Satoshi Kon in 4 days (ad-hoc simulwatch optional)

Today is the day for Perfect Blue, I shall be watching it this evening and posting back here later on today :cool:
I'll aim to watch after (ramble warning!) the last few hours I have to finish watching K on Amazon prime, which so far I'm finding disappointingly rather dull, compared to my successful binges of Utena & blood-c, both of which I enjoyed.
 
Perfect Blue. First time viewing.

I can see why Satoshi Kon is recommended, this film has a lot of moving parts, and definitely some of those I don't quite get on a first viewing. I hope people who have seen it more than me can help me understand a bit better :)

First 50% of the film I'd say is fairly straightforward, but second 50% definitely enters the realms of conjecture, how much of the events shown are real?

Going through things somewhat chronologically, and at a high level, I'd say the first parts of the film cover something which I can understand/comprehend even almost 25 years after release. The cost of celebrity.

When everyone knows who you are, even doing mundane things such as shopping can present a challenge, which is why I would not ever wish to be visibly famous. It must be hard work being someone who almost everyone recognises even though you don't know the people who recognise you.

The way the film cut back and forth between the stage and the shopping trip at the start were very good, and showed how someone who is talented is otherwise very normal and lives just like a regular person.

Our pan to creepy security card was the obvious villain pointed out early on, holding Mima-chan in his hand as though she were an object rather than a person.

Fairly early on, around this stage, I knew that the film would centre around how the stalker-kun situation played out and how Mima would be haunted by the stalker, in an era when internet stalking wasn't common and the internet wasn't taken as seriously.

The film also shows the struggle of trying for a career change, going from an idol singer to a more serious and long lasting acting career. This kind of challenge exists in the real world today where famous people want to shake off their roots and show what they can actually do, without being pigeon-holed or type-casted into one role.

I couldn't shake the question to myself: Would Mima have suffered at all if she had stayed as an idol? My answer is no, but it's not the route she took.

I really enjoyed seeing Mima evolve into her role, but the obvious parallel into what was being filmed and what she was personally going through was a little forced, even down to certain scenes showing her living the same scenes she had to act. It felt like she didn't even need to act certain scenes as they were being played out in her real life.

Early on, Mina-room seemed like someone who knew too much about what she was up to and was posting it. I'd say in the latter half of the film Mina herself almost wondered if she posted the events.

I loved seeing all of the old-school tech, as someone who works in IT. Fax machines, Navigator browser etc. They really nailed the IT of the day.

Her talent agency were scum, wanting to shoot Mina into stardom they put far too much pressure on her to act out scenes (like the rape scene), which imo, would potentially damager her future potential, all for a short term gain. Mima, not wanting to rock the boat agreed to doing them, even though she actually really didn't want to do them. This again shows parallels with how certain celebrities are handled today, and how doing nude scenes can damage their reputation.

Rumi-chan put up a token resistance to the nude scenes but folded without much argument, I questioned her commitment at this point, whilst not suspicious like stalker-kun security guard, she was not really sticking up for Mima.

When the script-writer who wanted to take advantage of Mima and use her Idol status to shoot the rape scene was killed, I wondered why the photographer wasn't killed off as well. Turns out I needn't have worried too much, he also met his fate.

Side note: genitalia censoring is common in Japan although in this film doesn't seem present. Pre-dates it? Not that any detail is really shown, and not that the nudity in this is really sexual in nature, more a plot device.

In the end I'd guess that all of the events we saw actually happened, but that Rumi-chan was responsible for some of them. Not sure how Mina's Idol persona was being presented as being Rumi, but would love any additional insight people have.

I enjoyed seeing Mima's 2nd personality bouncing around with ease, where the reality was that Rumi was run ragged doing the chasing based on the reflections, I wondered if Rumi was supremely jealous of Mima and her ability to either act and/or be an idol.
 
Last edited:
Although I havent rewatched it tonight Perfect Blue is a fantastic film that's sticks in the memory and I have seen it several times.

The tension building in the film is phenomenal until all the emotion comes crashing out from the main players in the final third. It's so clever how Mima is framed as this incredibly tragic character only to reveal Rumi is the genuninely tragic one and Mima is show, in the final shots, as being self assured and successful.

The cinematography, music and dialogue (I've only seen the dub) is all in point. For a directorial debut its astonishing really.

