Highly independent with a strong, unique character is the ideal of womanhood that Yuya Ishii prefers to portray. In [Mitsuko Delivers], Mitsuko, possessed of a truly singular personality, embodies this image of the ideal woman. Pregnant and closing in on her due date, Mitsuko returns to Kiyo, the landlady of a housing complex she lived in 15 years earlier. There she volunteers to be problem-solver for Yoichi and Jiro, who run a restaurant while taking care of the sick Kiyo. Despite the poverty that surrounds them, the characters allude to the wisdom of being ′cool′, the true nature of which is humane indeed: sharing warm-hearted affection with neighbors and helping each other. Heavy with child, Mitsuko drives to the town where Jiro’s crush lives in order to help his romantic notions along. The place Mitsuko and her entourage end up in is none other than Fukushima. With the help of people around her, she gives birth to her baby there, a very happy yet thought-provoking ending to the grand encountersthe unfolded during the journey. (KIM Ji-seok)