'Drawing Closer' Review - A Netflix J-Drama With a Clever Twist

The big picture

You will cry unless you are a robot with a heart of steel.
Takahiro Miki delivers a J-YA drama that is clear in its manipulative intentions.
It's no better or worse than the more popular Hallmark or Lifetime specials, if that's what you're into.

You should receive a Congressional Medal of Honor if you can Takahiro Miki's getting closer without crying From start to finish, this Japanese adaptation of Hey Morita“Yomei Ichinen to Senkoku Sareta Boku ga, Yomei Hantoshi no Kimi to Deatta Hanashi” grabs your heart as Eddie Van Halen playing “Spanish Fly” for two hours straight. It is in the same class as The fault of our stars, Five feet away, and other JA romances about illness, chronic or not. The film has a mode, i never shy about his intentions to extract tears from the ducts as often as possible. If you're in the mood for a Shakespearean J-drama about mortality, stock up on tissues and let it rip.

What is “Getting Closer” all about?

getting closer it's about finding love in a hopeless place. Seventeen-year-old artist Akito Hayasaka (Ren Nagase) dreams of being accepted into the Nika exhibition, but is diagnosed with a rare and fatal heart tumor and is given one year to live. At the same time, he meets Haruna Sakurai (Natsuki Deguchi) on the roof of the hospital, where the two bond over Faber-Castell crayons. Haruna is also suffering from a terminal illness, with her prognosis only a few months on her earthly clock. Together, as their teenage romance blossoms, Akito and Haruna struggle to spend as many days together as possible, because death could be around any corner.

certainly getting closer it's an effective tearjerker that puts on dramatic weights like we're doing emotional powerlifting. The setup alone is enough to send some people spiraling, as two borderline kids are told they'll never grow up thanks to rare medical conditions. Then they fall in love! Whether or not you find the film sincere or manipulative, if you have a soul, you will fall victim to Miki's book party. Akito and Haruna are empowered by their diagnoses, acting sweet and sweet with Wonka-level empathetic scenes.

The film isn't incredibly complicated, but it finds cute ways for Akito and Haruna to convey what are initially hidden emotions. Akito's neighborhood florist explains all the hidden meanings of gerbera flowers, from what the colors represent to how the count translates into a bouquet. It becomes a secret code and we wonder if Haruna understands it, like how she's working on secret illustrations that Akito can't examine. Neither dying man wants to burden the other, but the themes of the story strip away that mentality. Both Akito and Haruna deserve love, even if only for a fraction of the average human life, and their passionate union inspires hope that anyone can find someone special. Affirmation and compassion ring strong in Miki's narrative vocabularyand as he urges his actors to overcome their enthusiasm, Nagase and Deguchi find organic adoration through smiling, devoted performances.

'Drawing Closer' is intentionally Hokey and Corny

Image via Netflix

Each scene is undoubtedly characteristic of effervescent J-dramas. Director of Photography Hiroo Yanagida it washes the outdoor scenes in a whitewashed sheen, as if we're staring into the sun, while the attitudes are alarmingly brash and adolescent. Composer Seiji Kameda lays down upbeat acoustic guitar tunes, putting on a private show for Akito and Haruna off-screen. It's funny and cheesy with intent, leaning toward an almost heroic pursuit of happiness that means feeling bigger than reality. you are looking getting closer for the same reason with which the public is tortured Nicholas Sparks usual adaptations. We all long to feel something, perhaps a reminder that our soul has not been completely shattered by [gestures around]and Miki provides this pleasantly masochistic escape.

Frustratingly, getting closer it's a marathon: two relentless hours of an unjust tragedy. There is never a train in the face of overwhelming avalanches of existential sadness. getting closer meets Netflix's algorithmic standards for originals with a clock time of two hours or thereabouts with a cost per view. Subtlety is not Miki's forte, nor does his adaptation feature an intricate narrative that zigs and zags long enough to keep our attention sharp throughout. we know where getting closer it's on top from the start, and Miki isn't shy about indulging in all the tropes from the “Depressingly Hopeful Rom-Dram-Com” playbook.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, so if you can clean yours long enough to see it getting closer and I love to torture myself with romantic “downers” as a gift, this is probably a winner. Miki manages to follow the guidelines to please her audience demographic. The subjects land with great grit because it's just what the doctor ordered, and Miki's motivations behind the camera are transparent. getting closer It's no better or worse than highlight Hallmark or Lifetime specialsstuck in the middle, taking care of business (making tweens and housewives cry red eyes).