Asako I & II

2018 2h 0m JA

👍

6.8

SOLID

★6.8TMDB · 210

DramaRomance

Synopsis

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Asako lives in Osaka. She falls in love with Baku, a free-spirit. One day, Baku suddenly disappears. Two years later, Asako now lives in Tokyo and meets Ryohei. He looks just like Baku, but has a completely different personality.

“Some stories are better left unspoiled.”

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Where to watch · US

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Cast

Masahiro Higashide
Baku / Ryohei
Erika Karata
Asako
Koji Seto
Kushihashi
Rio Yamashita
Maya
Sairi Ito
Haruyo
Daichi Watanabe
Okazaki
Kōji Nakamoto
Hirakawa
Misako Tanaka
Eiko

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Ryusuke Hamaguchi
Writers: Ryusuke Hamaguchi, Sachiko Tanaka
Languages: English, Japanese
Countries: Japan, France

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Released 8 years ago.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

Dialogue crosses 2 languages: English, Japanese.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

International production across 2 countries: Japan, France.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Ryusuke Hamaguchi, shot by Yasuyuki Sasaki. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by tofubeats. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Azusa Yamazaki shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Masahiro Higashide and Erika Karata and Koji Seto carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt7112154 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Ryusuke Hamaguchi directs. Yasuyuki Sasaki behind the camera. tofubeats scores. Azusa Yamazaki cuts. Produced in Japan, France. Dialogue in English, Japanese.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Released 8 years ago.
2Dialogue crosses 2 languages: English, Japanese.
3International production across 2 countries: Japan, France.
4Directed by Ryusuke Hamaguchi, shot by Yasuyuki Sasaki. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
5Original score by tofubeats. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
6Editor Azusa Yamazaki shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
7Masahiro Higashide and Erika Karata and Koji Seto carry the top of the cast.
8IMDB entry: tt7112154 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
9Released under 13 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography: Yasuyuki Sasaki
Original score: tofubeats
Editing: Azusa Yamazaki
Production design: Masato Nunobe
Makeup / hair: Shinji Hashimoto
Sound: Miki Nomura
Runtime: 120 min · 2h 0m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Original language: JA
Certification (US): NR
IMDB: Asako I & II (2018)

Also by

Ryusuke Hamaguchi

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Community reviews

What people are saying

badelf2025-02-17
★ 8/10
With this film (following Happy Hour), Hamaguchi cements his role as the ultimate diviner of the chaos of human emotion. Few other directors can navigate this terrain with the empathic thoroughness of Hamaguchi. In "Asako I & II", Hamaguchi explores love's most mercurial landscape through a narrative of uncanny resemblance and emotional displacement. The film's subtle genius lies in its exploration of how we construct and reconstruct romantic narratives. A pivotal moment occurs in Shigeo Gocho's photography exhibition, where Asako contemplates a photograph of what appear to be identical twins. This visual meditation becomes a metaphorical key to the film's deeper inquiry: Are we loving individuals, or projections of our own emotional needs? Baku and Ryohei - two men who look remarkably alike but represent radically different emotional territories - become less characters than psychological states. They are what Asako draws to herself via the power of attraction. The truth about the title is that Asako is the real doppelganger, albeit internally. Erika Karata (Asako) does an amazing job conveying her internal pas de deux. Hamaguchi suggests that romantic attachment is less about the specific person and more about our internal emotional choreography. His real directorial brilliance is his refusal to judge - which we will see again in "Drive My Car" - creating a nuanced exploration of how memory, desire, and perception intertwine to create what we call love.

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