Eriko Mikamo

Katsu (Mitsuko Baisho) is a 73-years-old woman. She often makes trouble with her biting remarks. While raising a daughter alone, Katsu was unable to live the life she wished for. One day, Katsu goes to a photo studio and takes a picture. She leaves the photo studio, but finds that she is now 20-years-old (Mikako Tabe) again. Katsu changes out of her grandmother clothes, picks out a more youthful style and names herself Setsuko Otori. Later, Katsu decides to take part in a singing contest held in a shopping district. Her singing fascinates the audience and she wins the contest. Katsu begins to move closer to her past dream of becoming a singer.

6.5/10

This coming-of-age story from Japan opens just after 17-year-old Sataka has gotten dumped by her boyfriend. When her mother is hospitalized with a malignant stomach ulcer, Sataka is left alone with her emotionally repressed father; whiling away the hours one day, she comes across a love letter written to her mother 24 years earlier. Deciding to track down the letter's author, Sataka eventually finds Shinichiro (Hiroyuki Sanada), an overweight slob who was abandoned by his wife years earlier and now spends his time hanging around pachinko parlors. Determined to clean him up and reintroduce him to her mother, Sataka nags Shinchiro until he finally agrees to her demands, and a gradual friendship develops between the two as Sataka drags him to the gym and a clothing store. But once Shinchiro's makeover is complete, he turns the tables on his young friend, and when the time comes for him to meet Sataka's mother, all concerned parties find themselves embarking on a new phase in their lives.

6.9/10