“OGENKI DESUKA?!” “GENKI DESU!” The Japanese Film Festival’s Opening Night featured a screening of the 4K-remaster 1995 film, Love Letter at Red Carpet Cinemas, Shangri-la Plaza Mall. Before the movie started, there was a special video message given by the director, Shunji Iwai-san, who reminisced about working on the film and also honoring the late Japanese singer and actress, Miho Nakayama-san. Knowing that the main character passed away in real life adds an extra layer of poignancy to the storyline.
I am sharing my post-movie thoughts about Love Letter based on how I understood it. If you have your own interpretation of the film, I would be more than happy to hear about it.
Tita Kraken Bonus Points ദ്ദി (๑ᵔ⤙ᵔ๑)୨୧
Extra points for aspects in a film that make it a more comfortable and enjoyable cinematic experience for this tita!
✅ Twinning For The Win
The late great Miho Nakayama-san skillfully plays two different characters, Hiroko Watanabe and Itsuki Fujii, who were both down bad for the same recently deceased dude, Itsuki Fujii, who shares his name with the latter. Her acting was so visceral that her constant coughing as Itsuki-san almost felt contagious. My fellow reviewer friends and I morbidly joked that she’s had that cough for a month already. (I ended up coughing a bit myself!)
✅ The Yearning
Nakayama-san’s dual role in the film allows her to delve into subtly distinct characters. The way she portrays Hiroko-san’s grieving for her deceased lover was heartwrenching. I felt so bad for both women as they looked back on their respective history with the male Itsuki-san, compared themselves to each other, and pondered on “What could have been” and “What should have been.”
✅ Village Vibes
I have yet to experience the winter season and yet I felt nostalgic for a place that I have never visited. The film immerses the viewer into the snowy landscape of Otaru giving us a glimpse of both the cozy atmosphere and the harsh conditions. (I felt like going to Baguio after watching this film.)
✅ Bittersweet Romance
Love Letter is about constant yearning whether for love lost or a love that never came to fruition. A cozy slice-of-life drama about quietly expressing affection and working through grief. The 4K remaster further highlights the beautiful landscape with powdery snow stretching out into oblivion, playing a big role in the iconic “Ogenki desuka?” scene.
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The Japanese Film Festival 2025 will continue in selected regional areas until October 26! Manila-bound viewers can still catch the films at UPFI Film Center (October 10-18) and SM Manila (October 17-26).
For more Japanese Film Festival goodness, I talk about my experience attending the JFF 2025 Opening Night in my previous post that’s linked below.
READ MORE: WATCH CLASSIC MOVIES, HIDDEN GEMS, ANIME, AND MORE FOR FREE AT THE JAPANESE FILM FESTIVAL 2025
If you want to plan your movie marathon accordingly then check out the official line up below.
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JAPANESE FILM FESTIVAL 2025 LINEUP
✧ LOVE LETTER (1995/4K RESTORATION 2025)
Romance/Drama (117 minutes)
Director: Shunji Iwai
“A Timeless Masterpiece of Romance Returns in Stunning 4K! Two years after losing her fiancé, Hiroko Watanabe (Miho Nakayama) discovers her fiance’s old yearbook and sends a letter to his former address in Otaru… only to receive an unexpected reply, from a woman with the same name as her late fiancé. This connection unearths memories and reveals two long-buried romances. Set against the snowy beauty of Otaru, Love Letter is a poignant tale of love, loss, and remembrance, with Nakayama delivering a moving dual performance.”
✧ SPIRITED AWAY (2001)
Anime (125 minutes)
Director: Hayao Miyazaki
“While relocating to their new home in another town, Chihiro and her parents come across a mysterious tunnel. They pass through it to find a vast grassy hill, and beyond, a shopping arcade of sorts. It is a world which humans were not meant to enter. Chihiro’s parents eat food left on a shop counter without permission, and are turned into pigs. Left alone, Chihiro is forced to obey two conditions in order to survive: she must work for the witch Yubaba, and have her name taken away, which severs her from the world of humans. She begins working at a bathhouse under the name Sen, where she is aided by Haku, Lin, Kamaji and others, while gradually regaining the strength to live on.”
✧ SEVEN SAMURAI (1954)
Classic (207 minutes)
Director: Akira Kurosawa
“KUROSAWA Akira’s 1954 classic SEVEN SAMURAI tells the tale of feudal class and warfare in ancient Japan. A village under fire from bandits calls on seven swordsmen wandering the countryside to help rid them of marauders threatening to destroy their village. With the aid of the elder samurai SHIMADA Kanbei and six other fellow mercenaries with no status or income, the village prepares to battle the anonymous threat on horseback while battling the bitterness they keep for their hired swordsmen.”
✧ GHOST IN THE SHELL (1995)
Anime (90 minutes)
Director: Mamoru Oshii
“In 2029, the onset of information technology and rise of sophisticated cybercrime has led to the formation of a team of elite cyborg operatives, a ‘Shell Squad’ officially known as Public Security Section 9. Their leader, Major Motoko Kusanagi, tracks a mysterious hacker known only as the “Puppet Master” who operates in the deepest parts of cyberspace. First released in 1995 from the manga series by SHIROW Masamune, the introspective and action-packed GHOST IN THE SHELL asks what it means to be human.”
