| Parallel World Love Story | |
| Author: | Keigo Higashino |
| Language: | Japanese |
| Genre: | Novel |
| Publisher: | Chuokoron-Shinsha |
| Publisher2: | Kodansha |
| Pages: | 345 |
| Isbn: | 978-4120024009 |
| Website: | kodansha |
Parallel World Love Story is a novel by Keigo Higashino.[1]
The book was published in book form by Chuokoron-Shinsha in 1 February 1995, and in paperback by Kodansha in 13 March 1998.[1] This work is a best-selling novel with a total circulation of over 1.5 million copies.[2]
The novel was adapted into a film in May 2019.[3]
Takashi Tsuruga once had a woman whom he saw from the train and fell in love at first sight. One day, when he met his best friend Tomohiko, he was introduced to his girlfriend. That lover was Mayuko, the woman Takashi fell in love with at first sight. Takashi is intensely jealous of Tomohiko. One day, however, he realizes that Mayuko is his girlfriend. Takashi is torn between two world lines, wondering if it is a dream or reality.
| Parallel World Love Story | |
| Director: | Yoshitaka Mori |
| Screenplay: | Lion Hitosizuku |
| Cinematography: | Takahiro Haibara |
| Music: | Goro Yasukawa |
| Production Companies: | --> |
| Distributor: | Shochiku |
| Runtime: | 108min. |
| Language: | Japanese |
The movie Parallel World Love Story was released on 31 May, 2019, distributed by Shochiku. The leading role is Yuta Tamamori. The theme song is “A Life to be Jealous of” by Hikaru Utada.
This work was said to be difficult to visualize,[4] but according to director Yoshitaka Mori, he expressed two different worlds in which Takashi wanders into, each filmed in a different way. Mori also said that he created two separate scripts for each of the two films, and then combined them into a single film.[5]
During filming, Yuta Tamamori, the lead actor, was instructed by director Mori to play the role with the feeling of giving everything you have. Therefore, Tamamori poured all his energy into the role, saying, "I have no choice but to play the role with the will to die."[6] Mori also requested Tamamori that he face himself and look at himself again. So Tamamori looked back on his life from his upbringing to the present, itemized the differences between himself and Takashi, and said that he tried to create the role while thinking about the differences.[7] [8]
Shota Sometani, who played Tomohiko, said that he played the role with the importance of his love for Takashi as his best friend above all. Tomohiko and Takashi are best friends, but there are many scenes in the film where the two clash. Sometani and Tamamori even discussed the theme of "what is a best friend" before filming.[9]
Riho Yoshioka, who played Mayuko, said that since the film was based on a work that was said to be difficult to visualize, the script was difficult to follow, and that is why the director was so strict and she played the role with the feeling of fighting with the director every time.[10]
According to the June 3, 2019 Movie Audience Ranking (according to Kogyo Tsushinsha), this film ranked fourth with approximately 112,000 visitors and 143 million yen in box office revenue over the two days of Saturday and Sunday (June 1 and 2, 2019).[11]
Takashi Tsuruga graduated at the top of his graduate school class and joined Vitec, a company that conducts cutting-edge research. While conducting research with Tomohiko Miwa, his best friend since junior high school, he and Mayuko Tsuno, a junior colleague, became lovers.[12] However, one day he woke up to find that Mayuko was Tomohiko's girlfriend. Tomohiko was in love with a woman whom Takashi felt in love with at first sight on the train.[13] As he woke up in different world lines, Takashi became confused as to which world is the real one.