Spice Yori Ai wo Komete. (2023)

With the spread of NARS virus throughout the world, and with the rumor that spices could be effective against the virus, curry became a precious commodity. One day, Yamamoto Ren, a senior high school student who's very fond of his mother's curry, meets Tanme Riku by a riverbed, with cardamom scent coming from her. Together with their friends, they unravel the mystery behind the spices shortage and the rumor that spices could be a source of a miracle cure against the virus.

Ahhhhhh, so excited to finally release this one!! When I first watched the trailer of this movie, I knew I had to sub it. It's been many months since I started working on it, but now it's finally done. The cast of this movie is just chef's kiss. How many of my faves are in this movie? Probably like five at least. My projects are always connected in some way or another anyway. Nakagawa Tsubasa and Kayashima Mizuki are always such a pleasure to sub, whatever role they have, they'll shine. Honestly, I'm really impressed with this movie. It looks absolutely stunning and it's so underrated. I always sub projects with good music and this one is no exception. Considering that this movie was shot during COVID-19 outbreak, it's produced very well. Even though some people may find the plot a bit nonsensical, I really enjoyed it.

The official title that was given to this movie for a festival is "From spice with Love." I don't know who gave this movie this title, but It's quite literal, and it should be plural at least. Just one spice? If you browse online, you'll find lots of manga and movie titles having "XX Yori Ai wo Komete", and they are usually translated as "From XX with Love", but in my mind, there are multiple abstract interpretations to the title. I probably went through like ten versions of this line before finally settling on the literal translation since I won't get hate for that (sigh). Feel free to let me know your thoughts about the ending line in the comments and I'll reply with my thoughts.

The movie is set in Kanazawa, Ishikawa Prefecture. Why, you might ask? Because Kanazawa curry is a major hit. There are many curry restaurant chains (Go!Go!Curry, Turban Curry, Champion Curry, etc.) in the city, and you can find a lot of the iconic curry products within the movie itself. Kanazawa curry is quite different from usual Japanese curry. It has a very rich and thick consistency with almost chocolate-like color. It's usually served on stainless steel plates and eaten with a fork or spoon. It's served with rice, shredded cabbage and cutlets (usually crispy pork). This all dates back to a Western-style chef Tanaka Yoshikazu, the founder of the Champion Curry chain. The Kanazawa curry has a long history and as of now, it's been roughly 65 years since the founding of Curry Champion.

I haven't gotten to this part with Dousoukai yet, but if you're wondering why they used Man’yōshū, it's because it's one of the earliest records of homosexuality in literature. Man’yōshū (literally Collection of Ten Thousand Leaves) is one of the first and longest Japanese poetry anthologies compiled sometime in the 7th century. It's believed to contain multiple wakas (poem type) expressing homosexual love (especially between Ōtomo no Yakamochi - one of the main compilers of this collection, and Ōtomo no Ikenushi - another poet).

Note: Earsubbed as usual, so there may be errors. There are soooo many tricky lines as usual.

Subbed trailer:

Main cast:

  • Nakagawa Tsubasa as Yamamoto Ren 
  • Kayashima Mizuki as Tanme Riku (notice how her name sounds like turmeric)
  • Tanaka Naoki as Yamamoto Naoya
  • Tanaka Misato as Yamamoto Kaori
  • Fukuyama Shoudai as Tanme Shinji
  • Hagiwara Masato as Tanme Youichi
  • Yokoyama Megumi as Tanme Miho
  • Hayase Ai as Katsuragi Sara
  • Sakamaki Arisa as Tachibana Miu
  • Fujieda Yoshiki as baseball team captain (Takagi-senpai)
  • Katou Masaya as Minister Yamagami Teruyoshi
  • Nishiyama Mayuko as Yamagami's secretary
  • Miura Tom as hairdresser

Direction: Segi Naoki

Screenplay: Unknown, the screenwriter chose to have their name not published

Music: Takayama Hidetake

Theme Song: Atarayo - Bokura wa Sore wo Ai to Yonda (We called it love)

If you enjoyed watching the movie, feel free to leave a comment down below. It'll help me stay motivated (lately there have been only like two people commenting). I'm always happy if people watch my projects, but I'd love to hear your thoughts on them, too! It takes a tremendous amount of effort to sub most of my projects, so it's not nice to get zero input. Either way, if you're reading this, I hope your heart is touched by what I sub and my projects stay with you for a long time.

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