Beyond Goodbye is a Netflix original drama consist of 8 episode. Just like the title, it tells the story of a woman (Saeko) who lives her life after the death of her fiancée (Yuusuke), then encounter another man (Kazumasa) who was the receiver of Yuusuke’s heart transplant.
I had a good first impression. Good cinematic, sad flashback story, good setting (Hokkaido), and good acting. Then it turned out weird as hell halfway through the ending. Spoiler alert but mostly rant.
You see, Kazumasa is a married man. He loves his wife (Miki) and wears his ring everywhere. Miki always been in love with Kazumasa and accepted him despite his health condition. A platonic relationship between a man and a woman is a good thing. But throughout the first half of the story, both Kazumasa and Saeko acted like Miki’s feeling didn’t mattered. When Miki confronted Saeko, she got angry at how “Miki says she understand how Saeko feels despite she won’t understand the feeling of losing a lover” and insisted on not stopping at seeing Kazumasa. Miki then feels hopeless because it is true that Kazumasa and Saeko aren’t in adultery. This is where I had a hope for the story. I want Kazumasa and Saeko bonding platonically, and Saeko to bond with Miki like sisters.
Things got worse when Saeko and Kazumasa started to cross a line. There, we have a surprise adultery. It stopped when Saeko sees the after-surgery scar on Kazumasa’s body—she remembered that Kazumasa isn’t Yuusuke. This is where she decided to stop seeing Kazumasa and moved to Hawaii.
When I think things can’t get worse, they had to hit with another death flag. I have seen a lot of Japanese movies where either the woman or the man dead. Japanese loves to romanticizing a death lover traits. Despite having a new heart, apparently Kazumasa still needs to die. Then he died lol. Then the wife and the lover of the dead man bonding. End.
Remember kids it’s never good to glorify cheating.