10 Promises to My Dog – A Sweet Japanese Movie That Has Mass Appeal

Ask ten people who have or had dogs as their companions and you may hear ten unique, at times breathtaking stories.  Without giving out any spoilers, “10 Promises to My Dog” is not one of those typical Hollywood films that involve a dog that saves the world.  There is no adventure of that sort.  Instead, it’s a story of a young 14 years old girl Akari, her parents, her childhood friend, and a dog named Socks.  A simple story that emphasizes on the little events in life that bond companions, difficult choices and sacrifices people make in the name of ‘family’ (and in this case, Socks included of course).  The story is then being fast forwarded to 10 years later when Akari grows older, reunited with her childhood friend, and something in life do change, some don’t.

Within this rather depressing storyline, the magic of the casting (again, Socks included) turns the entire mood of the movie around, like a fireplace in a cold winter night.  The 14 years old young and sweet actress Mayuko Fukuda (福田麻由子) is certainly one of my favorites.  Such a sweet personality and smile she has that matches so well with the puppy (a Golden Retriever?).  It is such a joy to watch the younger version of Akari.  The amazing thing is that the actress who plays the older Akari, Lena Tanaka (田中麗奈), is just as sweet.  If I am to pick one tiny detail to critic, I would say that while the casting of the 28 years old Lena Tanaka is still believable, having the 34 years old actor Ryo Kase to play the supposed to be 24 years old childhood friend of Akari is a bit far off.  My friend TK and I thought that Ryo Kase is selected because he is a professional guitar player in real life as demanded by the plot.  After some research at home, he is actually one of the actors who played in Clint Eastwood’s “Letter from Iwo Jima”.

Anyway, details.

Besides the dog and the girl (or girls counting the young and older ones), I also enjoy watching the acting of Akari’s father – so loving, so sincere.  I would suppose the ten promises Akari has made to the puppy are a good reminder to those who already have pets as their companions as well as those who consider keeping one.  There have been rather sad stories of owners abandoning their pets after realizing that there is a certain responsibility in keeping a companion.  And I personally think that some of these promises are good reminders on how we shall treat our own family and friends too.  If I could take home one theme, that would be the so-called obligations or sacrifices made however restrictive and confining at times don’t necessary make my world smaller but instead, make me a real person (as in not living in my own world I guess).

In the end of the movie when the theme song sang by BoA was played, Cynthia’s eyes were swollen with tears.  I asked when she has started crying and she told me that since the puppy appeared on the screen.  Oh dear, how can one cry for more than an hour in this 117 minutes movie?

Below is a movie trailer without subtitles.