Hatsukoi (2006)

Misuzu, a high school student whose biological mother left home and who grew up in the care of relatives, was a lonely girl. Even after she was nearly attacked by a man and questioned by the police, she refused to let them contact her family. Shaken and emotionally unstable, she stopped by the place written on a matchbook her long-estranged brother, Ryo, had given her: Jazz Café B in Shinjuku. Yuka led her inside. Six young people were there, including her brother. As Misuzu stood frozen, they tried to find out who she was, calling it an “interview.” When Kishi treated her like a child and coldly brushed her off, Misuzu retorted, “I don’t want to grow up.” That one remark earned her a “pass,” and she began hanging around B regularly, without revealing that she and Ryo were siblings. Ryo had relationships with numerous women and lived off them. Yuka was active as an actress in a theater troupe, but was troubled by her family and her relationship with Ryo. Tetsu and Yasu beat up small-time thugs and extorted money from them, spending their time on drugs. Takeshi aspired to be a novelist, while Kishi, a university student, was regarded by the group as a “boring guy” because of his detached manner. Kishi rescued Misuzu when she was about to be taken into custody by the police. The members of B were caught up in a demonstration in Shinjuku and injured when police officers beat them. Kishi, who had been harboring anger toward authority, introduced Misuzu to Kashiwada, a motorcycle shop owner, and had him teach her to ride. He then told her about a plan he had been working on. Because Kishi told her he needed her help, she agreed to take part. Then, on December 10, 1968, Misuzu, disguised as a motorcycle police officer, succeeded in stealing 300 million yen despite running into trouble. The perpetrator became a hero to the public. Misuzu told Kishi how she felt: “I don’t want to be alone anymore.” But Kishi’s politician father suppressed the matter of the crime statement Kishi had sent, together with the stolen cash, as part of the plan, and Kishi disappeared. Misuzu lived alone in the apartment Kishi had introduced her to, waiting for the day she could see him again while he remained in hiding. Ryo was beaten to death, and only after his death did Misuzu learn of her brother’s concern for her. She left the hospital without being able to identify herself to the mother who had rushed there. One day, Misuzu found a note from Kishi on a page of a poetry collection he had left in the apartment. It said that Kishi had fallen in love with her on the day they first met at B, and Misuzu read it and broke down in tears. As time passed, Misuzu walked alone through the streets of Shinjuku. Many of the people from B died young, and Kishi remained missing. Not a single bill from the stolen 300 million yen was ever spent, and the statute of limitations expired.