Kasumi Arimura and Kentaro Sakaguchi star in this romantic drama about second chances. Available on Netflix from November 14, 2024.
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| Image Credit: Netflix |
We are all, or at least many of us, fond of K-dramas. Still far from mainstream popularity are j-dramas, television series from Japan. Among these, in the Netflix catalog of November 2024, we find the Japanese series Beyond Goodbye, divided into 8 episodes and starring the actors Kasumi Arimura and Kentaro Sakaguchi (who was recently seen in the film The Parades, also available on Netflix). The show follows the intriguing and dramatic story of the young Saeko who, after losing her boyfriend Yusuke in an accident, forms a strong and inexplicable bond with a stranger named Kazu.
Beyond Goodbye and the strange survival of love in the body
Beyond Goodbye, directed by Hiroshi Kurosaki and written by Yoshikazu Okada, opens with the love story of a young couple. They are happy, Yusuke is about to officially propose to his beloved Saeko, but everything changes in a single instant. An avalanche of snow is enough to overwhelm their bus and their lives. Because already in the first 10 minutes of the series, the idyllic love between Saeko and Yusuke ends with his death. We meet Saeko months after the event, she is serene, and she continues to work in the coffee import company, thanks to which she manages to keep herself busy. Her life could return to normal if it were not for an anonymous letter of thanks from the family of one of the recipients of her fiancé's organs.
And if it were not for the chance to meet with a stranger on the train, with whom she almost immediately feels a strong connection. Kazumasa, for his part, is a man who can consider himself lucky, not only because he is happily married to Miki, but above all because he was given a second chance thanks to a heart transplant. But he is not exactly the same man as before, now he loves coffee, has a more lively and social personality, inexplicably knows how to play the piano, and above all has flashes of memories that are not his. And it would all be rather simple if it were not for the lightning-fast encounter with a commuter on the train.
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| Image Credit: Netflix |
Saeko and Kazu, almost by fate, find themselves immediately attracted to each other, like magnets or like two kindred spirits. Bound by their passion for coffee, and traveling daily on the same train, the two become friends and confidants. When the harsh truth emerges between them and their connection becomes more intense, the dilemma also grows: is their bond sincere, or is it just the fruit of the connection given by Yusuke's heart? Does Saeko have real feelings for Kazu, or are they just a consequence of her mourning and the emotional attachment she feels toward the heart of her deceased fiancé? And Kazu's feelings, are they genuine or do they come from the memory of her donor? Can a heart preserve the emotions, memories, and recollections of a person, even if they are no longer alive? Beyond Goodbye asks precisely these questions, developing throughout 8 episodes a story that goes beyond a series focused on romance, but instead attempts to explore themes such as mourning, illness, death, and love.
Beyond Goodbye: the search for oneself in the life of another
Beyond Goodbye is a series that begins intensely, skillfully, and immediately capturing the viewer's attention thanks to its rather singular story. Then, throughout the 8 episodes, the show delicately and sincerely addresses the themes of death, mourning, second chances, love, and destiny. The topic of organ donation is also worth highlighting. In the series, in fact, the viewer is faced with the consequences and changes that an event of this magnitude can have on people's lives, especially that of the recipient. In this case, Kazu shows symptoms typical of someone who has undergone an organ transplant... new tastes, new habits, personality changes, but also (and some researchers and studies are studying the phenomenon) having memories of the deceased.
We see him not only face life with new eyes but also try to reconcile his old personality with the new feelings that seem to come from Yusuke. And we follow him as he unconsciously searches for himself in the life of another. Because he is no longer the Kazu of before, but it is also true that he is not Yusuke either. And it is equally true that Yusuke is dead, and that a part of him is still alive and pulsating. Beyond Goodbye tries to put this question on the small screen, how can this reality and these two souls meet and clash? A second chance at life for Kazu that can lead to a new beginning or even a new end.
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| Image Credit: Netflix |
Beyond Goodbye: a series that finds strength in its actors and naturalistic photography
Beyond Goodbye is a show that, with tones and nuances typical of Japanese productions, focuses on its characters and their feelings, and attempts to investigate human emotion and how it can relate to the soul, death, and destiny. Although the series is engaging, the deterrent to full enjoyment is the slow pace, which in some cases becomes almost soporific. Throughout its duration, the show loses its edge, not only because of the editing but also from the point of view of the script, which seems too measured and not very fluid. The story of feelings, for better or for worse, is left to the photography and the faces of the actors, who emerge as focal points of the series and without whom everything would collapse.
From the point of view of the acting department, the two protagonists Kasumi Arimura and Kentaro Sakaguchi are the strengths of the series, managing to keep the series alive. In particular, Arimura as Saeko offers us a confident, sincere female character who is not afraid to show her feelings and who we can empathize with. Sakaguchi for his part has the most difficult character in the series but manages to breathe life into the role of Kazu, making it three-dimensional and complex. Another actor worth mentioning is Toma Ikuta, who as Yusuke brings an intriguing and fascinating character to the screen, full of life. Thanks to his charisma, the viewer becomes fond of Yusuke, even though the character dies in the first 10 minutes and only appears in a few flashbacks.
From a technical point of view, one of the most distinctive aspects of the series is its photography, visually enveloping, full of feeling and poetry. A photographer who loves nature and finds every opportunity to bring immense landscapes to the screen, which measure themselves against the finiteness of the urban and the human being. Images that observe and frame the activities of man, their daily life, their feelings, their weaknesses, and their fragilities. Where nature is changeable but also eternal, and where the human being is just a light breeze, a changeable and finite being.
Beyond Goodbye: evaluation and conclusion
Beyond Goodbye is a series that from the first episodes proves to be compelling, especially thanks to the unconventional plot that addresses the issue of organ donations. The related themes, such as mourning, destiny, and love, are prominent, and find space in the narrative organically and solidly, without ever being artificial. The show's strong point is its character intrinsically belongs and is linked to Japanese film productions, where feelings, characters, and nature are the foundations. A production that maintains attention thanks to the plot and above all thanks to the skill of its main cast, but which instead finds its Achilles heel in the editing and the screenplay.
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