performances, and realistic shots, make this movie worth adding to your watchlist.
K&J Reviews 