#EIEN NO KINO (ETERNAL YESTERDAY)

[ginpotts]

@userdramas event 12: loss ↳ eien no kinou (eternal yesterday)

no one remembers him as a living corpse. i cried so much, i felt like i was turning into a puddle of tears. in the end, my sadness never went away... and it probably never will.

[wanderlust-in-my-soul]

Koichi. It's okay. I will never forget you. Until the day I die, I will never forget you. Koichi is my number one. I love you the most.

[connorjesup]

Hey, were you two together all day yesterday? Yeah. Did you two do something special? S-Special? Special? Of course, we wouldn’t do something like that. Right, Micchan?               [We did. You can tell from how flustered Koichi got. It’s true that we did something special.]

EIEN NO KINO (2022) | EP 04

[kolaicendionysos]

God, im not your strongest soldier.

[xnoel]

i'm thankful that i understand enough japanese to know that they said 愛してる (aishiteru) to each other in the screenshots above, instead of the usual 大好き (daisuki) (though it also made me cry even harder while watching the finale)

(link to the article)

[scarefox]

So you are telling me the outro clip was Mitsuru camping 5 years later all along?? And idk... imagining Koichi by his side????

--

[waitmyturtles]

Eternal Yesterday. Before I dive into a meditation on memory, let me get a couple words down regarding a memory about memories.

I’ve written before that I’m pretty sure the first piece of Japanese art I ever consumed was Yoshimoto Banana’s novel, “Kitchen.” But also memorably, in college, I watched Koreeda Hirokazu’s film, “After Life.”

“After Life” is about a group of counselors who exist in purgatory. Their job is to meet the souls of those who have recently passed away, and interview them about the memory they want to re-live in their afterlives. Many of them choose memories related to their children or spouses, or moments in time that gave them beautiful feelings, such as snuggling against their parents when they were small children themselves. Over time, it’s revealed that the counselors are living in this purgatory because they themselves haven’t chosen a memory to live with. The story particularly focuses on two counselors who come to terms with their decisions, and how it changes them.

I’m reflecting on this movie because when I watched it, so long ago in college (me, old), it was one of the first pieces of art from Asia in which I saw that a quiet tone and even pace to delivering a message via content was incredibly vital to accurately conveying that message. In this case, the tone and pace of the movie was necessary to indicate that choosing this everlasting memory was a very important decision, indeed — it would be the very last decision these souls would make.

And I think there was something similar happening here in Eternal Yesterday.

The wonderful @bengiyo’s review of the show made me realize that while I was slightly confused and bemused by the magical realism play of Koichi not being quite dead throughout the series, that there was a very deep and real point to the concept that Koichi was a living corpse. I think that point relates, at least for me, to the reflection that I’m having on “After Life.”

It’s not clear if, in the universe of Eternal Yesterday, if people outside the circle of Mitsuru’s life who pass away can also experience a moment of living death; in other words, I’m not clear if this is a common occurrence in the world of this show outside their characters. Nevertheless, I’m only going to focus on Mitsuru for a second:

The fact that this phenomenon happened to two very close people in his life makes me think that the concept was designed here as a means for helping Mitsuru to begin the process of mourning. I think it was designed as a means for preparing Mitsuru to begin the process of letting go -- by leaving him with a slew of gorgeous memories, with the people he loved, as a means of him living out the love he has for them for the rest of his ontological life. 

I am twisted with angst, beautiful and saddened angst, at the thought of this concept. It is unbelievably COMPASSIONATE to me that there would be a concept that the way for someone living, to let go of someone who has passed, with a moment in a kind of purgatory that allows two people to create their final memories together, intentionally -- I mean. How much more humane and empathic can art get?

I was drawn to this show by the intense reviews of the series finale by @gillianthecat and @lelephantsnail, two people with amazing taste in shows, and when I saw how much Eternal Yesterday moved you two, I had to eat this show up, and I totally get why. For me, I’m totally wrapped up in the intensity that BOTH MITSURU AND KOICHI got to have their final moments together, knowingly, INTENTIONALLY. It’s gut-wrenching.

And there’s one more point that’s really getting to me -- it’s something related to why I really need to learn Japanese in my older age. 

Earlier in the series, during the campsite confession scene, I thought that (at least on Viki, I don’t know about other translations), the English translation of the word ichiban to “my number one” was a little inaccurate. I thought it was incredibly cute that the the guys called each other their ichiban, but I thought that “number one” as a translation was a little reductive in the context of a confession.

Ichiban, to me, meant something more like “superlative” in that moment. I think (I think!) it was meant to indicate something like, “I like you the very best of all,” rather than the guys saying to each other that they were each other’s “number ones.”

I’m harping on this because I was totally, utterly wasted and gutted by Mitsuru’s final words in the last episode -- when he said about Koichi, ichiban aishiteru.