This is what I wrote when we did the simulwatch last year:
Perfect Blue

Hands down my favourite psychological thriller. Every aspect of this movie is so well constructed. And on repeat viewings the final truth is so well seeded but still shocking and surprising the first time you see it.

"Excuse me, who are you?" Is such a perfect quote do describe the theme of this film. Identity. How we see ourselves, how we try to present ourselves and how we are perceived.

The way there several conjoined stories taking place at once is such good story craft. The real story, the story in Mimas head, the story in the tv show and the story in Rumis head. The way these pieces are blended so we dont always know which one we are watching adds to much to the disquiet of the film. Also the use of the soundtrack is brilliant. We start with this happy poppy jingle then no music in Mimas normal life then music starts to creep back in as the mystery and threat grows. One of the absolute highlights of this being the mournful piano while Mima trashes her room. A perfect encapsulation for the loss of innocence and dignity coupled with the frustration and self doubt shes feeling.
 
Although I havent rewatched it tonight Perfect Blue is a fantastic film that's sticks in the memory and I have seen it several times.

The tension building in the film is phenomenal until all the emotion comes crashing out from the main players in the final third. It's so clever how Mima is framed as this incredibly tragic character only to reveal Rumi is the genuninely tragic one and Mima is show, in the final shots, as being self assured and successful.

The cinematography, music and dialogue (I've only seen the dub) is all in point. For a directorial debut its astonishing really.

This is what I wrote when we did the simulwatch last year:

It's very well done, especially for how old it is, I don't often go so far back in time with anime but occasionally do (NGE/Akira etc).

I feel like I maybe got like 60% of what everything meant, I reckon this type of film requires more than one watch to really get to grips with, 2-3X at least.
 
It's very well done, especially for how old it is, I don't often go so far back in time with anime but occasionally do (NGE/Akira etc).

I feel like I maybe got like 60% of what everything meant, I reckon this type of film requires more than one watch to really get to grips with, 2-3X at least.
Absolutely. Its film I've appreciated more with rewatches. As so much is buried the first time you watch. It was some thing I said in the previous simulwatch of his films that Kon makes stories about stories within stories. They are dense but all his films have great rewatch value because of it.
 
@Neil.T @ManiacB @Geriatric hedgehog

Think I got everyone who wanted to, planning to watch Millenium Actress tomorrow from 6PM or so my time, so if you guys were still up for this is just my promised notification! :)

As per my first post, totally optional to view it, no pressure :cool:
I'll join in for MA too as I've only seen it the once in the previous simulwatch so will be good to revisit it. I'll also watch Paprika as I really enjoy that film.
 
I'll join in for MA too as I've only seen it the once in the previous simulwatch so will be good to revisit it. I'll also watch Paprika as I really enjoy that film.

The more the merrier!

I have no clue whatsoever what it's about but that is half the fun, a totally blind watch with no pre-conceptions, I've not seen any summaries or trailers! my favourite way to watch most films.
 
The more the merrier!

I have no clue whatsoever what it's about but that is half the fun, a totally blind watch with no pre-conceptions, I've not seen any summaries or trailers! my favourite way to watch most films.
The best way to watch these films for the first time.
 
Wow, just finished watching this masterpiece which significantly lifted my spirits (that had been deadened after watching K, which in my opinion, was rubbish...).

Lordhippos you picked up on a heck of a lot more than I did on my first watch years back and I'm liking your summary very much. Also agree with WMD in that I piece together more of this movie, and therefore like it even more, with every subsequent watch.

@WMD (bear with my lack of social media skills guys but I'm working out/guessing that adding @ in front of a username tags/notifies that person?) your previous quote on identity is spot on, I can't think of a more perfect synopsis of the movie (I'm noticing a trend here heh). Likewise @Lordhippos on the cost of celebrity.

