Kono Hana Sakuya (2022)

Or, This Flower Will Bloom, a one hour special that stars Inukai Atsuhiro in a supporting part. He was the reason why I watched it which is why I'm mentioning it.

It's a story about a real estate agent, Chika, in the town of Kagoshima which lies in the shadow of an active volcano, Mount Sakurajima. Her childhood friend, Yohei (Inukai Atsuhiro), asked her to marry him but she's always been hesitant about that because of how her father died when she was a child. And ever since Yohei joined the local Disaster Relief Unit, her reluctance grew tenfold because she's so terrified of losing him. And then, one day, a man comes into her office and asks her to find him a flat - a place where he won't be able to see Mount Sakurajima...

This is a very atmospheric movie, all orange tinted and almost... well, hazy, interspersed with authentic footage of times when the volcano went off in the past, one hundred years ago and then forty years ago, and accompanied by jazz music, sometimes soft, sometimes jarring. You can see what it's like living in this town where you have to follow the news about wind direction and ash fall, where you regularly have to sweep away bags and bags full of volcanic ash...

There are no big upheavals, now histrionics or drama in this special, it's just so... soft and calming, a slice of life story. And it was exactly what I needed today.

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