I’m a real sucker for aishiteru in doramas, especially BLs. I was wrecked when Adachi used it to describe his love for Kurosawa to Kurosawa’s parents in the Cherry Magic movie earlier this year. 

It’s because I think it’s really necessary that this word is used more in Japanese BLs, because of how it indicates the very heavy and deep love that one partner has for another. For me, the usage of the word is a very welcome BL trope (I remember it being used memorably in Life: Love on the Line, when Akira uses it with Yuki when they meet again in Alaska). 

Aishiteru indicates the only love, the permanent love, the absolute love of a lifetime that exists between two people. It blows away the everyday English “love” by way of intensity and permanence. (I think it belongs in BLs so that audiences can see that aishiteru can exist in same-sex couplings -- it’s not limited to cishet pairings.)

What twisted me about ichiban aishiteru is that it indicated that Mitsuru was going to be OKAY with this reality for his lifetime -- that Koichi was going to be his superlative and permanent love for the rest of Mitsuru’s lived life. Mitsuru wouldn’t say such a heavy thing if it weren’t true. It was SO BEAUTIFUL to me that he used this phrase. I’m so messed up by it because of how concretely and resolutely Mitsuru said it. 

@bengiyo wrote in their review that this show is “poignant queer cinema,” and I could not agree more. Eternal Yesterday was DEEPLY satisfying and moving. And, I think, necessary in the library of BLs, to demonstrate depth of love between two characters that could not stop or help themselves to love each other. 

(THANKS @gillianthecat and @lelephantsnail, for the encouragement! Fantastic recommendation.)

[bengiyo]

“Eternal Yesterday” and the Need for Sad Boy Hours

I have more things to say about where queer narratives about unpleasant aspects of growing up and our pasts fit into our current media landscape. For now, I want to talk about why I love Eternal Yesterday even though it kills a queer in the first episode and then trots his corpse around for seven more episodes.

I’ve enjoyed seeing the commentary from @gillianthecat, @squeakygeeky and @waitmyturtles (and others. I’m so sorry if I forgot you.)

To get a sense of where I’m coming from, I’m going to transcribe the first voice note I sent immediately after the show ending (with some minor redactions to maintain the anonymity of others):

“Hello, friends. I think Eternal Yesterday is going to be part of the list of BLs from this year that I will be forever talking about. I decided to rate it a 10, but it isn’t a 10 in the triumphant sense, because it’s a show about grief. One of them is dead, and the story is about continuing to live your life even if the love of your life is not there. And, I am deeply saddened by what we’re left with this show, but no BL has really forced me to reckon with some of the grief of my adolescence and losing someone I cared about; and losing other friendships along the way, too. Like, I lost a boy I loved to transphobia, and I think, honestly, that that’s okay. 

“I think a lot of people are going to rate this show poorly for a lot of different reasons. They’re going to rate it poorly for its sad themes. They’re going to rate it poorly because they didn’t use magic to revive Koichi at the end. They’re going to rate it poorly because it was Japanese in terms of how they handled the kissing, though I think it was adequate for this show: particularly for Japan. But I loved this. 

“I loved this not in the way that feels like a warm blanket or makes you feel all happy and gay about yourself. I loved this...in the way someone sitting with you quietly after a funeral in your house, when you’ve made all the food and they’ve put everything away, and you’re just sitting there and you’re weeping. You don’t necessarily want to be held, but they wait there and let you do what you need to do. I think there’s beauty in that.

“I think that queer cinema gets a bad rep sometimes for how sad some of it can be, but some of us are sad. Some of us suffered. Some of us did not have a great time being gay; and even if we grew up and loved things, some of us have been through a lot of pain. [My best friend] has buried far more people than you can even fathom to AIDS, and I think that we can’t just have one or the other. We can just have sad shows; we just can’t have overly fluffed out shows. 

“I think it’s good for the genre to give people the emotional space to explore grief and meditate on it and process how they’re feeling. And I think it’s okay if that’s not for everyone, and I think that’s maybe going to be one of the things I talk about this year. This is the year BL bifurcated, and not every show was for every fan. I think that ended up being really okay, and I am glad that I stared into my own grief with this show. 

“I’m glad I didn’t feel sadness and just run away from it, and pretend that I can’t ever be that. Because I am, more often than I admit sometimes. I get really sad and really lonely. I’ve buried a lot of family members in recent years, and I really struggle to make queer friends and build meaningful long-term [local] queer friendships other than [My Bestie]. Sometimes that feels very lonely, and it’s why I gravitate to BL, I think, because I can imagine a different experience. 

“So, I will say that Eternal Yesterday was really lovely and really poignant, and I’m going to talk about this show more I think as we wrap of this year. If any of you took the time to [read] this, thank you. 