I'll bounce some of my thoughts off your summaries :
Would Mima have suffered at all if she had stayed as an idol? My answer is no, but it's not the route she took.
I think she would still have suffered in different ways, as you do by virtue of being alive anyway. One way would be in her not realising her potential as she sees it, and eventually fading to obscurity as "just" an idol. This is despite the focus on CHAM doing well and therefore there being regret at her choices nonetheless, given the ramifications of the latter that she does suffer. Secondly, I can't imagine there not being the same type of casting couch abuse in this idol industry, so I believe she has an inaccurate and idealistic image of that in her head and is simply yet to experience it's worse nature (but correct me if I'm wrong, I don't really know about the idol industry). I thought the idols were presented in a very sexualised way, in their first performance at least, catering to a noticeably male only audience, which I found very creepy in itself. It certainly is one of those works that have a lot to reflect and say about these industries, that was hitherto largely known but ignored until the #metoo movement.
First 50% of the film I'd say is fairly straightforward, but second 50% definitely enters the realms of conjecture, how much of the events shown are real?
Early on, Mina-room seemed like someone who knew too much about what she was up to and was posting it. I'd say in the latter half of the film Mina herself almost wondered if she posted the events.
On my first watch I actually found the first half of the film dull (blasphemy I know!) and loved the psychological breakdown and unraveling of Mima. That still remains my favourite part of the movie though I previously thought it was inconsistent and parts didn't fit or make sense including around Mima's room, Rumi, the stalker man, etc. But, and this is where the beauty of this movie comes in, every time you re-watch you will piece more bits together and I am now very much of the opinion that it does all fit and make perfect sense and I think WMD also implied this. But rather than talking about it explicitly, I think it's best an experience left to personally re-watching and far more enjoyable for it!
I wondered if Rumi was supremely jealous of Mima and her ability to either act and/or be an idol.
Correct me if I'm wrong but did the manager not imply that Rumi used to be an idol early in in the movie (by mentioning something about in Rumi's time as an idol or something things were different?). So for me the jealousy aspect was potentially also tied into her lost prime and the affront that Mina was to the image Rumi believed of how an idol should be and behave.

All in all, a fantastic movie, and Millennium Actress is an interesting one to follow with, will aim to join in for that tomorrow (later today now I guess heh) then.
 
I'm working out/guessing that adding @ in front of a username tags/notifies that person?
That's exactly right. For example, you should get an alert if I do this: @Geriatric hedgehog

I have no clue whatsoever what it's about but that is half the fun, a totally blind watch with no pre-conceptions, I've not seen any summaries or trailers! my favourite way to watch most films.
That's brilliant. I remember that you said before, didn't you, that you were the type to only want to watch half a trailer to avoid potentially spoiling a film. I'm the same.


I'm a big fan of Perfect Blue; I've seen it at least half a dozen times, and that really doesn't feel like very many times at all. It was the second Kon film I saw (after Paprika). Oddly I seem to have difficulty writing about his films because they're so great to me that I can never find where to begin. That being so, I'll just chip in with a little observation that I didn't bring up during last year's simulwatch.

In the original Japanese dialogue, there's an extra piece of duality that isn't brought across on the BD or DVD subtitle track. It's the part where Mima answers the phone and it's her mother. As soon as Mima starts talking to her mother, she switches from the standard Japanese that we've heard her speak up until that point into a local dialect that she must've grown up speaking. (I'm not terribly knowledgeable about dialects in Japanese, so I can't tell you what part of Japan her dialect is from, I'm afraid.)

The basic idea of this is that even the Mima known by her idol bandmates, her manager Rumi, her agent Tadokoro and others is not entirely the "real" Mima. Of course, there will be things that Mima's mother will not know about her as well and certain ways that Mima behaves around her and only her, so that wouldn't be the "real" Mima either. This applies equally to her dealings and interactions with other individuals as well.

What Kon is asking is this: who does know the real Mima? Does anyone? In fact, does anyone know the "real" anybody? Is there even such a thing, or are there only the differing faces we present to different people?

(This is what happens when I'm allowed to talk about Satoshi Kon films. 😅)
 
The basic idea of this is that even the Mima known by her idol bandmates, her manager Rumi, her agent Tadokoro and others is not entirely the "real" Mima. Of course, there will be things that Mima's mother will not know about her as well and certain ways that Mima behaves around her and only her, so that wouldn't be the "real" Mima either. This applies equally to her dealings and interactions with other individuals as well.

What Kon is asking is this: who does know the real Mima? Does anyone? In fact, does anyone know the "real" anybody? Is there even such a thing, or are there only the differing faces we present to different people?
I happened to see an article the other day about “code switching” which I presumed at the time was a description of something computer programmers did, but actually turned out to be about how non-white people change their behaviour to better fit in in majority white societies (it was served with a side of that disturbingly-close-to-racism-itself wokeness that seemed to imply there are “black” and “white” ways to behave but we won’t get into that here) and as I was reading it I started to think “You mean to tell me there are people who DON’T do this? People who don’t adapt their language and behaviour the situation at hand? Everybody does this. EVERYBODY does th...”

