critics consensus

Asako I & II's high-concept premise is anchored by thought-provoking themes and confident, compelling work from director Ryusuke Hamaguchi. Read critic reviews

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Asako I & II Photos

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Movie Info

Asako meets and falls madly in love with drifter Baku who one day drifts right out of her life. Two years later, working in Tokyo, Asako sees Baku again -- or, rather, a young, solid businessman named Ryohei who bears a striking resemblance to her old flame. They begin to build a happy life together until traces of Asako's past start to resurface.

Genre:

romance, drama
Original Language:

Japanese
Director:

Ryûsuke Hamaguchi
Producer:

Yuji Sadai, Teruhisa Yamamoto, Yasuhiko Hattori
Writer:

Ryûsuke Hamaguchi, Sachiko Tanaka
Release Date (Theaters):

May 17, 2019 limited
Release Date (Streaming):

Jan 18, 2020
Runtime:

1h 59m
Production Co:

Nagoya Broadcasting Network (NBN), Bitters End, Comme des Cinémas, C&I Entertainment

Cast & Crew

Erika Karata
Asako

Masahiro Higashide
Baku, Ryôhei

Sairi Itô
Haruyo

Kôji Nakamoto
Hirakawa

Kôji Seto
Kushihashi

Misako Tanaka
Eiko

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Critic Reviews for Asako I & II

All Critics (49) | Top Critics (18) | Fresh (38) | Rotten (11)

[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.

August 22, 2019 | Full Review…

Justin Chang
Los Angeles Times
The movie keeps you guessing, mostly in pleasure, at both its meanings and its methods.

July 25, 2019 | Rating: 3/4 | Full Review…

Ty Burr
Boston Globe
Asako's only appeal seems to be that she's very pretty. Her depth of character she apparently keeps to herself.

June 20, 2019 | Rating: 1/4 | Full Review…

G. Allen Johnson
San Francisco Chronicle
Hamaguchi keeps us guessing as to whether the characters' longings are innate or instilled by something beyond them and us.

June 6, 2019 | Rating: 3/4 | Full Review…

Ben Sachs
Chicago Reader
There's just not a lot going on underneath the surfaces of these characters' sensitive, precise, and modestly expressed feelings.

May 17, 2019 | Rating: 2.5/4 | Full Review…

Simon Abrams
RogerEbert.com
"Asako" proceeds from a premise that flirts with the mystic, but Hamaguchi executes it with elegantly rendered realism... The result is a picture that is simultaneously engaging and disconcerting.

May 16, 2019 | Full Review…

Glenn Kenny
New York Times
"Asako I&II" is an excellent movie, one of the best dramas of the latest years, and a production that combines beauty with meaningful context in the most captivating fashion.

February 21, 2021 | Full Review…

Panos Kotzathanasis
Asian Movie Pulse
It is refreshing to see a Japanese film that is modern and direct and not trying to be overtly Ozu-y or arthouse poetic or genre-y, yet very Japanese. I very much appreciate Hamaguchi Rusuke's work.

February 13, 2021 | Full Review…

Dustin Chang
Floating World
Based on Tomoka Shibasaki's novel, Hamaguchi's film strikes me as surprising, contagious, and entertaining as it thoroughly addresses the philosophy of couples' relationships. [Full review in Spanish]

July 25, 2020 | Rating: 7/10 | Full Review…

Yasser Medina
Cinemaficionados
An example of how well the absence of cynicism can work in a film. [Full review in Spanish]

July 2, 2020 | Rating: 4/5 | Full Review…

Miguel Muñoz Garnica
El antepenúltimo mohicano
Both leads are excellent. [Ryûsuke] Higashide will no doubt attract most attention, impressive in his ability to inhabit two very different characters, yet it's [Erika] Karata who is the power at the heart of the film.

November 4, 2019 | Rating: 5/5 | Full Review…

Jennie Kermode
Eye for Film
It is difficult to ignore that this delicate fantasy of love and destiny is much more intense than it seems on the surface thanks to a filmmaker capable of interpreting passion from silence. [Full Review in Spanish]

September 4, 2019 | Full Review…

Alonso Díaz de la Vega
El Universal