AllMovie

A courtroom sketch artists takes in the parade of sensationalist trials at work while simultaneously contending with a tragic loss at home in director Ryosuke Hashiguchi's affecting portrait of human fragility. Taciturn Kanao (Lily Franky) has recently wed his high school sweetheart Shoko (Tae Kimura), and with a child on the way he knows that he'll soon need a better source of income than his modest shoe repair shop draws. When Kanao's friend offers him a job as a courtroom sketch artist, he readily accepts knowing that it will provide him a better opportunity to express his creativity while also allowing him to start saving for the future. Meanwhile, in the courtroom, the trials of the day spring to vivid life on Kanao's sketch-pad. Kanao's hopes for the future soon begin to fade, however, when his infant daughter dies and Shoko sinks into a paralyzing depression.