Kiyoku Yawaku

Kiyoku Yawaku
	Cover of the last volume of Kiyoku Yawaku
潔く柔く
Manga
Written by	Ryo Ikuemi
Published by	Shueisha
Magazine	Cookie
Demographic	Shōjo
Original run	November 25, 2004 – 2010
Volumes	13
Live-action film
Directed by	Takehiko Shinjō
Written by	Satomi Oshima; Sachiko Tanaka; Ryo Ikuemi;
Music by	Yoshihiro Ike
Studio	C&I Entertainment
Released	2013
Runtime	127 minutes

Kiyoku Yawaku (潔（きよ）く柔く, "Innocently, Softly"), also known as Beyond the Memories, is a Japanese manga series by Ryo Ikuemi. It won the 2009 Kodansha Manga Award for shōjo.^[1] Kanna and Roku's story arcs (acts 2, 6, and 10) were adapted into a live action film in 2013.^[2]

Plot

The series is told in ten vignettes from different characters.

Act 1: Yuma
Act 2: Kanna
Act 3: Hiroki
Act 4: Ai
Act 5: Ichie
Act 6: Roku
Act 7: Momoka
Act 8: Nene
Act 9: Asami
Act 10: Kanna

Characters

Kanna Seto (瀬戸カンナ, Seto Kanna): Kanna works in the movie advertising company, Melon Works. While cheerful and friendly, Kanna uses her optimism to hide her true feelings. When she was 15 years old, her childhood friend and crush was killed in a car accident, which she feels guilty about. She appears in acts 2, 4, 5, 7, and 10.
Roku Akazawa (赤沢禄, Akazawa Roku): Roku is an editor at the publishing company, Pleasure, and is very kind and easygoing. During a school trip from when he was in 4th grade, he accidentally pushed his classmate, Nozomi Kakanouchi, onto the road, where she got run over by a car. He remains guilty over causing her death, but learns to fully accept and cope when visiting her death site with her older sister, Manami. He feels drawn towards Kanna because of their similar experiences, and keeps an eye out for her. He appears in act 6, 8, and 10.

Live-action film adaptation

Kiyoku Yawaku was adapted into a theatrical film released on December 26, 2013.^[3] The film was produced by C&I Entertainment, distributed by Toho and starred Masami Nagasawa and Masaki Okada. "Kagerō" by Kazuyoshi Saito served as the theme song for the movie.^[4]

Kiyoku Yawaku was screened as part of the 17th annual Japanese Film Festival in Melbourne, Australia.^[5] It premiered on October 18, 2013, via the Tokyo International Film Festival and had its theatrical release in Japan on October 26, 2013.^[6]

Cast

Masami Nagasawa as Kanna Seto
Masaki Okada as Roku Akazawa
Haru as Asami Kawaguchi
Aoi Nakamura as Toshikuni Mayama
Yuki Furukawa as Kiyomasa Komine
Kaoru Hirata as Momoka Senke
Ryosei Tayama as bar master
Toshihiro Wada as Yanagihara
Megumi as Chikako Nobara
Chizuru Ikewaki as Aimi Sakuraba (Kakinouchi)
Kengo Kora as Kazue Haruta
Aiyu Otaki as Mutsumi Sakuraba

Reception

Kiyoku Yawaku opened at seventh place in the Japanese box office, raking in takings of 86 million yen in its opening weekend.^[7] Despite its below-average box office performance, Chizuru Ikewaki won the "Best Actress" award for her role in Kiyoku Yawaku at the 6th Tama Film Awards in Japan.

The film received mostly positive reviews from critics outside of its home country. The Society for Film criticised the long runtime and large number of subplots, whilst saying that overall "Despite these minor reservations, Beyond The Memories stands out as a moving, attractive and thought-provoking film" with particular praise going towards Shinjo's direction.^[8] The AU Review praised the film, saying "It is well worth a watch because it is a sweet story without too much clutter from love triangles and jealousy. What sets the film apart is that it's a love story with where the two main characters are filled with a pain they are trying to hide from the world", awarding it three and a half stars out of five.^[5]