I remember talking in the chat about how this show brought me back to my love for Canadian poet Shane Koyczan. He has a poem about the death of a good friend that came rushing back to me while watching Eternal Yesterday. A kind user has transcribed the poem here.

I don’t think Eternal Yesterday is going to be for everyone, but what I loved so much about the show was that it never pretended to be anything other than it was, unlike Make Our Days Count or something like Bite Me. We’ve had quite a few BLs using the supernatural this year to discuss grief, but this is the only I think focused on the grief exclusively. Others complicated the grief with the romance, rather than focusing on the romance as the source of the grief. 

I’m in my 30s now. No matter how much love and care we receive and pour into our lives and relationships, we will all face challenges and losses. I am personally thankful that a show tackled a topic as heavy as this with grace and compassion (see @waitmyturtles post). Their perspective on the gentleness of being given a grace period to say goodbye to someone you love as a mystical element in world is beautiful.  

This show ends with Mitsuru taking their trip again in honor of Koichi, but he reveals to us that he did go on to train as a doctor and has been in school for five years. His dad and the other doctor are now seeing each other properly at the conclusion of her divorce. One of their friends remembers Koichi and continues to honor him. The teacher sent him a picture of Koichi and Mitsuru together. This to me implies a hope that someday Mitsuru may heal enough to love again, but he’s not alone. He didn’t also die with Koichi. The love he shared for Koichi pushed him to accept his calling and reframe the relationship with his father. 

For me, this show is a highlight of the year, and an example of what Japan does best: taking things seriously. It doesn’t need to soften the painful elements, because it can be gentle everywhere else. I’m a deeply melancholy person, and so it’s why I often am able to appreciate Japanese and French cinema. There’s something about the way those cultures storytelling traditions handle morbid and dour concepts that always works for me. 

I know Eternal Yesterday hurt for many of you in ways you weren’t ready for, but I hope this and other’s wonderful posts help you to find some peace with your feelings. Thank you all for joining me on this ride.

[save-the-data]

eien no kino | s01e08

Japanese Drama - 2022, 8 episodes 97/100 Drama Completed in 2022

EP:- 1 : 2 : 3 : 4 : 5 : 6 : 7 : 8

Official GagaOOLala link with English subtitles

[duckflyfly]

It's nice to be invisible sometimes.

[alcairsei]

it's all SO sad. koichi putting on a brave face for mitsuru even when he starts to become invisible to people, only to finally break down and say he can't do it anymore. mitsuru knowing that it's coming, but wanting to postpone it for as long as possible, but when koichi admits his feelings he comforts him and says it's okay. it's okay i still love you the most you'll always be my number one. i know i can't keep you here but i want you to know i love you so much. mitsuru being koichi's miracle, the one person who loved him more than anyone, a love that kept him alive for a week past his death just to give them more time together. koichi's body was found and mitsuru cried so much that his whole body turned into tears. there's so much love and so much pain and love and pain and love and koichi is still mitsuru's number one, five years later, more time than they even had together

[ginpotts]

@userdramas event 08: heat [ insp 1 | 2 | 3 ] ↳ an assortment of ❤️‍🔥 jbl moments (✿◠‿◠)

fumiya & ritsu -- jack o' frost (2023) koichi & mitsuru -- eien no kino (2022) hira & kiyoi -- utsukushii kare (2021) togawa & nozue -- old fashioned cupcake (2022)

[sowarumnicht]

I love you the most

[connorjesup]

Actually, you're special to me. You're special to me too. In fact, you're my number one. I like you more than anyone else. That's why it crossed my mind. I wanted to be your number one too. Even though I know that's impossible. I couldn't help it. You are. You're my number one, Koichi.

EIEN NO KINO (2022) | EP 03

[bl-bam-beyond]

A LOOK BACK at Koichi & Mitchan (Yamada Koichi & Oumi Mitsuru

EIEN NO KINO (2022, JAPAN) ETERNAL YESTERDAY

A BL with a different premise. Two high school boys become fascinated by one another almost instantly unable to avoid one another's stares.

One of these times the popular Koichi (The Fantastic KOMIYA RIO) approaches Mitsuru (INOUE SORA) asking him for friendship. Slightly cold in the beginning Mitchan agree to eat lunch with Koichi in complete silence.

Eventually they begin talking and become close. Koichi becoming very protective of Mitchan. While walking in the rain Koichi is hit by a truck and killed. Or is he? He gets up as if nothing happened (except the neck and leg thing)

Koichi is not alive exactly...he's a living corpse unable to leave his beloved Mitchan. At least not right away. Love continues to blossom for an alive human and a living corpse.

But it's just a matter of time before Koichi has to leave his precious Mitchan.

@pose4photoml @lutawolf

[snoobins]

"i wanted to be your number one too."

"you are."

my number one @0reblogufufu0, happy birthday! ♡