Beyond Goodbye

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Drama: Beyond Goodbye
Romaji: Sayonara no Tsuzuki
Japanese: さよならのつづき
Director: Hiroshi Kurosaki
Writer: Yoshikazu Okada
Network: Netflix
Episodes: 8
Release Date: November 14, 2024
Runtime:
Genre: Romance
Language: Japanese
Country: Japan

Plot Synopsis by AsianWiki Staff ©

Saeko Sugawara (Kasumi Arimura) is in a romantic relationship with Yusuke (Toma Ikuta). Her boyfriend proposes to her, but, on that same day, he gets into a car accident and dies. Saeko Sugawara falls into deep despair after his death. A few months later, she meets a man named Kazumasa Naruse (Kentaro Sakaguchi). Although unaware at the time, Kazumasa Naruse received a heart transplant from Yusuke and he feels something for Saeko Sugawara in his heart.

Cast

Kasumi Arimura - Saeko Sugawara
Kentaro Sakaguchi - Kazumasa Naruse
Toma Ikuta - Yusuke Nakamachi
Yuri Nakamura - Miki Naruse
Tomokazu Miura - Hiro
Eita Okuno - Kengo
Ayumi Ito - Midori
Issey Ogata - Shinoda
Yuki Saito - Yuriko Nakamachi
Kanji Furutachi - train conductor
Yoshiko Miyazaki - Hiroko

Trailers

Comments

Audrey Jan 02 2025 10:42 pm I thought the story was wonderful until the bear incident and then it kind of felt like the bottom fell out. I lost my best friend and partner this year suddenly; I did not know about this for a week and only found out from a post his sister made on Facebook. I was his medical proxy, and I never even got to see his body having lived that experience, especially seeing how bitter Miki is regarding her husband, even playing around with children long before she knew there was any other woman involved and seeing Kazu’s relationship with her being founded on her basically begging him to marry her just turned me off to that character entirely, especially after she starts to find out about Saeko - if you have been in this kind of situation, you would understand how being berated for at that point a non-sexual relationship is just cruel, at best. With all of that said, it seems like the story turns very fast after the bear, and it seemed so goofy in the context of this very captivating story based not on a true narrative, but true experiences. It almost feels like Saeko takes on the guilt which is twice as cruel, and I just found very little meaning after they meet in Hawaii and then Kazu dies all alone, weak in a wheelchair. I have to say if the person I miss the most did not lose his heart and some kind of situation like this followed, if I had found the person who had the heart and had these kinds of memories, I could not force myself to abandon it, knowing it was dying.

Novaheeland Dec 22 2024 6:10 pm Such a waste of time.

I watched this drama while recovering from a broken leg. As much as I liked the lead actor, I wish his character never had the transplant in the first place. Many times, as I was watching this drama, I felt it was unreasonable, selfish, and cruel, to the point that it didn't even make sense. The whole plot can be summarized in a sentence "The heart doesn't understand any reason", and boy was that heart capricious! Yuzuke ended up stirring more trouble dead than alive. He messed up the life of a sweet, quiet guy who had surrendered to death and instead threw him into an internal turmoil that was just cruel to begin with.

To make matters worse, Kuzu dies, leaving no consequences whatsoever. The female lead acted as if he were nonexistent. His death carried no meaning, with no one to mourn over his demise, including us - the public. It would have been better if he never had the transplant in the first place. At least then he would have died on his own terms, and would have been in peace with himself. Instead, the writer (who probably had a personal grudge against a good story) decided to make him live for a few more months just to kill him off quietly and stupidly in the woods. Come on, now. Please read this review and don't watch this trash. Definitely one of the worst dramas I´ve watched. Nothing can be rescued from this drama.

Shraddha Dec 18 2024 10:58 am Beyond Goodbye is an original Japanese drama series starring Kasumi Arimura and Kentaro Sakaguchi that tells the poignant story of a woman grappling with the loss of her fiancé in a tragic accident and the man whose life he saved. This emotional tale weaves a beautiful yet heartbreaking romance between two individuals brought together by fate. Their journey unfolds with a bittersweet “goodbye,” exploring themes of love, loss, and healing. Beyond Goodbye is available to stream on Netflix.

