First Love (2022) Movie Review

First Love is a romantic movie directed and written by Yuri Kanchiku. It features Hikari Mitsushima and Takeru Satoh in the lead roles, and the storyline is inspired by a song composed and written by J-Pop singer Hikaru Utada. The film portrays a breathtaking love story that spans over two decades.

What happens when two lovers reunite after almost twenty years of separation? How does their love story unfold? To find out, read the review below!

Get ready to witness a captivating love story in First Love, starring Hikari Mitsushima and Takeru Satoh and directed by Yuri Kanchiku. The film’s plot is inspired by a J-Pop song written and composed by Hikaru Utada and promises to leave you spellbound.

First Love movie summary (2022)

The story begins when a young man named Harumichi Namiki (Takeru Satoh) meets a beautiful woman who instantly makes him fall in love and passionately achieve his goals. The character is named Yae Noguchi (Hikari Mitsushima). The two of them decided to become lovers while in high school in the late 90s.

They both follow their dreams and try to be together, but fate has something else for them, an unexpected event changes all that. They should be together, but they have to separate and live differently.

Two decades later, Yae is a single mother of a teenage son, while Harumichi is engaged to someone else and is planning a wedding.

However, they soon discover that their love story is far from over. For Hikaru Utada, who has written many songs for scripted movies and series before, this will be the first scripted film to directly draw inspiration from their songs.

First Love movie review

A joyful teenage love story

There are 9 episodes in total, what is shown in ‘First Love’ is quite enjoyable to watch with your friends and closest people. Why is that, because the story presented is really warm and makes the listener happy.

A teenage love story that makes you relive, remembering the sweet and bitter memories of high school. The love given is not just a romantic thing, but more than that, these two teenagers have big dreams, supporting each other to make it come true.

Yae dreams of becoming a flight attendant, while Harumichi chooses to be a fighter pilot. The reason was simply because Yae admired the fighter planes that flew overhead. Harumichi seeing that certainly didn’t miss the registration, he also got into the flight school and became a boarding student.

‘First Love’ uses repeated episodes to tell the story, which is of course a unique style as the stories come together to complete the incomplete pieces. The audience is also led by the story of teenagers in love, or the slave language of love, or bucin.

The love they feel is sincere, even though they have to be separated by a distance after they graduate from school, they still keep in touch. See you again to release the long-buried memories.

Unfortunately, the meeting that seemed to take place peacefully quickly turned into an unexpected parting. The screams of longing turned into sadness, the reason for living together must be buried deep.

One incident changed everything

Yae and Harumichi’s first fight seems to have caused a big problem that makes them feel deeply regretful. Angry at Yae’s humiliation, Harumichi leaves after expressing his disappointment.

However, he realized and regretted it. Contacting Yae to apologize, Harumichi discovers that Yae has been involved in a serious accident that requires surgery. That wasn’t enough, he had to accept it gently when he learned that Yae had lost his memory.

What made their relationship warm and romantic is now changing like dust. There was nothing left, even Yae’s mother told her to forget about her son because she could not take good care of him.

So could this shake Harumichi’s defenses? Of course not, he regularly sends letters to Yae and focuses on his pilot training. A few years later, he is declared a graduate, after which Harumichi goes to Yae’s house.

Unfortunately, bad news came to him. Yae is pregnant and about to marry a doctor. Her feelings of excitement turned into unbearable sadness. An incident in the past changed all the good things they had planned. What can we do about it? That is destiny.

It was not until twenty years later that the two were reunited under different conditions. Yae has divorced her husband and works as a taxi driver, while Harumichi is about to marry another woman. However, when it comes to each person’s fate, what can they do?

The fate that forced them to be together has been decided, the storm has passed. The long wait has finally paid off. Yes, some people have to give in, some have to get hurt, but everything will be beautiful in its time. Let fate guide.

First Love movie conclusion

‘First Love’ is a Japanese manga based on two songs by Hikaru Utada. The love story given is not too different from the others. However, what is important in this series is where the focus is placed, namely the matter of fate and first love.

The presentation of ‘First Love’ is quite interesting, teenagers are growing up and starting to fall in love, described very warmly. They only have one in mind, happy together.

What ‘First Love’ brings is not only a simple love story but also many moral lessons that can be drawn and applied in daily life. For those Cilers who like the romance genre, ‘First Love’ is the right choice to watch with your loved ones during your vacation!