Three strangers, one tiny apartment, and soup that heals what therapy can't touch.
Sakai plays Rui, a 35-year-old single woman forced to live alone after the aunt who raised her suddenly decides to get married and move out. Through an unexpected set of circumstances, she winds up becoming roommates with an aging ladies’ man named Tony and a timid younger man named Kosuke.
Acting
Tatsuya Fuji's wily charm hides decades of regret.
Writing
Conversations that stumble like real people, not screenplay robots.
Production
The apartment feels lived-in, cluttered, and achingly specific.
Director
Tomoyuki Takimoto
Maki Sakai
Rui
Takahiro Nishijima
Kosuke
Tatsuya Fuji
Tony Tanaka
Mariko Kaga
Toba-chan
Sawa Suzuki
Nanako
Sei Hiraizumi
Gou Inoue
Masato Hagiwara
Doctor Mizutani
Ryosei Tayama
shop owner
Kimiko Yo
Yasuko Tanaka
Sansei Shiomi
library director
Reiko Kusamura
Mrs. Katsuragi
Kyūsaku Shimada
Editor Kuraki
Daikichi Sugawara
Professor Ishibashi
Tōru Shinagawa
bus dispatcher
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Tatsuya Fuji was 74 during filming; this was his first leading role in a romantic comedy after decades of dramatic work. Director Takimoto wrote the part specifically after seeing him at a film festival.
The apartment set was built with functioning plumbing so the soup scenes could be shot with real food—most of it cooked by Maki Sakai between takes, which explains why her eating looks genuinely hungry.
JP
