Kitagawa Keiko Appears in Generic Tearjerker, Still Manages To Break My Heart

Dakishimetai: Nishikido Ryo and Kitagawa Keiko

 I just finished watching the movie “Dakishimetai" (I Wanna Hug You!) starring my beloved Kitagawa Keiko as Tsubasa, a girl who, due to brain injuries sustained in a high-school car accident, has lost the use of her legs and right arm. Additionally, her memory is cloudy and her doctors say her condition may even get worse as time goes on. But throughout this, she is meeting life positively, and when she meets a young man named Masaki (Nishikido Ryo, playing what appears to be the exact same character he played in One Liter Of Tears; the sturdy heart-of-gold boyfriend who will stand by her side no matter what the ailment) for the first time she thinks about her future as a housewife and mother.

First Meeting: Masaki meets Tsubasa

Becoming Friends

 This was a fairly “By The Numbers” tearjerker, but you all know how much I love Keiko, and as usual, her acting lends to very likeable and believable characters…I was taken with Tsubasa from the moment I saw her. This film was heartbreaking for me not so much for its grand, tragic end, but more for the parts where you see Tsubasa going through her everyday life coping bravely with her handicap (doing her errands in her wheelchair, doing housework with the use of only her right arm), and the footage of her shortly after her accident when she was first going through the arduous and painful task of rehabilitation was harrowing and yet so admirable to watch. When the reviewers say that this movie is not so much a story about Tsubasa’s tragic death as a celebration of her life, I totally agree.

Besides Keiko and Ryo Nishikido, Dakishimetai featured an all-star ensemble cast, including two former “Crush Of The Day” alums, Eriko Sato and Aya Hirayama, albeit is minor roles. So good to see them again, and for the first time, I realized how much Eunji of K-Pop Group Apink looked like Eriko “Cutie Honey” Sato! When she came onscreen, I thought to myself, “Eunji?! Oh WAIT, that’s Eriko Sato, LOLOL”

Sato Eriko

Aya Hirayama

I’ve got yet another Kitagawa Keiko Movie on the burner, the exciting suspense flick “Roommate” with saucy Fukada Kyoko as poor Keiko’s antagonist in a modern “Single White Female” retelling…You can be sure I’ll be reporting back once I’ve checked it out!
Posted by zdorama @ zdoramaagain.blogspot.com