Ore wa, kimi no tame ni koso shini ni iku

We are told early on that the kamikaze missions were entirely suicidal, and that therefore sinking a ship wasn't half as important as dying in front of the enemy. In the same breath, "voluntary" enlistment for those missions is revealed to have been an irrevocable order. Once the demented premise established, the episodes of various young men and how they spent their last moments come and go, as simply and as mercilessly as History sent off its zero fighters. The grainy footage and detail to military mannerism and apparatus give an authentic flavor that counterbalances the poor effects and sparse, but undeniable awful (child) acting. The first two thirds are drama heavy, and the climactic beautifully and obviously computer-generated aerial battle comes early at the head of the third act, which then peters out into a dragging epilogue about the aftermath of war that stretches out of the frame into the present. Personally, I have never found that plot device a good idea to begin with, but it is especially poorly executed in Japanese movies, such as Otoko-tachi no Yamato (2005), Lorelei (2005), The Twilight Samurai (2002), or Murudeka 17805 (2001). The credits should start rolling right after the last plane crashes, leaving the remaining twenty minutes to those who wish to stay seated. The weight of the movie still rests in the first half hour, but that alone is worth the price of admission. The Governor of Tokyo scripted the movie based on the stories he heard from the diner lady around whom the movie is centered.

"For those we love" is quite a different take on a war drama. Instead of showing the suffering people went through caused by the war, it shows the last days of the people who went willingly into their own death to die for something they believed in. This movie can be pretty depressing depending on how to look at it. I saw these characters presented in the movie as products of their time and being indoctrinated to give up their young lives to a cause utterly meaningless. But then again, so it is for every soldier in a war. The difference here is that we see everything from the perspective of the Kamikaze pilots, which after the war ended, became a pretty bad image, mainly because japan lost and like they say: "history is written by the winners". On top of seeing the war from another perspective I found this movie to be very sad at some parts. It needs a bit build up and may be a bit repetitive, but I enjoyed it and I can only recommend it.

I really liiked this flick. Unlike US movies always showing the victors side, it was nice seeing what the other side went through. Japan does some good war flicks. I also really liked the movie "Otoko-tachi no Yamato (2005) "........

For those we love is for sure a hard movie. Difficult to watch, difficult to understand and to digest. But nonetheless a great movie. It brings a very tragic and terrible chapter of WW2 under a new, maybe more human and comprehensive light. The main plot deals with the last days of so many boys that choose to volunteer for the Kamikaze Corps, to end their life in one last, desperate flight. For most of the people it is almost incomprehensible, at maybe it is. In it they can read just fanaticism and physical violence. In fact the motivation behind it was way deeper and anchored to the spirit of the nation and the desperation of the situation. For sure it helps understanding the period and the actions and decisions taken, helping to bring alive so many individual stories, trying to avoid that such happenings and human destinies simply vanish from the collective memory.

Maybe it is movie quite difficult to find, but technically very well made, and with many unique stories inside it. Be aware you will never observe fireflies in the same way after watching it.