Nero Dec 13 2024 2:48 am A drama series with best forbidden love, warming and beautiful unusual about true love set in otaru hokkaido. Perfect

eeyao Nov 19 2024 10:39 pm (spoilers)

i thought the premise was intriguing. i don't shy away from affair stories really, i think good writing and acting/chemistry can make you root for bad people and that can be fun. but this story... doesn't meaningfully address the moral implications of the affair at all! at first it seems the story wants you to simply accept that Kazu is two people in one body, so Saeko trying to reconnect with her dead fiance's heart is totally not cheating (it is, of course, but the show conveniently forgets this every few minutes so Kazu and Saeko can bond over their love of coffee to a backdrop of pastel scenery and sappy music straight out of YA fiction).

and then, halfway through, Saeko is apparently confused and can't tell if she's in love with Kazu or Yusuke.

but.. how can she be in love with Kazu? what do we truly know about Kazu, or even Saeko, as personalities? the story fixates on tragic, lovely Yusuke from the start, and really, he's the only character you learn anything substantial about. by the time that Saeko is "confused" about her love for Kazu/Yusuke and they initiate a kiss scene, you feel disconnected and incredulous. what element of Kazu is Saeko in love with? they initially got interested in each other because Kazu played piano and liked coffee - but those were Yusuke's traits. Is it Kazu's willingness to sacrifice his whole life until now, and indeed the happiness of his wife Miki, for Saeko that makes him so attractive? such a catch, this guy.

Miki is the character you end up resonating with (the story should've been from her perspective!). Truly, she's in a complicated situation - nursing her husband who believes he's another man - and is rewarded only with abject selfishness. Kazu runs off frequently to see Saeko and rarely discusses it with his wife (sure, she doesn't want to hear about Yusuke, but... shouldn't he let her know he's meeting up with Yusuke's fiance instead of going to his job? we never see Kazu apologize to Miki).

In a pivotal scene (oddly the most emotional acting from Kentaro is with a side character), Kazu tells Kengo that he's in love with both his wife and Saeko. but how are we meant to believe that he's in love with his wife? We don't see the affection between them at all - just Miki caring for Kazu and Kazu accepting that love with a clinical nod. The show doesn't let the wife into the story honestly. She's there for a few angsty moments so you don't forget /the affair/, but you hardly get the conflicted "oh man, this guy is living a double life!" feeling while watching. Once Kazu is with Saeko, it's like a completely different TV show - a romance where a man awkwardly comforts a widow while they occasionally share loving grimaces. (In Japan, grimacing must mean you like each other.)

Overall, Kazu and Saeko don't seem to give a damn, most of the time, how odd their situation is; they just keep pressing on no matter how cruel that seems in theory. The story doesn't care either! Even Kengo goes along with this situation with mild objection. Are these people so polite they even hesitate to object to affairs?

The scene that should be the most climactic - Miki confronting Saeko - is a let down too. Saeko firmly denies doing anything inappropriate with Kazu and insists on seeing him again no matter what. Then, with ham-fisted irony, she and Kazu later make out.

I mean. I don't know. I guess she's in denial, but since it's hard to buy the affection between Saeko and Kazu as characters (not forced circumstances), Saeko just looks like an arse in all of this; both of them do. It doesn't matter how many times you bang out "I Want You Back" on the piano, the romance isn't believable, and the story just feels disjointed. I think the writer wants you to feel the moral ambiguity of this magical situation by not exercising much judgment, but this just makes the characters feel directionless, and the audience too. I truly cannot tell what I should think of Saeko and Kazu 90% of the time. Characters don't have to be likeable, but they should be comprehensible and interesting. These two are so dull that I'm certain tragedy struck their lives just to add a little spice.

TL;DR: There are a lot of metaphors about coffee if you like that, but I was painfully bored most of the time.

i've watched The Last 10 Years by this writer, and he seems to like tragic stories about heart conditions and long, lingering scenes. it's great to let a scene sink in and all, but the writing is not good enough for this. the lines are not evocative enough to let the camera linger awkwardly like a third wheel until the two characters share Jim Halpert grimaces trying to shoo the camera away.

