Taiji has been estranged from his mother after suffering years of child abuse at her hand. With the support of his friends, he tries to face her one last time to overcome his traumas. Flashbacks show Taiji, a chubby child desperately seeking love from his beautiful mother while growing up in a dysfunctional family. His father is always cheating, his sister turns a blind eye to Taiji’s distress, and his only refuge is nan, who looks after him and tries to prevent his mother from mistreating him. Based on a true story by Utagawa Taiji, the bestseller comic book has been effortlessly transferred to screen. Minorikawa Osamu covers the tricky topic of child abuse with neither a heavy handed nor light approach, and without being ‘over the top’ – leading to an extremely affecting impact. But what will capture the audience most is the powerful yet vulnerable performance by Yoshida Yoh playing Mitsuko, the mother of Taiji, depicting the character in a way that makes you feel sorry for her no matter how much you want to hate her. (Karen Park)