...

Wait, DOES everybody do this? I was suddenly plagued with self-doubt. I started to think about times when I’d internally shake my head at the way other people behaved, in both social and business contexts; “Man,” I’d think “you do not know how to play this situation to your advantage at all”. Then I started thinking, was I always able to do this? Am I subconsciously ashamed of my own working class-ness? Am I am psychopath? Either or both are possible, but I came to the conclusion it was more likely a consequence of my time as a salesman, when my living depended on my ability to tell people what they wanted to hear.

That’s a different world to celebrity, obviously, but really any role in which relies on someone having to essentially manipulate others’ perceptions of them to their own advantage requires similar methods. It is a bit of a disturbing thing to think about, because while it’s no doubt a useful skill it does somewhat muddy your own and others’ sense of who the real you is, which is definitely a huge theme of Perfect Blue. Are these people who are seemingly unable to do this really worse off, or are they more authentically themselves?
 
I think she would still have suffered in different ways, as you do by virtue of being alive anyway. One way would be in her not realising her potential as she sees it, and eventually fading to obscurity as "just" an idol. This is despite the focus on CHAM doing well and therefore there being regret at her choices nonetheless, given the ramifications of the latter that she does suffer. Secondly, I can't imagine there not being the same type of casting couch abuse in this idol industry, so I believe she has an inaccurate and idealistic image of that in her head and is simply yet to experience it's worse nature

That was something I noticed as well, CHAM seemed to do better without her, as an idol there is probably nothing worse than leaving the group only to find they succeed despite you. Were I Mima I would be asking myself if I was actually as talented/capable/important as I thought I was.

You're probably right about the casting coach elements for idols as well as actresses, but I think up until that point she hadn't seen the darker side of that up close. She is trying to make it big in Tokyo, but isn't from Tokyo, so probably grew up in a more rural/sheltered area.

On my first watch I actually found the first half of the film dull (blasphemy I know!) and loved the psychological breakdown and unraveling of Mima

I could see why that may have been the case, although I think the change from normal to crazy is necessary to really highlight the psychological stuff later on. It also had the effect I believe of giving us a barometer of how Mima is normally, so we can truly appreciate the differences.

Correct me if I'm wrong but did the manager not imply that Rumi used to be an idol early in in the movie (by mentioning something about in Rumi's time as an idol or something things were different?). So for me the jealousy aspect was potentially also tied into her lost prime and the affront that Mina was to the image Rumi believed of how an idol should be and behave.

I must have missed this bit, at the time it probably seemed like an inconsequential detail, on a re-watch I think such details gain importance with the foreknowledge that it ties into the story later.

That's brilliant. I remember that you said before, didn't you, that you were the type to only want to watch half a trailer to avoid potentially spoiling a film. I'm the same.

Absolutely the best way I find, if MAL or IMDB gives something a decent rating, I'll often just put it on and see how I get on with it :)

In the original Japanese dialogue, there's an extra piece of duality that isn't brought across on the BD or DVD subtitle track. It's the part where Mima answers the phone and it's her mother. As soon as Mima starts talking to her mother, she switches from the standard Japanese that we've heard her speak up until that point into a local dialect that she must've grown up speaking.

Japan places quite an emphasis on language and dialect I think, and speaking a certain way is normally quite telling of station/class/familiarity and also a clue as to where you grew up. I first saw the dialect thing come into play in Your Name I think, where Mitsuha and Taki did the body swap, and Mitsuha was speaking like a rural female to Taki's friends at School.

It's great that you know it well enough to hear it though, I didn't pick up on the detail myself, but it makes sense that she will speak to her family differently in that context.

The basic idea of this is that even the Mima known by her idol bandmates, her manager Rumi, her agent Tadokoro and others is not entirely the "real" Mima. Of course, there will be things that Mima's mother will not know about her as well and certain ways that Mima behaves around her and only her, so that wouldn't be the "real" Mima either. This applies equally to her dealings and interactions with other individuals as well.

What Kon is asking is this: who does know the real Mima? Does anyone? In fact, does anyone know the "real" anybody? Is there even such a thing, or are there only the differing faces we present to different people?

