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James Marsh

Lead cast: Kasumi Arimura, Kentaro Sakaguchi
The heart continues to yearn for its beloved even after death. At least, this is the notion put forward by Beyond Goodbye, a new Japanese drama series starring Kasumi Arimura and Kentaro Sakaguchi, who are reunited on screen after the 2017 film Narratage.
Beyond Goodbye premiered its first two episodes at the Busan International Film Festival ahead of the Netflix debut of all eight episodes next month.
The fantastical romance plays out against the idyllic yet contrasting backdrops of Hokkaido and Hawaii. In its opening moments, elation quickly turns to tragedy when Yusuke, played by Toma Ikuta, is killed in a bus crash moments after proposing to his girlfriend, Saeko, played by Arimura.


She is understandably distraught, but in the months that follow continues with her life as best she can.
It transpires that Yusuke had signed up to be an organ donor, and Saeko finds some solace in an anonymous letter of gratitude she receives from the recipient of his heart, who claims that their life has been saved thanks to the transplant.
A few months later, Saeko is sent to Hawaii by the coffee company for whom she works to check in with a supplier.
It was on a similar trip four years earlier that she met Yusuke, who was playing the piano at the airport. They enjoyed a passionate holiday romance which developed into a more serious relationship after they reconnected back in Japan.

As Saeko prepares to leave Hawaii and return home, she hears the airport piano echo around the terminal, and the melody is precisely the same as the one Yusuke wooed her with.
She races to the spot, but by the time she gets there the mysterious pianist has disappeared, and Saeko has no alternative but to return home, her questions unanswered.
The second episode takes us back to the hours following the fateful bus crash, which took place in the wintry climes of Hokkaido. Kazumasa, played by Sakaguchi, is a sickly young man in desperate need of a heart transplant.
Suddenly word arrives, via his girlfriend, Miki – played by Yuri Nakamura – that a donor has been found. Kazumasa undergoes transplant surgery and afterwards feels completely revitalised.
He returns to the university where he works in the library, and is excited to move forward with his life.

It does not take long before Kazumasa notices subtle changes in his habits. He now loves coffee, when previously he would never touch it. He experiences dreamlike visions of a young woman on a beach, which he cannot explain.
Miki decides to take him on a trip to Hawaii to recuperate and, upon arrival, he sees a piano at the airport and feels compelled to play it. Despite having no prior experience, Kazumasa plays beautifully. Miki is just as confused and astonished as he is.
As they walk away, Saeko arrives from the opposite side of the airport, just missing them.
The idea that a person’s soul can be transmitted from one host to another through the donation of body parts has been explored numerous times in the past.
The horror genre is particularly fond of this concept, as witnessed in everything from Frankenstein (1931) to the 2002 Hong Kong horror film The Eye, from the Pang Brothers.

The more romantic notion of a heart transplant that allows former lovers to reconnect after one has died has previously been witnessed in the David Duchovny/Minnie Driver romcom Return to Me (2000), as well as in the 2003 K-drama series Summer Scent, starring Son Ye-jin.
Based solely on its first two episodes, Beyond Goodbye is definitely following the more melodramatic, potentially tragic route, not least because Kazumasa is already in a serious loving relationship.
Arimura is in her element as Saeko, a victim of unspeakable heartbreak who is taking her first tentative steps back out into the world. If anyone is open to the fantastical possibility that their dead fiancé might live on in someone else, it is her.
Similarly, Sakaguchi displays a youthful exuberance having just been given a new lease of life; the skills and passions he has discovered do not seem to scare him, but rather, encourage him to explore them even further.

The climax of episode two sees the characters meet for the first time. Saeko gets the first inkling that Kazumasa might share more in common with her dearly departed lover than mere belief in the healing power of coffee.
As it stands, it is difficult to determine which way the series is going to tack.
Is Saeko about to destroy a happy relationship for her own romantic fulfilment? How far are director Hiroshi Kurosaki and writer Yoshikazu Okada willing to delve into ideas concerning reincarnation, sentient organs or the depths of true beauty?
At this stage one cannot help but suspect that love will conquer all in the end, but at what cost to those who exist in their orbit?
Beyond Goodbye will start streaming on Netflix on November 14.


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Netflix drama Beyond Goodbye: Kasumi Arimura, Kentaro Sakaguchi lead fantastical romance

Kasumi Arimura as Saeko in a still from Beyond Goodbye. Photo: Netflix

Kasumi Arimura as as Saeko (left) and Kentaro Sakaguchi as Kazumasa in a still from Netflix drama Beyond Goodbye. Photo: Netflix

Kasumi Arimura as Saeko (left) and Kentaro Sakaguchi as Kazumasa in a still from Beyond Goodbye. Photo: Netflix

Kentaro Sakaguchi as Kazumasa in a still from Beyond Goodbye. Photo: Netflix

Kasumi Arimura (left) as Saeko and Kentaro Sakaguchi as Kazumasa in a still from Beyond Goodbye. Photo: Netflix

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In Netflix Japanese drama, Kasumi Arimura plays the girlfriend of an organ donor and Kentaro Sakaguchi the recipient of his heart


In Netflix Japanese drama, Kasumi Arimura plays the girlfriend of an organ donor and Kentaro Sakaguchi the recipient of his heart.


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