One Year to Live, Buy a Man
Logline
An Unexpected Cinderella Story for Grown-Ups:
Yui Katakura is a 40-year-old single woman who's serious about saving money — she's written off romance and marriage as bad investments and shaped her life around that belief. But a free cancer screening delivers unexpected news: she has one year left to live. Instead of fear, what she feels is a strange sense of freedom — if she's going to die soon, she doesn't need to save anymore. That's when Sena, a pink-haired host with a complicated past, walks into her life and asks, out of nowhere, to borrow money. Yui's answer is just as unexpected: she'll "buy" him for ¥720,000. Her first-ever adventure in extravagance begins.
Based on the novel of the same name, which won the 28th Shima Kiyoshi Romance Literature Prize in 2021, the film stars Ko Shibasaki and Eiji Akaso in a powerhouse double lead. Director Hiroki Kazama (Silent, Cherry Magic! Thirty Years of Virginity Can Make You a Wizard?! The Movie) brings the novel's tender outlook on life to the screen, while the screenplay comes from Yoshikazu Okada (The 8-Year Engagement, Beyond Goodbye). Together, they approach the subject of mortality from a new angle, carefully building a charming, humor-filled world that invites audiences to reconsider the brilliance of life.
Yui Katakura is a 40-year-old single woman who's serious about saving money — she's written off romance and marriage as bad investments and shaped her life around that belief. But a free cancer screening delivers unexpected news: she has one year left to live. Instead of fear, what she feels is a strange sense of freedom — if she's going to die soon, she doesn't need to save anymore. That's when Sena, a pink-haired host with a complicated past, walks into her life and asks, out of nowhere, to borrow money. Yui's answer is just as unexpected: she'll "buy" him for ¥720,000. Her first-ever adventure in extravagance begins.
Based on the novel of the same name, which won the 28th Shima Kiyoshi Romance Literature Prize in 2021, the film stars Ko Shibasaki and Eiji Akaso in a powerhouse double lead. Director Hiroki Kazama (Silent, Cherry Magic! Thirty Years of Virginity Can Make You a Wizard?! The Movie) brings the novel's tender outlook on life to the screen, while the screenplay comes from Yoshikazu Okada (The 8-Year Engagement, Beyond Goodbye). Together, they approach the subject of mortality from a new angle, carefully building a charming, humor-filled world that invites audiences to reconsider the brilliance of life.
Synopsis
Yui Katakura (Ko Shibasaki), 40, is a single woman whose hobby is saving money. Diligently building a nest egg for retirement, her steady life is upended when a free cancer screening tells her she has only one year left to live. Amid the shock, a handsome pink-haired host named Yoshitaka Sena a.k.a. Ryuma (Eiji Akaso) suddenly appears before her, asking, "Could you lend me some money?" If she's going to die anyway, she no longer needs to save. Accepting his bold request, Yui "buys" Sena for ¥720,000. Their strange relationship takes an unexpected turn.
Film
Romance
Dramas
