Hello, previously I talk about Japanese dramas, but now I’ll also talk about the movies. Well, I think I have reviewed a Japanese movie before, but here the movie that I’ll review is Kiseki: Ano Hi No Sobito (Miracle: Sobito of that day *my own translation, so it could be wrong 😁✌, and I have no idea what Sobito means 🙈✌😅✌)
This movie is unique because it depicts the real story of a real musical band in Japan named GReeeeN. But the reason why I like it is because it portrays how, often times, it’s the family and the people close to us that usually becomes the biggest obstacle to fighting for and realizing our dreams. In this movie, for example, Hide (one of the characters) was initially prohibited to pursue a career in music because the father wanted him to have a real job. The father was a doctor and he thought musicians were just playing around – and useless. However, as usual, I really love to see how each character was presented along with the reason why they did what they did and why they thought what they thought. Again, as I’ve said again and again, I believe it could help us to be less judgmental and be more “patient”. The father, for example, hated his sons to work in music industry because he thought music was of no use to others and he wanted the sons to be a useful person such as a doctor to help others. When he learned that one of his patients actually found some courage to fight her disease after listening to a song, which was actually his son’s song (they did the music thing without him knowing), he came to realize that being a musician wasn’t bad at all; i.e. it could also help people in different ways. And this was one of the most touching moments in this movie for me: When he realized this, he finally permitted Hide to do music but he said, “If you’re gonna be a musician, write songs like GReeeeN.” When saying this, he had no idea that Hide was one of GReeeeN. Imagine how happy Hide was to know that his father actually acknowledged his work, not because he’s his son, but because he really thought highly of his music.
I know most of us will find it easy to hate and blame the father. But I really loved Hide here. I know sometimes it’s just too much to do things to make your parents happy and to do things that make yourself happy. Here, Hide truly respected his father. While he knew he wasn’t as brilliant, he didn’t give up trying and studying. He tried to find a way where he could do both: studying to be a doctor and doing music. And guess what? His hard work paid off. His patience paid off. While he didn’t end up being a doctor like his father expected, he still managed to be a dentist and be a musician. And guess what? To date, he (and other GReeeeN members) never showed his face to keep his professionalism of being a dentist. (It’s also explained in the movie). Man, I want to be a famous person like that, where people appreciate your work or music without knowing your face. I love working in the shadow like that. You don’t have to worry about going to public places and getting all attention that you don’t want, because people don’t know that you’re actually a famous person. Yet, you can still see how much people genuinely appreciate your work in front of you without knowing that it’s actually you. It’s a score for GReeeeN! I really love them.
But, well, back to the story. I really loved Hide here because he was “trying to understand” his parents. I know it’s not easy to do this. Some people would just retaliate (like what Hide’s older brother did) and came to be really disrespectful towards the parents, but that’s not what Hide did. He did his best to win his parents’ love, trust, and approval. Well, for personal experience, I know it takes time to win your parents’ trust and approval. Sometimes they just don’t love us the way we want to be loved. For example, it took me two years to finally have my parents realize that I wasn’t doing well working in my hometown. Previously they insisted that I come home, live with them, and work in town. They even said that it’s okay for me not to work since they could still feed me. But they finally realize that working in town was too much for me and that I could also try and have better opportunities out of town. And see where I end up now? 😊 It also took me years to have my parents finally let me go traveling alone-and with friends. Previously they weren’t so inclined to having me go out with such friends because they were worried I would go out with the “wrong friends”. Well, did I suffer? Not really, I’ve always believed that my parents love me so it helped me endure whatever hardship I was facing when doing what would make them happy. I knew they were just being conservative probably because they lacked of education. But I’m happy now. Now I can do what I like and at the same time, it makes my parents happy too. So yeah, it takes time 😊
Well, I’m not in any way suggesting that you should keep silent when your parents are abusive. I don’t think my parents are abusive, and I don’t think Hide’s parents are abusive either. Well, yes, it’s true that it could be mentally abusive if we let it be but sometimes we need a softer approach to win the love, trust, and approval of these kinds of people. And remember, it takes time; it won’t be instant to change one’s mind and perspectives. But if your parents are apparently abusive, nope, you’ve got no obligation to stay, you’ll need help, you’ve gotta seek for help.
And, oh, before I forget. I feel sorry for, but also love, the mother here. It must be hard to be “in between”. Some people might even bash her for not confronting the husband. But, well, she tried to understand his husband and still wanted to respect him, but she was somehow powerless. At the same time, she loved her sons and wanted them to feel loved. While she did not have the courage to fight her husband for that, she kept supporting her sons in any way she could. It mustn’t be easy to make her husband understand and support their son. It mustn’t be easy either to convince her sons that their father actually loved them but was unable to express it the right way. I know it isn’t easy to be in this position. I was in this position too, between my sister and my parents. My parents often thought my sister wasn’t serious with her study and my sister thought my parents didn’t love her enough; but I wanted them to understand each other and to understand that it’s not the case. And it’s hard because I didn’t want my parents to think that I sided with and defended my sister and I didn’t want my sister to hate me either. So, well, yeah it’s not easy. But it all paid off. They understand and love each other now. LoL
And talking about the mother’s position, I guess it’s why it’s important to find a partner with the same vision to raise the child from the beginning. I know I don’t want to be in such a position where I have to choose between “my husband” and “my children”. Nope.
Well, I think this movie is good for family. The parents can learn that sometimes what they do simply hurts and does not make their kids happy. They can reflect whether or not they become the biggest obstacle for their kids to achieve their dream. Similarly, the kids can also make reflection and learn that sometimes parents do what they do not because they hate them or because they do not love them, but often times it’s because they haven’t understood it very well.
Anyway, I’ll recommend you to watch this movie not only because the story is good but also because the songs are great. I really love the songs presented here. And, man, the actors playing the roles of GReeeeN actually sang the songs and they did very well. Well, Masaki Suda (the one playing Hide) is certainly one of prominent and promising young Japanese actors now. I think he’s the only young actor that can come close, in comparison, to my most favorite, multitalented, Japanese actor with great acting skills: Ikuta Toma.
So, how likely is it for you to watch this movie? 😊