Thanks to Japan’s record-breaking temperatures and humidity, going outside currently feels like showering with your clothes on. There are some upsides to it, though, like having a great excuse to stay home and veg out with a streaming service of your choice. If that choice includes Netflix, here are some recommended shows and movies you can binge throughout July.
Drawing Closer Life is all about perspective. Being told you only have one year left to live because of a tumor may sound bad, but it’s twice as good as being told you’ll be dead in six months. Unless, of course, two people with both diagnoses fall in love with each other, which, unfortunately, does happen in this new movie from director Takahiro Miki.
While the setup sounds like a parody of Japanese tearjerkers, Drawing Closer is saved by its protagonists — portrayed by Ren Nagase and Natsuki Deguchi — being artists. Some of the best art in existence translates pain and sorrow into something beautiful, which works on two levels here with Nagase’s character channeling the sweet tragedy of his doomed relationship into art while the movie itself transforms a bunch of cliches into a touching celebration of life. My Love Story!! Originally released in 2015 and only arriving on Netflix this month, My Love Story!! is a very surprising tale about masculinity of all things.
On the surface, the film does focus on the romance between the hulking high schooler Takeo Goda (Ryohei Suzuki) and the demure Rinko Yamato (.
