Koizora (恋空ー切ナイ恋物語)

Koizora - A Sad Love Story

Plot Summary

     Originally a 2005 published tragic teen romance, Koizora has gained popularity in its 2007 film portrayal (starring Haruma Miura), its 2007 manga remake, and its 2008 drama rendition. In their freshman year of high school, a timid and innocent Mika loses her cellphone and later finds it in the library with the help of an anonymous phonecall from a classmate, Hiro, a shameless delinquent. Over the summer, they continue to communicate and eventually meet in real life. The story starts off conventional enough, with what seems like the beginning of a typical teen romance, but as time goes on, Mika becomes pregnant, but loses the baby after Hiro's ex-girlfriend, Saki, pays someone to push her down a flight of stairs. Saki later faces violent atonement from Hiro's intimidating older sister. Entering their second year of high school, Hiro distances himself from Mika for reasons unknown, and they eventually break up. After having gone their separate ways for a while, Mika is confronted by Hiro's best friend when visiting the grave of her unborn child on the anniversary of her death. His friend, Nozomu, tearfully explains to Mika that Hiro is terminally ill with cancer with only three months left to live, hence why he decided to break up with Mika before they got too close. The young couple gets back together, with Mika taking academic leave to help Hiro's family take care of him. He appears to be recovering until he unexpectedly dies during a check-up, after sending Mika out of the room with the task of developing pictures they had taken together the past year.

After breaking up, Mika finds Hiro visiting the grave of their unborn daughter

Koizora as a Melodrama

     Very little information can be found about the author of the novel, who goes by the name Mika. For that reason, the purpose of the film, and some details of the story retain a feeling of ambiguity. Koizora is an example of the way in which a melodrama's plot emotion evokes strong emotions and takes precendence over the detailed charactization or realism of scenes. Because of the nature of the trials they endure, Mika and Hiro aren't perceived as typical freshmen/sophomores in high school. Aside from the timid bashful personality of Mika and the brash and reckless behavior of Hiro, the two respond to their pregnancy, miscarriage, and tragedy as mature adults would, arguably even better.

Mika and Hiro (with a more sophisticated, less-delinquent look) tell Mika's parents about her pregnancy;
He later reverts to his old look when trying to distance himself from Mika.

     Like other melodramas we've studied, the Koizora centers in on a small group of people, in an extremely prvate setting. Rather than trying to make an argument or persuade the viewer of something, the only thing trying to be conveyed is the challenges of an intense love between a young, fictional couple. Koizora is an interesting melodramatic examination of family and social issues in an intimate, coming-of-age context.