✧ EVIL DOES NOT EXIST (2023)
Drama (106 minutes)
Director: Ryusuke Hamaguchi
“Takumi and his daughter Hana live in Mizubiki Village, close to Tokyo. Like generations before them, they live a modest life according to the cycles and order of nature. One day, the village inhabitants become aware of a plan to build a glamping site near Takumi’s house; offering city residents a comfortable ‘escape’ to nature. When two company representatives from Tokyo arrive in the village to hold a meeting, it becomes clear that the project will have a negative impact on the local water supply, causing unrest. The agency’s mismatched intentions endanger both the ecological balance of the nature plateau and their way of life, with an aftermath that affects Takumi’s life.”
✧ A SAMURAI IN TIME
Comedy (131 minutes)
Director: Junichi Yasuda
“At the end of the Edo period in Kyoto, during a stormy night a samurai prepares to fight against a ronin, when a flash of lighting hits and when he wakes up to find himself in a different time. He has been transported through time to the present day and the location where he was about to duel is now a film set for jidaigeki TV shows and movies. Still in his samurai clothes he is mistaken for an extra and immediately thrust into the world of jidaigeki productions. Due to his very ‘authentic’ look and speech, he starts working on many productions and finds himself playing the role of a “kirareyaku”, a swordsman whose job is to die spectacularly on film.”
✧ MOBILE SUIT GUNDAM SEED FREDOM (2024)
Anime (124 minutes)
Director: Mitsuo Fukuda
“Latest entry in the ‘Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Series,’ Set in the Cosmic Era (C.E.), the story depicts the battle between humans with genetically enhanced physical and mental abilities from birth (Coordinators) and naturally born humans (Naturals). The year is C.E. 75. COMPASS has been established as a world peace monitoring organization to counter the invasion by Blue Cosmos, which calls for the expulsion of Coordinators. COMPASS member Kira Yamato and others join the fight.”
✧ CELLS AT WORK! (2024)
Action/Comedy (110 minutes)
Director: Hideki Takeuchi
“Ever wondered what’s going on with the intricate workings inside your body? This live-action take on the hit manga series Cells at Work! reimagines the human body as a bustling metropolis populated by 37 trillion cells. A rookie red blood cell and a ruthless white blood/Neutrophil cell are just two inhabitants of high schooler Niko’s body, and the duo must fight together to keep their human alive—one immune system emergency and bacterial invasion at a time! Quirky, and over-the-top, this chaotic adventure follows the shenanigans of the microscopic crews inside Niko’s body, as they work tirelessly to keep her going.”
✧ SHOWTIME 7 (2025)
Suspense (98 minutes)
Director: Kazutaka Watanabe
“Once the face of the prime time news program Showtime 7, Shinnosuke Orimoto was a national news anchor until mysteriously being forced to step down from his position. Now relegated to a late-night radio gig, he receives an ominous call from a stranger warning of an imminent bomb threat, and jumps at the chance to relive his glory days as a newscaster. But when the incident spirals into a high-stakes negotiation, Orimoto must tread carefully—or face explosive consequences. Every second matters in this fast-paced suspense thriller, based on the South Korean box office hit The Terror Live.”
✧ 18 x 2 BEYOND YOUTHFUL DAYS (2024)
Drama/Romance (123 minutes)
Director: Michihito Fujii
“This Japan-Taiwan co-production is a teen romance based on the travelogue essays “Youth 18×2” that made a splash in Taiwan. Script and direction by Fujii Michihito. Taiwanese high school student Jimmy (Hsu Kuanghan) and Japanese backpacker Ami (Kiyohara Kaya) meet and fall in love. But when Ami has to suddenly return to Japan, she proposes a “certain promise” to the devastated Jimmy. Eighteen years later, Jimmy heads to Japan to fulfill the promise they made that day.”
✧ THE BOY AND THE DOG (2025)
Drama (128 minutes)
Director: Takahisa Zeze
“Kazumasa is desperately struggling to earn a living having lost his job. Months after the Great East Japan Earthquake he is met by Tamon a stray dog and a welcome breath of fresh air for everyone but the dog’s sudden disappearance one night causes everyone to confront their own shortcomings. It sends Kazumasa off in search of Tamon and leads him to Miwa with struggles of her own when the two realize their dog is also trying to make its way home.”
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JFF 2025 is supported by the Film Development Council of the Philippines, JTI Philippines, Theo and Philo Artisan Chocolates and the Embassy of Japan in the Philippines. For full schedules, ticketing guidelines, and venue details, please visit the official JFF 2025 website (http://www.japanesefilmfestph.jfmo.org.ph) or follow @jfmanila on Facebook and Instagram.”
Special thanks to Ica of Team PCheng for bringing me along!
