Asako I & II
寝ても覚めても
The Moonlight essay
CinemaAsako I & II and the Dangerous Comfort of Wanting the Familiar Face AgainRead the essayStoryline
The whole story, ending included.
A woman falls for a man with her vanished first love's face; the film's real-life aftermath became its own scandal.
In Osaka, Asako Izumiya turns on a footbridge as firecrackers go off, meets the eyes of a young man called Baku Torii, and is kissed. They fall into a romance her friend Haruyo distrusts. Baku comes and goes as he pleases. One night he goes out for bread and is gone until the next day; he promises he will always come back to her. Then he disappears for good.
Two years later Asako works in a café in Tokyo. At the sake company next door she meets Ryohei Maruko, a salaryman with Baku's face. She calls him Baku and flees. He helps her and her roommate Maya, an actress, into a photography exhibition, and with his colleague Kushihashi the four become friends. They start going out, until Asako abruptly ends it by phone. On the day of Maya's play, the 2011 earthquake strikes. Walking back to his office through the stalled city, Ryohei meets Asako, and they hold each other.
Five years on they live with a cat, Jintan, and drive north regularly to volunteer in the disaster zone. Haruyo reappears with news that Baku is now a famous model. Ryohei is transferred to Osaka and proposes. Asako tells him about Baku; he says he already knew. They choose a house by the Yodo River.
At their farewell dinner Baku walks in and holds out his hand, and Asako leaves with him in front of everyone. They are bound for Hokkaido, but near Sendai, where a huge seawall hides the sea, Asako tells Baku she has to go back to Ryohei, and he leaves her there. She borrows money from Hirakawa, a man she met volunteering, who tells her she will not be forgiven. In Osaka Ryohei tells her to go away and says he threw the cat out. She searches for Jintan anyway, and visits Baku's old friend Okazaki, now bedridden. At last she tells Ryohei that no apology could be enough, so she will neither apologise nor ask forgiveness; she only wants to be with him. He hands her the cat from inside and shuts the door. It is not locked, and she goes in. He says he will probably never trust her again. Looking at the river, he calls it dirty. "But it's beautiful," she says.
Starring
Masahiro Higashideas Ryohei Maruko / Baku Torii
Two men with one face: Baku, the drifting first love who vanishes from Osaka, and Ryohei, the steady Tokyo salaryman who loves Asako.
Ryohei Maruko / Baku Torii’s story
Ryohei, a salaryman at a Tokyo sake company, has Baku's face. When a stranger calls him Baku and runs, he talks her and her roommate into an exhibition after hours, and courts her until she agrees. She drops him by phone; on the day of the earthquake, walking through the stalled city, he meets her and they hold each other. Five years on they live together and drive north to volunteer. Transferred to Osaka, he proposes; told about Baku, he says he already knew. At their farewell dinner she leaves with Baku. When she comes back, he tells her to go away and says he threw out their cat. Then he hands her the cat and shuts the door, which is not locked. He will probably never trust her again, he says, and calls the river dirty.
Erika Karataas Asako Izumiya
A quiet young woman from Osaka who never gets over the man who vanished, and falls in love with his double.
Asako Izumiya’s story
Asako falls for Baku when he kisses her on an Osaka footbridge. He promises to come back, then vanishes. Two years later, in Tokyo, she meets Ryohei, who has Baku's face, calls him Baku and runs. She dates him, ends it, and on the day of the earthquake finds him in the street and holds him. Five years on she tells him about Baku and accepts his proposal. At their farewell dinner Baku holds out his hand, and she leaves with him in front of everyone. Near Sendai she tells Baku she must go back. Told by Ryohei to go away, she searches for their cat and tells him she will not ask forgiveness; she only wants to be with him. She finds his door unlocked and goes in. He calls the river dirty; it is beautiful, she says.
Koji Setoas Kosuke Kushihashi
Ryohei's colleague, a former would-be actor whose jealous attack on Maya's acting turns into friendship and then love.
Rio Yamashitaas Maya Suzuki
Asako's roommate in Tokyo, a stage actress, who cannot forgive her for walking out on Ryohei.
Sairi Itoas Haruyo Shima
Asako's friend from Osaka, who distrusted Baku from the start and years later brings news of his fame.
Why it matters
Asako I & II is a love story built on a trick of casting, one actor playing two men, and it uses the trick to ask what a person loves when she loves someone: a face, a memory, or the one who stays. Asako's choice at the farewell dinner is indefensible, and the film does not defend it. It follows her back, makes her live with what she has done, and ends not on forgiveness but on two people looking at the same river. Running beside the romance is the 2011 earthquake, which brings Asako and Ryohei together and keeps them driving north to volunteer for years. The film competed for the Palme d'Or at Cannes in 2018.