Very true, everyone puts a mask on and speaks/acts differently depending on their surroundings. The me that my family sees may well be quite different to the me that my friends see.

It's a very interesting question though, and one which plays well into the acting job as well. Acting being a job that requires you to be an expert at putting on a different image.
 
Millennium Actress. First time viewing.

This was another detail packed film, again I don't think you could pick out all of the ideas here in one viewing. The closest thing I am reminded of when watching this is something like Cloud Atlas, where the era/setting changes frequently, but it's kind of one story continued throughout time.

I wasn't quite as quick to pick up on what the film was trying to show as quickly as I was with Perfect Blue, but after watching the first 5-10 minutes or so, I got the idea that we'd see how Chiyoko's career would progress through the long years she was an actress across. On top of this it quickly became apparent that this would be shown more dynamically than just flashbacks.

Behind the scenes Chiyoko would have probably just been acting out or telling her story, but as a viewer we got to see a very dynamic telling, and Genya + cameraman-kun were very much swept along for the ride alongside us.

I could tell how much of a fan Genya was from how the film started, and how he was watching the recording of the shuttle launch of Chiyoko at the start of the film. At the time it seemed unimportant to me, but thinking back on it after ending the film, that was the last time he had seen Chiyoko before she vanished into reclusion, and as he left to go and meet her for the interview, he put the recording into rewind as if to set it back to the start again.

As a bit of a side note, Genya was the perfect interviewer given his past history with Chiyoko, and his adoration of her was clear. The returning of the key being the catalyst that unlocked her memories and allowed her to re-live her experiences, in the end we never did learn what the key unlocked. But personally I'd like to say the key didn't unlock anything physical of importance, and instead it unlocked memories, it was a focal point that tied her years and experiences together, and her love for the unnamed man she could never truly find again.

Using a little deduction about the age of the film itself and the supposed age of Chiyoko (70+), If I had to guess she would have been born in the 1930's or thereabouts, as the film was made in the early 2000's, I originally thought this would put Chiyoko at her first acting age at around the time of WW2. However I did research this afterwards, and the Japanese invasion of Manchuria was finished in 1934.

Is the first re-telling some years after this, when rebellion was a problem, and WW2 hadn't quite kicked off? I am not a perfect student of history, especially where Asia is concerned.

After the first era, we enter the second one, this seemed like the Sengoku era. Perhaps earlier still?

Then she became an assassin, then a geisha, finally I think we entered the final era of the Samurai?

After this it seems like we enter the more modern era, with WW2 and the air-raids.

Then we enter more or less modern times, she's a teacher who can't remember the face of the man she loved all this time.

I think at some point the 7 transitions of Chiyoko were mentioned, I guess she had 7 different distinct roles in various eras throughout the film.

Otaki was pretty creepy wasn't he? Interesting to note that the key prevented his first attempt at "seducing" Chiyoko, when she lost the key, probably by his machinations, was when she succumbed to marrying him. She didn't seem happily married, and finding the key again, followed by the accident lead to her escape and reclusion.

I haven't mentioned it until now, but Eiko is, in my opinion just jealous of Chiyoko throughout all this time, in the end she says that she grew tired of even being jealous. But it all started with her giving Chiyoko the hope to chase after the unnamed man by tricking her with the fortune teller, so really she only has herself to blame. In my view she is jealous because she has never found anyone who she would chase after like this for all these years, even when hope seemed lost.

We get a glimpse of the truth when the man hunting the dissidents down finds Chiyoko and gives her the note, although later we learnt that the man had died by his hand under torture. Was it by kindness or cruelty that she never discovered he was dead? Even Genya didn't tell her the truth at the end, after all telling her the truth when she was so old and close to death would just seem cruel to me.

Question about the promised place from me. Earlier on it seemed like the man was in Kyoto. Then at some point Hokkaido. I think it was meant to be his favourite place to paint, and it was described as somewhere cold, where the snow went as far as the eye could see. Not sure if it was ever actually called out directly? was it just more of an idea that Chiyoko had of where it could be?

I loved how it ended with Chiyoko going into space to try and find the man she loved, she literally searched for years, across continents and even worlds, because she knew that this man she barely knew was the one she wanted to find.

