Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy

2h 1m
- Drama
- Romance

Release Date: Dec 17, 2021

An unexpected love triangle, a failed seduction trap and an encounter that results from a misunderstanding, told in three movements to depict three female characters and trace the trajectories between their choices and regrets.

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Director & Top Cast

Ryûsuke Hamaguchi
Director

Kotone Furukawa
Meiko (segment "Magic (or Something Less Assuring)")

Ayumu Nakajima
Kazuaki (segment "Magic (or Something Less Assuring)")

Hyunri
Tsugumi (segment "Magic (or Something Less Assuring)")

Kiyohiko Shibukawa
Segawa (segment "Door Wide Open")

Katsuki Mori
Nao (segment "Door Wide Open")

Shôma Kai

Sasaki (segment "Door Wide Open")

Fusako Urabe

Moka (segment "Once Again")

Aoba Kawai

Nana (segment "Once Again")

Technical Specifications

Aspect Ratio: 1.85 : 1

Other Details

Country of Origin: Japan

Language: Japanese

Summaries

Plot Summary

Episode 1: "Magic (or Something Less Assuring)" During a taxi ride back from a photo shoot, model Meiko hears about her best friend Tsugumi's new love interest. After Tsugumi is dropped off, Meiko takes the taxi back to an office, where she confronts her ex-boyfriend, Kazuaki, who she gathered is the same person Tsugumi was talking about. She relates things Tsugumi told her, including that Kazuaki could not get over his ex-girlfriend. After arguing, he hugs her, and Meiko runs away.While Meiko and Tsugumi are at a cafe, they see Kazuaki outside and Tsugumi beckons him inside, insisting that Meiko stay to give her opinion on him. Meiko immediately demands that Kazuaki choose between them, resulting in Tsugumi running away and Kazuaki chasing after her, but this is quickly revealed to be a fantasy. Instead, Meiko excuses herself, and Kazuaki plans to take Tsugumi someplace after the cafe.Episode 2: "Door Wide Open" A professor's class is interrupted by a student loudly begging and prostrating himself before another professor, asking him not to fail him, as it would derail his future as a news anchor. The professor, French instructor Segawa, only responds unsympathetically. The student, Sasaki, is later at his apartment with his friend-with-benefits, married mother Nao, and learns from the news that Segawa has won the prestigious Akutagawa Prize for a novel he has written. Sasaki coerces Nao into seducing the professor in order to create a scandal.Nao enters the professor's office, introducing herself as his former student, closing the door behind her, but the professor insists that it stay open. She gets his autograph and requests if she can ask him questions about the novel. She reads aloud an erotic passage about a character getting his testicles sucked and ejaculating. The two have a heart-to-heart conversation. Nao reveals that she was recording the professor the entire time, and he requests that she send him the audio. She agrees but only after making a request that he "touch himself" while listening to the recording of her voice, and he verbally agrees to do this. Once home, Nao accidentally sends the email to "Sagawa" at the university, having miss typed the name.The misspelling of a single letter in the name directs the recording to another person at the university who is an administrator. Segawa's reputation is ruined when the audio file becomes public, and Nao's husband divorces her. Years later, Nao runs into an estranged Sasaki on the bus. She is working as a proofreader, and him, an editor, with both leading separate lives. Sasaki does not show any remorse for ruining Segawa, and Nao grows annoyed by his talking. She appears to experience some remorse in recalling the 'recording' affair and its outcome. Sasaki mentions that he is getting married. As Nao reaches her stop, she gives Sasaki her business card and kisses him as she steps off the bus.Episode 3: "Once Again" In 2019, a virus resulted in computers inadvertently divulging their data, resulting in everyone reverting to using telegrams and the postal service. Natsuko attends her all-girls high school reunion, finding that she does not fit in nor remember her classmates' names. Later at the train station, she recognizes a classmate she was close with and is invited to her home. The two reminisce, and Natsuko asks her if she is truly happy. Realizing that Natsuko is about to let heavy feelings off her chest, the classmate admits that she has forgotten Natsuko's name. The two learn that they've mistaken each other for former classmates, not even having attended the same school.An embarrassed Natsuko tries to make excuses and depart but is convinced to stay. Natsuko reveals that the person she mistook the lady, Aya, for was her first love and that the two of them broke up in college. Aya offers to role-play as her ex-girlfriend from 20 years ago, helping Natsuko to vent her many unresolved feelings for her old college friend. As they eventually return to the train station, Natsuko learns that Aya mistook her for a classmate she used to play the piano with, and Natsuko role-plays as her in turn. The role-playing now helps Aya to resolve past feelings which she had not been able to previously resolve. As they eventually part, Aya changes her mind and runs back to catch up with Natsuko before she gets on her train back to Tokyo. She tells her that she has finally remembered her old classmate's first name which had eluded her for the last several hours. The two hug each other recognizing that they have each been able to at least partially resolve past issues which they had previously thought had passed as unresolved with the passage of time.

Storyline

An unexpected love triangle, a failed seduction trap, and an encounter that results from a misunderstanding are the three episodes, told in three movements to depict three female characters and trace the trajectories between their choices and regrets. — yusufpiskin