Haru on AllMovie

Yoshimitsu Morita, who made his name with the savage social satire Family Game, goes for decidedly sweeter fare with this You Got Mail style romantic comedy. Haru Masaaki Uchino is a salesman based in Tokyo who consoles himself with an on-line chat group after blowing out his knee playing American football. He soon develops a rapport with a male member of his group named Hoshi who is unusually sympathetic about Haru's tempestuous relationship with his girlfriend. Hoshi (Eri Fukatsu), a department store clerk living in northern Morioka, is really a she. Soon she reveals her true sexual identity to Haru and their friendship blooms. Still reeling from the death of a lover and shrinking from the advances of an overzealous suitor, she assumed another gender to avoid further harassment. Haru tells Hoshi all about his new relationship with a young firebrand named Rose. Meanwhile, Hoshi tells Haru about the executive who proffered a curious proposal -- to marriage based on platonic love, without the illusion of romance or passion. Of course, as their correspondence grows more and more heated, they start feel like they are more than chatroom chums. Will Hoshi and Haru's friendship develop into anything further?