, also known as ''Beyond the Memories'', is a Japanese

manga are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long history in earlier Japanese art. The term is used in Japan to refer to both comics ...

series by Ryo Ikuemi. It won the 2009

Kodansha Manga Award is one of Japan's major manga awards. The event is sponsored by publisher Kodansha. It has been awarded annually for serialized manga in its third iteration since 1977. Categories The award was originally called the until 1968. In 1970, it was ...

for ''shōjo''. Kanna and Roku's story arcs (acts 2, 6, and 10) were adapted into a

live action Live action is a form of cinematography or videography that uses photography instead of animation. Some works combine live action with animation to create a live-action animated feature film. Live action is used to define film, video games o ...

film in 2013.

Plot

The series is told in ten vignettes from different characters. * Act 1: Yuma * Act 2: Kanna * Act 3: Hiroki * Act 4: Ai * Act 5: Ichie * Act 6: Roku * Act 7: Momoka * Act 8: Nene * Act 9: Asami * Act 10: Kanna

Characters

; :Kanna works in the movie advertising company, Melon Works. While cheerful and friendly, Kanna uses her optimism to hide her true feelings. When she was 15 years old, her childhood friend and crush was killed in a car accident, which she feels guilty about. She appears in acts 2, 4, 5, 7, and 10. ; :Roku is an editor at the publishing company, Pleasure, and is very kind and easygoing. During a school trip from when he was in 4th grade, he accidentally pushed his classmate, Nozomi Kakanouchi, onto the road, where she got run over by a car. He remains guilty over causing her death, but learns to fully accept and cope when visiting her death site with her older sister, Manami. He feels drawn towards Kanna because of their similar experiences, and keeps an eye out for her. He appears in act 6, 8, and 10.

Live-action film adaptation

''Kiyoku Yawaku'' was adapted into a theatrical film released on December 26, 2013. The film was produced by C&I Entertainment, distributed by

Toho is a Japanese entertainment company that primarily engages in producing and distributing films and exhibiting stage plays. It is headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo, and is one of the core companies of the Osaka-based Hankyu Hanshin Toho Group. ...

and starred Masami Nagasawa and

Masaki Okada is a Japanese actor. Personal life On November 19, 2024, Okada and actress Mitsuki Takahata jointly announced through the media that they are getting married. Filmography Films * ''The Foreign Duck, the Native Duck and God in a Coin Locke ...

. "Kagerō" by Kazuyoshi Saito served as the theme song for the movie. ''Kiyoku Yawaku'' was screened as part of the 17th annual Japanese Film Festival in Melbourne,

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. It premiered on October 18, 2013, via the Tokyo International Film Festival and had its theatrical release in Japan on October 26, 2013.

Cast

* Masami Nagasawa as Kanna Seto *

as Roku Akazawa * Haru as Asami Kawaguchi * Aoi Nakamura as Toshikuni Mayama * Yuki Furukawa as Kiyomasa Komine *Kaoru Hirata as Momoka Senke *Ryosei Tayama as bar master *Toshihiro Wada as Yanagihara * Megumi as Chikako Nobara *

Chizuru Ikewaki is a Japanese actress. Career Ikewaki was given a Best New Talent award at the 2000 Yokohama Film Festival for her performance in ''Osaka Story''. She appeared in Kiyoshi Kurosawa's 2012 television drama ''Penance Penance is any act or a s ...

as Aimi Sakuraba (Kakinouchi) * Kengo Kora as Kazue Haruta *Aiyu Otaki as Mutsumi Sakuraba

Reception

''Kiyoku Yawaku'' opened at seventh place in the Japanese box office, raking in takings of 86 million yen in its opening weekend. Despite its below-average box office performance, Chizuru Ikewaki won the "Best Actress" award for her role in ''Kiyoku Yawaku'' at the 6th Tama Film Awards in Japan. The film received mostly positive reviews from critics outside of its home country. The Society for Film criticised the long runtime and large number of subplots, whilst saying that overall "Despite these minor reservations, Beyond The Memories stands out as a moving, attractive and thought-provoking film" with particular praise going towards Shinjo's direction. The AU Review praised the film, saying "It is well worth a watch because it is a sweet story without too much clutter from love triangles and jealousy. What sets the film apart is that it's a love story with where the two main characters are filled with a pain they are trying to hide from the world", awarding it three and a half stars out of five.

References

External links

* * {{Takehiko Shinjō 2004 manga Films directed by Takehiko Shinjō Live-action films based on manga Manga adapted into films Shōjo manga Shueisha franchises Shueisha manga Winner of Kodansha Manga Award (Shōjo) Films scored by Yoshihiro Ike Japanese romantic comedy films