In post-war Japan, Aoi spends his time working as a translator for the Americans and waiting at the docks for returned soldiers. It's been three years since the end of the war, but without a killed in action notice, he can't help but hold out hope that his best friend, Takahiko, could one day return. But when Takahiko does finally come back, he's his usual, grinning, carefree self with no explanation for the three years without so much as a letter. Aoi is enraged and punches him, but he still lets Takahiko stay at his house in the meantime. Now as Takahiko seeks employment as a screen actor and Aoi tries to figure out his muddled feelings, will they be able to overcome the pain and trauma of the war? Really beautiful and bittersweet story that encapsulates the way war destroys lives, yet life moves on. Trigger warnings: wartime violence, racism.
Ginza Neon Paradise