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The 2020 Japanese drama Drawing Closer offers a heartfelt look at the connection between two teens facing mortality. Directed by Takahiro Miki, the film is based on Aoi Morita’s novel about 17-year-olds Akihito and Haruna, whose chance meeting at a hospital takes an emotional turn. They form a bond despite each having a terminal illness—Akihito has a year to live with a heart condition, while Haruna was born with a disease, giving her just six months.

Led by the performances of Ren Nagase as the brooding Akihito and lively Natsuki Deguchi as the smiling Haruna, the movie focuses on how their friendship develops. Haruna finds purpose in art and faces death openly, helping Akihito rediscover his passion for painting after losing hope. They spend afternoons sharing sketches at Haruna’s bedside, growing close yet guarded about their conditions.

As more time passes, Akihito works to reunite Haruna with an...

Even the staunchest of cynics would probably end up shedding a tear or two after watching Netflix’s Drawing Closer. The new Japanese drama movie, helmed by Takahiro Miki, tells the story of two teenagers who are about to die. There’s a certain template these movies usually follow, and Drawing Closer is no exception. That’s not exactly a bad thing, though, as it’s expertly made and does the job fairly well. I’m sure all of you’ve been heartbroken after watching it (and so have I) and may be looking for some closure. Hopefully, this article does that for you.

Spoilers Ahead

What Happens in the Movie?

Seventeen-year-old budding painter Akito’s world turns upside down when a rare malignant tumor is found in his heart. A cheerful Akito becomes severely depressed. His dream of competing in the prestigious Nika Awards also goes down the drain,...

Drawing Closer, a new Japanese romantic drama film released on Netflix, presents one of the classic conflicts with regards to love—the shortage of time—in quite a literal form because of the characters’ situations. Adapted from a popular novel by Ao Morita, the film follows a teenager, Akito Hayasaka, who meets a girl of his age, Haruna Sakurai, and gradually develops an intense bond of friendship and a tinge of romantic love. But the sad part is that both the characters are actually terminally ill, and they have only a few months left to live. Despite the extremely emotional premise and story, Drawing Closer maintains a fine grip over the sentimentality and does not ever become too overbearing.

Spoiler Alert

What is the Netflix film about?

Drawing Closer immediately sets its tone with the protagonist, Akito Hayasaka, appearing on the roof of a building, looking extremely disturbed and worried over something.

Welcome, readers, to Late to the Party , a column that's right on time when it comes to catching up on anime everyone's already watched. This column addresses a universal truth in regard to being an anime fan: an anime backlog is quite the powerful beast. Many of us have one, where we amass more and more content we have designated in the "planning to watch" category. How and why it takes so long to actually address this task varies from person to person, but the gratification of finally allocating the time is really quite splendid. Occasionally, it’s by watching a classic anime from yesteryear that you’ve had your eye on for quite some time. When I think of May, my curious little mind tends to gravitate toward the word “mayday,” as if a ship is being sunk. Based on this one small coincidence, I sought out an anime based on naval warfare.