‘Worlds Apart’: A Chronicle of Two Unlikely Cohabitants

Depiction of ‘Worlds Apart’ in Film: Insights from a Popular Manga

The movie ‘Worlds Apart’ is based on the manga of the same name, which began serialization in the manga magazine “Feel Young” in 2017 and garnered many manga awards, including fourth place in the “Manga Grand Prize 2019” and fourth place in the “Onna” section of Takarajima Publishing’s “This Manga is Amazing! The story centers on a junior high school student, Asa, whose parents suddenly died in an accident, and her aunt, Makio, a girl novelist, who has taken her in. The film beautifully depicts the delicate conflicts that people living in today’s society are faced with.

In the manga, the emotional descriptions of the characters interspersed with monologues add depth to the work itself, and the author Tomoko Yamashita’s attitude of delicately and sincerely dealing with human emotions and society can be felt. However, the film does not include voice-overs that could be substituted for monologues, and succeeds in depicting the subtleties of emotions almost exclusively through human interaction.

In an official interview, director Natsuki Seta said that she had to write the script before the manga was completed, and “by depicting life in the present tense, like a sketch, I aimed to gradually reveal the feelings and relationships in various forms. This film vividly depicts the relationships between Asa and Makio, as well as their own emotional transitions.

Deepening Bonds Through Mutual Respect for Individuality

After the funeral of his parents, Asa (Ikoi Hayase) moves in with Makio (Aragaki Yui), whom she has almost never met before. Makio, who is not good at tidying up, lives in a messy house and withdraws to her room when she concentrates on writing, is an “adult not bound by roles” whom Asa has never come into contact with before, and the two begin to explore and live together.

Asa and Makio grow closer to each other when Daigo (Kaho), Makio’s friend since junior high school, comes over to their house to make dumplings with them, but in the film, Asa lashes out at Makio twice.

The first time is when they visit an apartment to sort out the belongings of a deceased family member. When Makio takes Asa in, he tells her that he truly dislikes her mother, Misato (Yuko Nakamura), as if half declaring that he wants her to like him.

The second time is when the existence of the diary that Jisato was going to give to Asa, which Makio had not been able to confide in her, is unintentionally revealed.

While Asa was honestly angry at Makio, Makio expressed his own thoughts, which were somewhat less than comforting, giving the impression that the two were somewhat at odds even for an argument. The two do not resolve anything through their discussion, and before long, the tension dissolves and they return to their normal routines.

Asa and Makio are different people and therefore have a falling out, but in the end, they do not change each other and are mysteriously able to start living together again.