The Tokyo Night Sky Is Always the Densest Shade of Blue (Japanese: 夜空はいつでも最高密度の青色だ, Hepburn: Yozora wa itsu demo saikō mitsudo no aoiro da)[1] is a 2017 Japanese romantic drama[2] film directed by Yuya Ishii.[3] It is based on a book of poetry of the same name written by Tahi Saihate and published in 2016.[4][5]
The Tokyo Night Sky Is Always the Densest Shade of Blue follows the relationship between two young adults, half-blind construction worker Shinji[2] and nurse-cum-bartender Mika.[3]
Reviewing the film after its showing at the Berlin Film Festival, The Hollywood Reporter's Deborah Young called The Tokyo Night Sky... "an earnest, at times poetic, drama about teen alienation".[3] Writing for the South China Morning Post, James Marsh said the film "sets itself apart from more commercial romantic fare", but observed that "the narrative seems reluctant to bring its protagonists company".[2]
Mark Schilling, reviewing the film for The Japan Times, found that the movie's "realism... and [its] poetic love story, with coincidence piled on incredible coincidence, make for an ungainly fit", also noting that "the dialogue, much of which seems to have been lifted from Saihate's work, often sounds like nothing anyone would actually say".[4]
