“Youth 18x2: Journey to You” - A film with strong Japanese - Taiwanese cultural features

Just after 3 days of release,Youth 18x2: Journey to Youhas grossed more than 6 billion VND, becoming the Taiwanese film with the highest early screening revenue in Vietnam.

The movieYouth 18x2: Journey to YouInspired by a travel story called Youth 18x2 Japan Slow Train Wanderings, the story is about a guy named Jimmy (played by Hua Quang Han - a 36-year-old game programmer) who was fired from his company and decided to take a trip to Tainan, his hometown where he lived and grew up. Here he meets Ami (Kaya Kiyohara), a Japanese girl who went backpacking and accidentally lost her papers and is looking for a way to stay in Tainan for a while.

Is it just a love story?

Youth 18x2: Journey to Youtells the simple and innocent love story of the two main characters. Although there are no emotional climaxes and in fact this is simply the unrequited love of both for each other, the film has taken away the emotions of many viewers. 18-year-old Jimmy is bored with life and seems to have lost his way in life even when he has just passed the university entrance exam. Meanwhile, Ami is a tourist who accidentally falls into trouble and has to find a way to stay in Taiwan. They met in a karaoke bar where Jimmy worked and Ami applied to be a new employee.

The highlight of the film is that it does not exploit too much the interaction between the two main characters but focuses on other perspectives on landscapes, tourism or culture. This is what connects the story and gains the sympathy of the audience of Japan and Taiwan. The historical, cultural and social touches are done very skillfully so that people of both countries can feel it very quickly when watching the film.

Metaphors about history and culture of Japan and Taiwan

Jimmy is a guy who is crazy about playing games and reading and watching Japanese anime and manga. Jimmy is a fan of the famous Slam Dunk series - a famous manga series in the land of cherry blossoms. As for Ami, she is determined to choose Taiwan as her travel destination.

Projecting back to the old context, Japan once occupied Taiwan and this was the first colony of the people of the rising sun. It seems that every boy and girl like Jimmy was exposed to Japanese culture from an early age and was easily influenced by Japanese ideology, stories and people.

For Ami, her coming to work at the karaoke bar and bringing a breath of fresh air to the place is like the Japanese making a significant contribution to Taiwan in almost every aspect of life. She also said: "Southern boys are strangely gentle."

This quote serves as an explanation for the final scene of the film where Ami recounts that, of all the places she could have gone to, Tainan was one of the first places she went to and did not want to go anywhere else. This detail is a reference to the very long period of time that the Japanese army occupied Taiwan and considered it a premise to continue expanding its colonial territory.

Taiwanese culture gradually appears through the film when Jimmy takes Ami on a motorbike and goes to the night markets. Taiwan is peaceful, small and simple with delicious food, milk tea and hospitality. Meanwhile, Japanese culture is inherently scattered throughout the film with Jimmy's natural inclination towards Japan. He learns Japanese, watches movies, plays Japanese games and has a very Japanese style and appearance. Moreover, throughout the film, Japanese culture appears clearly with the melodious music of Mr. Children, the famous movie Love Letter...

Film "promoting" Japan - Taiwan tourism

Instead of focusing on close-up shots and closed settings,Youth 18x2: Journey to Youis a true “travel through the small screen” for the audience. The image of Tainan is beautiful, peaceful and quiet with the streets, yellow lights and the scene of the two main characters releasing lanterns into the sky is an image full of Taiwanese culture.

When Jimmy travels to Japan, director Fuji Michio lets the character ride a bullet train and pass through the cold, snow-covered lands. The snow-covered village and the wide-angle shots covering a large space make Japan more majestic and attractive than ever. Taiwan's summer appears warm and full of laughter, while Japan's winter is quiet and profound.

Youth 18x2: Journey to YouThe story ends with Jimmy's thoughts and regrets for Ami, as well as his farewell to his pure youth for Japanese culture and the memorable land of Tainan. And now that Jimmy has grown up, everything is just a memory. This implicitly alludes to the movement of time, the change of all things and the fragility of love.

Plus points of the movieYouth 18x2: Journey to Youlies in the subtle interweaving and metaphorical interweaving of culture as well as telling a gentle, pure love story. However, the minus point of the film also lies in this love story when the dialogue is considered stiff, clichéd and boring in many places. The acting of the two main actors is not too different but the interaction (chemistry) lacks the attraction for the audience to feel the feelings of both. The scenes and the film's color are also the bright spots that the film brings.

Youth 18x2: Journey to YouIt is both a pure romance and a subtle metaphor for youth and national culture. It encourages young people to live their youth to the fullest, to bravely take their own journey and complete their own personal journey to become more mature.

Phuong Thao is the Editor of Travellive Magazine. She is passionate about traveling and loves to capture moments with her camera in every land she visits. Travel, art, and lifestyle are her favorite writing topics.

Ha Chu