“37 Seconds” (Review)- The story of an unstoppable woman chasing her dreams! A true inspiration.

“37 seconds” is the latest Japanese film directed by Hikari. It’s Hiraki‘s first project as a director. She also penned the script and served as the producers alongside Shin Yamaguchi. Katsuhiro Tsuchiya, Daisuke Sumitomo, and Ryuji Yamagat executive produced the film. “37 Seconds” made its debut at the Berlin International Film Festival in 2019. Knockonwood Hikari Films produced the movie while Films Boutique and Netflix distributed “37 Seconds.” The film has won Panorama Audience Award and CICAE Art Cinema Award at the 69th Berlinale. 

“37 Seconds” Release Date

“37 Seconds” premiered on 9 February 2019 in Berlin and worldwide on 7 February 2020 on Netflix.

“37 Seconds” Cast

The main characters of the film include:

• Mei Kayama (Who is also a victim of Cerebral Palsy in her real life) plays Yuma Takada, the series’s protagonist. 
• Misuzu Kanno plays Kyoko Takada, Yuma‘s mother.
• Minori Hagiwara plays Sayaka, Yuma‘s childhood friend. 
• Makiko Watanabe plays Mai, Yuma‘s true friend.
• Shunsuke Daito plays Toshiya, Mai‘s driver. 

“37 Seconds” Plot

The plot revolves around Yuma, a woman who is a victim of (CP) Cerebral Palsy. Yuma is short and appears like a teen girl, but she is a 23-year-old woman. She is not like the other women as she almost spent her whole life in a wheelchair due to her disorder. Though she never lost hope, she believed in her dreams, which moved her forward. Yuma is an ambitious girl. She is determined to become a manga artist despite the borders drawn by her family and society. 

Yuma‘s father left their family after her birth, which made her mother sympathetic towards her daughter. She changes Yuma‘s clothes, picks her from the chair, baths her, etc. does things even if unnecessary. Moving on, we see Yuma doing things by herself, not just depending upon her mother for every small thing. Yuma works as a writer for her friend, 

She heads towards her dream and applies for a manga artist’s post. Receiving her application, the editor asked her to appear at the office. On meeting the editor, Yuma gets ridiculed for her virgin life and gets advised to explore herself and come up with realistic drawings. Yuma takes this positively and heads towards the Tokyo redlight area to explore her personal life. Soon after, she comes across a new friend, Mai, at the elevator. Mai is someone who understood Yuma genuinely without any judgment. She helps Yuma in exploring her real life. Mai drives Yuma alongside her driver Toshiya to the bar; they get drunk, go shopping, and have fun together. She also helps Yuma in portraying her drawings and lead her towards her dream. In the end, Yuma‘s mother felt happy for her daughter and let Yuma live her beautiful life. 

Watch the official trailer below-