The restrained tone and neat direction want you to believe there are captivating subtexts to be found underneath, but it all boils down to an average romantic drama with the gimmick of two identical boys with opposite characters. The moments where more than two people interact are the most interesting, while introspection is minimum when focusing on couples or individual characters. The plot unfolds mechanically and only by sudden hiccups, with thin and static characters having sudden changes of heart when convenient. Not a terrible movie, but I doubt anyone would have tried to find deep meanings if it wasn’t presented as an Asian sensation at a festival.

Asako I & II is the most unapologetic reflection of the treacherousness of love. Hamaguchi distinguishingly brings Asako, a shy girl who keeps to herself, to life and gives her the insurmountable task of understanding love as a human. She, as anyone in this pursuit will, makes some hideous choices that few would find palatable. However, she accepts her fallibility and embraces her humanity. Hamaguchi builds an impassioned mess of modern romance that enchants with its haunting after-thoughts.

I give this a carefully calculated **5.49**/10. Yes, it's not 5.5 so I can "round down" to 5 instead of going up to a 6. While I can agree with @saint-pauly to a certain extent that the film feels more like an anime than a movie (whatever that means, given that anime movies exist)… the writing just isn't there. If all I know about a character is their name, job, and who they love, they're not a character at all. If I don't know _why_ the character is doing something, or _what_ they want, I might as well just watch ants or something. (Actually, that's not fair to ants…) Movie or anime, I'll hold the screenplay to the same standards, and this one didn't meet them. This film is _amazing_ as an atmospheric piece. It's so beautiful! And you should definitely read @omegancq's review regarding the original Japanese title and how it relates to the cinematography. Japanese filmmakers really seem to have the art of making pretty pictures (both films & frames) down. Rarely have I ever watched a film from Japan (made in the last 20 years or so) that didn't blow me away with at least a few stunning shots. I just wish that the writing was so consistently great. As I made my way through this film, I grew increasingly frustrated with the flatness of the characters. Nearly all the dialogue revolves around the film's main romance (love polygon?) and we learn _so little_ about these people despite several time skips. Even worse, I honestly think the female characters' dialogue would fail the Bechdel Test. Realizing that the girls in this movie pretty much only ever talk about their boyfriends with each other just made me even more frustrated. It's a cute, gorgeous piece of cinema, and I want to praise it! But I just can't rate this without also considering the awful characterizations. They're just _so empty_ that it hurts.

If you go to see _Asako I & II_ expecting a movie, you risk being disappointed. But if you approach it as an anime, you'll be more open to the awkward directing, the abrupt editing, and the clunky innocence that saves this film despite its silly ending. #recommend

The original title of the movie,"寝ても 覚めても" actually means "in dreams or awake". Don't some scenes feel kinda dreamy? Actually not a single shot in the movie features any strong daylight: scenes either take place indoor, at night, under heavy overcast or under heavy filter, giving you that dreamy, gloomy look. In the final scene as they run along the riverside, sunbeams started to come through the clouds and sparkle on the water and trees, and houses, as if all the dreaming is finally over, and our protagonists have both grown. Im not saying "Asako 1&2" is a bad title for this excellent movie, but knowing the original title definitely make it bit juicier.