(Jmovie Review) Brave Father Online

Original Title: Final Fantasy XVI: Hikari no Otousan (劇場版 ファイナルファンタジーXIV 光のお父さん) 

Other titles: Dad of Light, Father of Light

Director: Noguchi Teruo

Genre: Family, Game

Release date: June 21, 2019

Casts :
Kentaro Sakaguchi as Akio Iwamoto
Yoshida Kotaro as Akira Iwamoto
Maika Yamamoto as Miki Iwamoto

I just found out a movie about Final Fantasy. Well, I never played the game in my life. All I know about Final Fantasy is an original soundtrack by a Japanese musician, Nobuo Uematsu. I really love the tracks there. Some tracks even brought to tears with the lyric and the music. Then suddenly I found this movie on one of the groups I joined in Facebook. Kentaro Sakaguchi caught my attention 😊☺. Without thinking twice, I decided to watch the movie.

The story revolves around father and son, Akira and Akio who have been awkward to each other. They used to be close though when Akio was child. They did play the game, Final Fantasy, years ago. But the father's busy days pulled them apart. After all the years, Akio is now a salaryman, getting used to by himself. His father who has been away for business suddenly decides to resign.

taken from mydramalist.com 

Not knowing what his father's sudden decision, Akio observes his father. In the morning, he looks quiet, shows no interests in new days, has gloomy mood. Akio decides to bring his father to their old game, Final Fantasy. The game, now has much better graphic, seems to get his attention. Akio decides to see his father's improvement in game from a far. Above all, Akio decides to try to communicate with his father through the game.

Akira and Akio when they were younger (photo taken from mydramalist.com) 

Akira is officially a part of Final Fantasy in a world called Aorzea with Indy Jones as his hero name. He looks both nervous and excited when he got a friend request from someone named Maidy. Never has he known that Maidy is his son's character. They get along very well, something both of them are supposed to be. Beating one deadly enemy to another seems to be Akira's obsession. He forgets that he has a secret to tell his family, secret that made him resign from his work.

Do you have a distant relationship with your father? (photo taken from mydramalist.com) 

The main conflict seems to be every day's problem : father getting busy, having no time to be home, son getting to enjoy himself, getting further away from his father. Fortunately, this movie has this kind of slice of life drama that warms the audience's heart. Akira gets better in expressing himself, talks more and more importantly, he gets his problems poured down in the world he just knew, world called Aorzea.

Aoki, just like other salarymen, has some pressure in his office, presentation, winning contract from clients, etc, and he managed to get advice from his father (during chit chat in the game)--something he never imagined. Having a chat with his father, even via game, seems to be more than enough for Akio.

Drama version released in 2017 (taken from mydramalist.com) 

I just knew that this movie has a drama version released in 2017 with Ren Osugi and Yudai Chiba as father and son. It was based on a true story taken from a blog entitled Gekikakusatsu SS Nikki. Someone called Mighty uploaded the post that might be his personal experience. I can say that his personal life suits to Japanese Drama story. 😅😅😅

Movie trailer 

After watching the movie, I thought I could try to watch the drama. But since the movie has the same main plot, I don't think I should. Moreover, the first reason I watch the movie is the cast, Kentaro Sakaguchi ☺. I like him better. Sorry for Chiba's fans. As my personal experience, I also had the same problem with Akio. When my father was alive, I was not too close to him. He was busy working, and didn't talk much. I even asked my mom to talk to him when I needed something, like school stuff. The one thing we had in common was watching action movie by Harrison Ford, Jacky Chan, and Cindy Rothrock. I enjoyed the time when my brother rented some videos and then three of us watched together, screamed together during the thrilling scenes. Oh, how I missed the moments 😢😢😢 now that my father and brother have been to heaven. That's why this movie really warms my heart, reminds me of great time I spent with my two loved ones.

So, if you want to have family time watching movie together, I recommend you this movie. If you don't have really good terms with your father, you can invite him to watch this movie, too, especially if you don't have any media to make you two get close to each other.

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