Out of the Wind (Kaze no sotogawa/風の外側-2008)

Starring:
Takao Sasaki - Son-mun Cho
Sakura Ando - Mariko Iwata
Kazu Ando
Yasuhiro Arai
Megumi Araki
Chie Ayado
Hiroyuki Ehara
Maiko Fujita
Yuya Fujita
Koichiro Hama
Mutsumi Hatano
Kazumi Hiraishi
Rie Hirata
Takuya Ishida
Shizue Kanashige
Fumitoshi Kano
Rino Katase
Ayako Kawano
Yuko Kawatsuma
Sayoko Kawatsu
Kazuki Kitamura
Yuki Kobarai
Saori Komatsuya
Kyoko Kubo
Kozue Matsumura
Hanako Minota
Masaki Miura
Koshiro Mori
Masaru Nagatani
Mari Natsuki
Ayano Nonomura
Natsuki Okamoto
Chinatsu Oku
Eiji Okuda
Kohei otomo
Masahiko Shimada
Tetsuya Shin
Eita Sorita
Ayaka Takahara
Maya Tanaka
Rika Ueda
Yuki Ueno
Miyuki Yamamoto

Mariko Iwata (Sakura Ando), a high school student who dreams to become an opera singer. Son-mun Cho (Takao Sasaki), a zainichi, loses an important music score for Mariko. In return she asks him to become her bodyguard on her way back home from school. A relation will emerge between them not without difficulties and disappointments.

This was an amazing story and movie. I happened upon from crunchyroll.com. (I'm an avid seeker of movies and they usually have the latest....)

This movie sort of reminded me of Romeo and Juliet. Mariko is a rich girl with an amazing voice who dreams of being an opera singer. Seung-mun is a Korean born in Japan. His family is traditional but yet being of Korean descent their lives are hard and cruel. We later on learn that Mariko is half Korean/Japanese, her father being full-blooded but naturalized in Japan.

As the story goes on, as Seung-mun follows her through the streets of the town, he slowly without knowing it himself has fallen for Mariko. There is a varied age difference. Mariko in her last year of high school and Seung-mun, I'm assuming, is in his early 20's.

Again as the story goes on, we come to find out that Seung-mun works for the yakuza. He is a loan shark with two of his friends who are his underlings. Mariko doesn't learn this until the very end of the story. But again we learn something of Mariko's father, as well, that we later learn unfurls the fates that decide if this will be a happy ending or not.

The story starts to get more complicated. And I'm telling you now, I started to fear and get uncomfortable with Seung-mun. We know he is actually a good guy brought up on the wrong side of town. I ached for a happy ending. I prayed for a happy ending. But as the story unfolded, it was a fated tragedy. All you could do was hope they all came out unscathed from the schrapnel that was set off from this tragic end.

I wouldn't say this was a weeper but it had me at the ready with my hand drawing closer still to the box of tissues on my coffee table.............

*Just to note: There aren't really any published pics of Sasaki Takao yet since this is his first movie and he is in the drama Bambino. He's a hottie so keep your eyes peeled for this one.....*