Asako I & II

Name: Asako I & II
Genre: Drama, Romance
Released: May 17, 2019
Duration: 119 min
Rating: 69
Cast: Daichi Watanabe, Erika Karata, Kôji Nakamoto, Kôji Seto, Masahiro Higashide

2019

METASCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 20 Critic Reviews

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USER SCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 9 Ratings

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7.1	User Score Generally favorable reviews based on 9 Ratings

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Asako I & II (US Trailer)

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Movie Details & Credits

Bitters End | Release Date: May 17, 2019 | Not Rated

Starring: Daichi Watanabe, Erika Karata, Kôji Nakamoto, Kôji Seto, Masahiro Higashide, Misako Tanaka, Rio Yamashita, Sairi Itô

Summary: One day Asako’s first love suddenly disappears. Two years later, she meets his perfect double.

Director: Ryûsuke Hamaguchi

Genre(s): Drama, Romance

Rating: Not Rated

Runtime: 119 min

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Metascore

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Critic Reviews

100

Steve Pond

May 17, 2018

There are moments of real beauty in the film, which is an unassuming and contemplative excursion into how we love, and why. But like the fireworks that greet Asako and Baku’s first kiss, its pop is a modest one. Read full review

Justin Chang

Aug 22, 2019

A peculiarly potent story about life’s unexpected little ruptures — those odd coincidences, repetitions and shifts in perspective that can set off aftershocks in the human heart. Read full review

Andrew Crump

May 22, 2019

Asako I & II is an easygoing movie, at least if the film’s exterior is taken at its words. Under the hood, it’s roiling. Read full review

Alex Saveliev

Apr 17, 2019

Higashide effortlessly switches between the two polar-opposite men, both utterly convincing. Read full review

The Film Stage Giovanni Marchini Camia

May 17, 2018

As with the several other slight departures from realism, the artifice added to the story proves distracting. Without being successfully integrated, such choices fail to bestow the narrative with depth and pathos as intended, but only draw attention to the flimsiness of the its construction. Read full review

Maggie Lee

May 17, 2018

Hamaguchi extols his source for a compelling representation of love as a mystic experience. However, what gets transferred to the screen becomes more like banal indecision. Read full review

G. Allen Johnson

Jun 19, 2019

Asako’s only appeal seems to be that she’s very pretty. Her depth of character she apparently keeps to herself. Read full review

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User Reviews

JLuis_001

Apr 22, 2022

This film is called Asako. That name belongs to the female main character in this story, and so one would expect the character to have crucial weight in the plot, but that is not the case.
Asako simply doesn't seem to have any real depth or genuine identity outside of what we see on screen.This film is called Asako. That name belongs to the female main character in this story, and so one would expect the character to have crucial weight in the plot, but that is not the case.
Asako simply doesn't seem to have any real depth or genuine identity outside of what we see on screen.

Asako I & II appears to be a film about the failure to connect socially and romantically. It's about the ineffectiveness of a routine relationship in which the characters seem to be more than trapped on a day-to-day basis that is going nowhere but they seem reluctant to cut ties.

The major problem with the story is that the main characters do not work on their own. They need other people to help them function and thus there are numerous scenes with supporting characters.
Not that main characters are actually hollow, but they're hardly introspective beyond appearances.

Asako I & II didn't displease me by any means, but it certainly feels more like a showcase for Ryusuke Hamaguchi's skills than a fully realized film.… Expand

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