At the same time I think she was naïve to be so attached to this man she barely knew anything about, assuming the original contact was genuine and not part of the first film she was in, she met this guy once, helped him out, didn't really see him again, and knew hardly anything about him. All she had was this key and a vague impression of him. Her obsession with this man and the key must have seemed mighty strange to everyone around her.

The ending was very sad 😢 but she seemed happy to have had the chance to re-live the memories at least, and to meet the one who saved her, Genya, who got to save her again!

As a final summary, at least from my point of view, the versions we saw were a mixture of the films Chiyoko was actually in, mixed with real life events going on at the time. I don't think she starred in 7~ films about finding a guy who gave her a key, but it was her way of underpinning the events in her life and linking them with the films she was in.

Edit 1 - Forgot to add that she said at the end that she just enjoyed the chase, I can kind of see that. She must have known that her earlier dream of finding this guy was probably long dead, and instead it became an excuse for her not to settle down, start a family etc, she just wanted to carry on the adventure without shackles. and with no exact destination in mind.
 
Last edited:
Using a little deduction about the age of the film itself and the supposed age of Chiyoko (70+), If I had to guess she would have been born in the 1930's or thereabouts, as the film was made in the early 2000's, I originally thought this would put Chiyoko at her first acting age at around the time of WW2. However I did research this afterwards, and the Japanese
Chiyoko mentions having been born during an earthquake, one that her father died in. This must be the Great Kantō Earthquake of 1923:

The quake is depicted in visually imaginative style in Hayao Miyazaki's film The Wind Rises.

the key didn't unlock anything physical of importance, and instead it unlocked memories
You called it. 👌😌
Absolutely classic Satoshi Kon. He really knew how to view his own films through the eyes of his audience and made sure he gave them all the right cues to help bring them along on the journey.

The ending was very sad 😢
I've seen this film probably more than half a dozen times now, and the scar-faced man's confession never gets any easier to take. I was fighting them back again watching that part. I think it'll always be that way, no matter how many times I see it.

Because I know what's coming, the film's main theme has a tragically sad feel to it for me now. Compliments as ever to musician Susumu Hirasawa for the score. You'll be hearing his music again in Paprika, Lordhippos.


How was the film for you overall? And how did it compare against Perfect Blue on a first watch?
 
Millennium Actress is a great film. I love the cameraman so much. Hes so bemused and incredulous at everything going on. I love the use of colour and how at the start Genya and the cameraman have more colour to them than everyone in the flashback, then as time passes and the memories become more recent they fill up with colour as well.

This is what I wrote in the simulwatch last time:
Millenium Actress

What a wonderful film. As it's my first time watching I've just sat back and gone along for the ride rather than watching with my critical simulwatch eye.

I loved how, like Perfect Blue, theres actually more than one story going on. The obvious Chiyoko's story but also that actually this was Genya's story. It should have been obvious really when he turned up with the key at the start but it's not until the end when we learn hes been carrying the truth of the mystery painter with him for 30 yrs that we learn what this story was all about.

The dub was also joyously fantastic. Everything out of Genya and the cameraman was amazing. The cameraman especially added so much humour to what was quite a dark film. It was the right move though as when the emotional core was exposed at the end I was crying as the humour had made everyone feel so relatable. Especially with all the genre changes and general weirdness of the "story in a story" style the film was presented in.

Great film.
 
Chiyoko mentions having been born during an earthquake, one that her father died in. This must be the Great Kantō Earthquake of 1923:

Yes that makes a bit more sense, they said she was above 70 years old but not how much above it, that would probably put the earlier sections around the 1934 Manchuria invasion or just after.

You called it. 👌😌

😌🤜

How was the film for you overall? And how did it compare against Perfect Blue on a first watch?

Initial impressions, I preferred Perfect Blue, both good though. I think it's because I like the psychological/mystery stuff, and I found myself thinking Chiyoko was being a bit naïve in Millennium Actress.
 
Millennium Actress is a great film. I love the cameraman so much. Hes so bemused and incredulous at everything going on. I love the use of colour and how at the start Genya and the cameraman have more colour to them than everyone in the flashback, then as time passes and the memories become more recent they fill up with colour as well.

This is what I wrote in the simulwatch last time:

Yes it definitely had elements of both intertwined, I think it was mostly Chiyokos' story, but at times we saw bits of Genyas' story coming into play, for example when he met the director on the beach, and how he saved Chiyoko from the falling rubble near the shuttle.
 
Back
Top