How To Become Myself

Based on a novel by 30-year-old Kaori Mado, How To Become Myself, tells the tale of two girls faced with that typical adolescent choice, fit in or be cast out. Juri portrays the role of the ideal daughter at home and in school, but all she really wants is for her parents to stop fighting. Deep down, she admires her popular primary school classmate Kanako. However, Kanako suddenly becomes the class outcast. Years later in high school and still craving popularity, Kanako begins receiving mysterious emails about a popular girl named Hina. Inspired, she adopts this fake persona. But what happens when the emails stop? At first glance, this seems like another seishun eiga or youth drama. But Jun Ichikawa transcends the clichés associated with this popular film genre and focuses on how two girls struggle to define their individual identities in modern Japanese society.