The super basic idea is, if you knew you'd die in 24 hours what would you do. That's a great idea to explore. Unfortunately the movie is just not that well made or written. It feels like a college project.

In the movie the government has a system where they inject some kind of capsule into all kids when they're like 5yrs old. One out of 1000 of those kids will die sometime between the age of 18 to 24. They'll get told of this 24hrs before the time of death.

This system is supposed to get people to appreciate life, try harder, knowing they could die at any time and the effects of the people around them.

First off, people die everyday of all ages already so this system seems like it would have zero effect except maybe cause a rebellion, ha. In other words it was a bad premise for an interesting idea.

Next up, the acting is pretty bad. Note, I live in Japan so maybe if you've got less experience with Japanese you can't tell when it's stilted and poorly done?

And finally the writing is pretty silly and melodramatic.

In any case, it's still interesting to see what people do and to think about what you'd do yourself. Would you just hug your loved ones? Have a fancy dinner? Help someone in need in your last moments? What? So if nothing else that's one reason to watch.

This movie reminds me of George Orwell's "1984".

Set in a dystopian society where the government imposes a deadly "Prosperity Law", where 1 in 1000 random citizens aged 18~24 will die from a mandatory lottery nano-capsule injection that would explode on a preset date and time. The idea behind this law is that the citizens will supposedly appreciate life more by having a constant fear that he/she may be the unlucky one, thus lives life to the fullest. This is a simple solution to the low birth rate and high suicide rate problem in Japan. Like "1984", there is also 'Thought Crime', where anyone against the law gets "treated appropriately", possibly a brainwash procedure that suppresses any opposition. There is a whole 'hush-hush' attitude towards the whole thing, and it's just something that has to happen that can't be questioned.

What I liked about the movie is that although the setting is absurd, everything makes sense under assumption that such law existed. The "sacrificed" receives the "Ikigami", or "Death Letter" 24-hours in advance of predicted time of death. The soon will-be deceased have government-backed privileges such as free food, travel, and entertainment during the last 24-hours and the family will receive a large lump-sum as a compensation. However, such 'inheritance' will be forfeited if he/she commits crimes for retribution after the notice.

Enter our protagonist, who starts working for the government agency that handles the "Prosperity Law" and sends out death notifications. Supposedly a 'prestigious and honorable' job. The movie is about 3 notification he sends out, and follows how the notified spend the last 24 hours of their lives. As you would expect, our protagonist starts having second thoughts about the whole law, and how it should be handled...

The director and producers of this movie are amazing. I seriously cried twice, because the story was told in such a touching way, and the mood changed dramatically in the key moments. I guess it can be said that it was a deliberate tear-jerker, but it worked on me. Music, though scarce, was utilized very well, and intensified the drama.

The cast for this movie was a pleasant surprise. I was very skeptic of this film at the start, because the leading actor Matsuda Shouta is like a magnet for fangirls. In TV doramas such as "Hana yori Dango", "LIAR GAME", and the movie "Waruboro", he didn't really seem to have perfected those characters he played, but he seemed very natural in this role and performed fabulously. The actors who received "Ikigami" and their friends/family... that was really something. It was totally loaded with big-name actors I like, and they all played their parts very convincingly. Yamada Takayuki and Narumi Riko didn't even appear until later half of the movie, I was completely taken off-guard.

This is another movie that makes you think about life, but it wasn't cheesy at all. Not only did it focus on those directly affected by the law, it also showed its effect on friends and family, and how people really did live to their fullest in their last moments. Acting, direction, cast, music, story... everything was flawless in every way. One of the best movies of the year.

I felt they hinted a possible sequel in the end, but I hope there wouldn't be one, because this movie is already perfect.

The movie takes place either in an immediate future, or in an alternate present in Japan. The government arrives to a strange conclusion that in order to make people appreciate life and be "more productive", a few random young people must be sacrificed. And so it is implemented: all kids are injected a vaccine which, for every thousandth recipient, contains a lethal capsule which is set to explode on a certain day when the subject is between 18 and 22. One day before the day of the death, the soon-to-die person receives an "ikigami", a death notice, delivered by a special government agency, and is free to do as he wishes, travel, eat, or whatever comes naturally. Oh yes, and as soon as the procedure is implemented, the nation becomes prosperous, the suicide rates go down, and the productivity goes up. This is called "National Prosperity Law".

This story is told from the perspective of one of the "messengers of death". We get to look into the last days of a street musician who is on his way to fame, a suicidal son of a famous politician (who supports the concept of the Prosperity Law),and a small-time crook trying to help his blind sister cure her blindness by donating his own corneas after his death. The messenger, despite the directive, goes out of his way to make the last days of the dying people more meaningful.

Aside from the absurd main assumption, this is a very good movie. Too touchy-feely and clichéd at times, it does ask important questions and shows how people face the inevitable. The cast is very good, although it is difficult to judge for a Westerner. But the themes are universal, therefore it is quite understandable.