Acting
Mai, a rising J-Pop idol, is finally about to have her big break when she unexpectedly falls in love. But in a treacherous industry where young singers must maintain an image of flawless purity, love is forbidden. When her relationship is exposed, Mai's agency takes drastic action, dragging the couple to court over the "no love" clause in her contract, throwing her life into chaos.
A classmate from Ushijima's middle school days, Takemoto, shows up. He was a kind man, but now is jobless and without a home. Adrift and unable to borrow money from Ushijima, Takemoto heads for Seiai Home where he can stay while doing work.
A Japanese family deteriorates under media scrutiny after their youngest son's political abduction becomes national news.
Kitazawa Haku had watched a movie and dreamed he was in a parallel universe. Meanwhile, Ryū, the older brother of Haku's friend Takeru, is facing down boys' bar owner Rokujō. Then Ryū becomes fascinated with Kikiyō standing behind Rokujō. On the day of the yearly festival, Haku suddenly disappears. Takeru disappears while in search of Haku. Ryū disappears while following Kikiyō. And then Rokujō also disappears.
A young Belgian woman returns to Japan to gain insight and find peace in her past relationship with her Japanese ex-lover. She travels around Japan, observing nature as the seasons change. She is guided by the richness of the Japanese vocabulary, which has many words to describe the transience of nature and emotions that have no equivalent in Dutch or English. If she can accept this transience, she will be able to understand what happened to their love.
Three musicians get lost on the way to visit a friend's grave. They become irritated and start to quarrel.
There is no room for dreams in a world formed by male violence. The young sex worker Eve's everyday life is slowly breaking her apart. Trapped in a maelstrom of loathing, drugs, and blind rage, she tumbles towards her impending doom. One night she meets the naive Kimi at a bar, who got into the clutches of a group of unscrupulous pimps. A fatal concatenation of events ensues and Eve has to learn that you can't smite memories with spades.
