In the winter anime season, I watched Journal with Witch, or perhaps better known by its Japanese title – Ikoku Nikki. Although I’ve never read the original work (I will eventually, I assure you), I thoroughly enjoyed what the anime had to offer. So much so that I found myself curious about the live-action adaptation that was released in Japan in 2024. This one seems to have picked up the title Worlds Apart in English, but I’m not exactly sure how, given there hasn’t been an official English release yet. For the sake of ease and what readers are likely to be used to, I’ll stick with Ikoku Nikki going forwards.

Based on the manga series by Tomoko Yamashita, the film tells the story of Asa Takumi, who is faced with the death of her parents at just 15 years old. In fact, this tragedy happens right in front of her when her parents’ car is hit by a truck. Now without her parents, Asa needs someone to look after her, and that ends up resulting in her aunt Makio Kodai taking her in. However, Makio had a strained relationship with Asa’s mother, and she’s a novelist who lives her life peacefully and largely secluded from society. Welcoming someone into her home, a grieving teenager no less, is no easy feat.

This is a story about grief, growing up, and learning to adjust to a world that isn’t everything you expect it to be. And it’s a story of two halves. Asa is looking for answers about how she’s supposed to live in a world without her parents, without her mother’s somewhat stifling opinions. She’s gained a lot of freedom from living with Makio, but it’s not what she wanted and not always what’s best for her. Makio, meanwhile, acts nothing like what Asa imagines an adult should, which serves as a learning opportunity for her as she becomes increasingly aware that there’s no one-size-fits-all when it comes to adulthood, or indeed people in general.

The film largely follows the same beats as the anime did, both of which end in largely the same place with Asa’s singing performance. The runtime of the film comes in at 2 hours 15ish, which is more than enough to do justice to the main subject matter. The real loss is most of the side character stories, which are briefly touched upon in the case of Emiri and Kasamachi. Ultimately, sacrifices have to be made, and I wasn’t dissatisfied with what we did see since it felt like just enough without being really obviously cut down.

The other thing that’s cut back is Makio’s trauma related to her sister. We still get glimpses of it, but compared to the anime, I feel there’s much more of a focus on Asa’s grief and feelings towards her mother than Makio’s. But that works out in its own way, since I’d say for Makio a lot of time is spent on showing her getting used to living with another person. Adjusting her lifestyle or not as needed. When the anime aired, there was a lot of speculation that Makio is neurodivergent, and I think the signs of that are also relatively toned down for the film (if she is or not, I don’t know, and I don’t particularly care to speculate. Makio is Makio). That’s not to say she’s a different character because she’s not. She’s disorganised (I loved the cluttered set they built for her apartment, very lived in but a total disaster zone too) and finds it difficult to be what people expect her to be. Since Kasamachi is still in the film, we see that through her relationship with him as well as through her interactions with Asa.

Obviously, having seen the anime, my impressions are coloured by that. As another entry in the franchise, I enjoyed what this offered, but I think it stands alone quite well too. Being based on a sizeable manga series, newcomers will certainly be able to tell there’s content that hasn’t made it in and is yet to be explored, but what is here still makes for an excellent story of its own. Having not read the manga, I’m not sure if there’s original content; there are bits here and there that are different to what I saw in the anime but not hugely so; it could just be different directional choices in how they’re depicted.

It’s not just the story and directing that are solid though; there’s some excellent acting here too. We’ve got Yui Aragaki as Makio and Ikoi Hayase playing Asa, both of whom act their socks off. Hayase is the weaker of the two, not always able to match Aragaki’s absolutely terrific take on Makio. Aragaki was exactly what I expected of Makio in reality, and perhaps that’s what made this so engrossing for me. Even during some of the more mundane moments, I found myself unable to look away. Although I will say not all the casting is perfect. Kasamachi is played by Koji Seto, who by no means acts poorly but looks too young for the mature older man his character is supposed to be. He’s just a bit too babyfaced, which I suppose wouldn’t bother me if I didn’t already know what his character looks like in the anime/manga.

I am someone who always very much enjoys experiencing stories in different adaptations. And so I enjoyed this film a lot simply on this basis, but as I alluded to above, I didn’t expect to be so glued to the screen. Especially when the anime only finished last week and I remember the story beats so well presently. But I do also believe in this one’s ability to stand on its own even if you don’t have my level of familiarity, so I hope at some point a wider Western audience will be able to watch it and not have to rely on watching it in Japanese with no subs like I did.

©2024 TomokoYamashita,SHODENSHA Publishing Co.,Ltd.／ “Worlds Apart” Film Partners