SPRD-476 - Tabiji: Mother and Child - Reika Saijo

The opening drama is quite good. The mother's expressionless face—seeing right through her son who talks big about chasing dreams while ignoring reality, yet pretending to support him while biting her tongue—is incredibly realistic. After letting her true feelings slip while drunk, telling him to give up, she gets raped by her enraged son. It's cute how she resists but eventually starts to feel pleasure as her intoxicated body is taken by him. She's not a stunning beauty or a model, but the way she experiences sex deep inside is worth watching. Dragging her into the ryokan hallway, stripping her yukata, and continuing to violate her as if venting his frustrations—all while she silently accepts it. As she endures the humiliation, the son's obsession finally breaks. The ending tries to be a bit too clean, which feels off, but I suspect they cast her in a role that required no facial expressions, allowed her to just lie there, and didn't require much dialogue to compensate for her lack of acting skills. Between the production team's ability to cover the actress's weaknesses and her natural sensitivity, it turned out to be a pretty solid film. A perfect example of how you can make things work if you cover the flaws well.

This actress is one of my favorites because of her mature, curvy figure, so I don't think the work itself is bad. That said, she hasn't had a 'best' performance yet, so I'm still waiting for that. If she's not your type, you'd probably rate this much more harshly.

It's rare to see a work where the first and second halves are so distinctly different. The first half is the son's delusion, so the screen is covered in a hazy filter. They focused too much on the direction, leading to boring scenes. The son is short-tempered and defensive, which is really annoying. Then, it changes completely; the second half is clear and sharp. The actress's performance isn't bad either. I think only the second half is worth watching.