Abandoned Miki Nov 19 2024 5:28 am yeah, I wish he never had a donor. thank you for showing us how it is to be grateful! after what she's done for his husband that was his gratitude...

I was actually glad when Saeko bumped her head to a post and I was waiting for the bear to eat her. karma it is!! hahahaha!

No to cheaters Nov 18 2024 1:00 pm Naahhh.. I don't like selfish characters... that's too much! I wish he never lived instead. Not for me~

heidi Nov 17 2024 11:11 am Hmmm how can I say. I love hokkaido its so lovely, kind of slow living places. as for the story line i think if only saeko and kazu set the border in the begining, the affair might not happen. i wonder why dont the stop to romantize yusuke’s memory in kazu’s? like if they want to talk about a proper goodbye sure they can. then i know it must be hard for miki to accept but shouldnt she hear her husband share about what he feels?

Jillibean Nov 17 2024 12:19 am Kate, then it's still the fault of the writer for not making it crystal clear that it was a flashback, and she still *did* hop into bed with him in the first episode, no ring, no confession of love, no request to marry, no marriage shown first, it's that kind of behavior that hurts women 9 times out of 10. I like that old rock song, "If You Like It Then You'd Better Put a Ring On It." Men never really respect what they get for free. Couldn't care less about this girl character after that and have no interest in continuing, not even for Kentaro. What Comes After Love was a million times better.

vivienne Nov 16 2024 9:47 am idk why are people so confused during the first ep, after her fiancé's passing it later shows the flash back on how she meet her fiancé, that includes the bed scene, like in the first 10 minutes we see him proposing to her in the bus, later the car crash. Then we see him appearing another time but this time as the piano man, this shows that it is the couple's flashback.

Maknae Nov 16 2024 4:18 am I really like the actors but why there’s a sudden “cheating” in the story!?

Kate Nov 16 2024 1:07 am @Jillibean , idk if you’re confused but she doesn’t immediately hook up with the piano man after her fiance dies?? That is literally her fiance …. It’s a backstory to how they met. Also the point of the story isn’t really focused on their relationship buildup. First of all, everyone grieves differently, in which she Does grieve him, it becomes such an important of the show. It’s a lot deeper than that. I hope you rewatched it because the show was amazing.

Dave Nov 15 2024 9:27 pm A drama series with a beautiful, touching and unusual story about true love, coffee and heart transplants, and set against the beautiful scenery of Hokkaido, Japan.

Jillibean Nov 15 2024 12:32 am The first ten minutes were beautiful but then it started to make no sense at all. She is barely shown grieving for the loss of her fiance and she immediately hooks up with this piano playing man at the airport who has no job and just follows her around and then there's a bed scene ... in the first 40 minutes??? Are you Kidding Me? There's no relationship build up at all. I stopped watching. The actor's drama What Comes After Love with Lee Se Young is a million times better than this pathetic rip off of 2003's Summer Scent Korean drama classic. Watch that instead if you've never seen it.

Nay Nov 14 2024 3:00 pm Just finished the first episode of this long awaited drama and I already cried because of their beautiful love story and its tragic end. Looking forward to continuing to watch how this story unfolds.

Laura Oct 22 2024 3:43 pm Waiting for this drama for months already. But it feels like eternity. Saw Kasumi Arimura in "Meet me after school" and Kentaro in "What comes after love". These two combined can be a power couple. Omg!! When will it get released!!

Dee Oct 15 2024 6:24 am Trailer looks good , can't wait 11 november Netflix Netherlands, him getting the heart of Saeko boyfriend what a twist of fate . Hopefully it's soon 11 november.

@sumarichan Sep 08 2024 12:37 pm It's Saeko x Naruse.

Saeko's BF is dead and Naruse gets his heart.

It's not a BL. Saeko is a woman. Read properly.

Sumarichan Sep 30 2023 6:04 am So later on Naruse will fall in love with Saeko BF ? It's basically BL then ? Yay if yes

Beyond Goodbye

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Plot Synopsis by AsianWiki Staff ©

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