Review | 1st Kiss movie review: Takako Matsu woos a younger man in Japanese time-travel romance
Director Ayuko Tsukahara’s story follows a middle-aged woman who travels back in time to save her marriage and her husband’s life
2/5 stars
As with the time-travelling coffee shop in Tsukahara’s debut, a scientific explanation for precisely how Kanna (Takako Matsu) is transported back to a specific day in 2009 is deemed unnecessary here. Instead, the film embraces the intangible power of love – albeit seasoned with a generous sprinkling of grief and regret.
Kanna simply needs to drive through a closed tunnel to magically appear in the picturesque Saitama resort town where her path first crossed that of Kakeru (Hokuto Matsumura), an awkward palaeontology student.
The challenge she now faces is successfully wooing a man 15 years her junior over the course of a single day, as well as influencing his personality and tastes to such a degree that, 15 years later, he will think twice before putting his own life at risk to save a complete stranger – an act of heroism that left him squished under a train and Kanna all alone.