Desert of Namibia 2025

Kana, a 21-year-old beauty-salon employee with partial Chinese heritage, drifts through a quiet, busy Tokyo day as she reconnects with a longtime friend, Ichika, at a café. Ichika reveals that Chiaki, a former classmate, recently took his own life for reasons that remain unclear, and the weight of that news lingers as she recalls a missed video call the day before. Kana is largely unmoved by the tragedy, yet Ichika’s visible distress nudges her toward a night out, and the two share drinks at a bar before parting ways. On the street, Kana runs into Hayashi, her lover, and the two spend the evening wrapped in each other’s company, while Kana also shares her home with Honda, her other lover.

The next day, after work, Kana and Honda reenact a tense conversation in which Honda’s boss asks him to visit hostess bars for business, a suggestion he rejects even at the risk of losing his job. The moment is interrupted by a call from Hayashi, and Kana fabricates a story that it was Ichika who called, so she can slip away to meet him. They fall into a charged, nocturnal reunion, and Hayashi urges Kana to end things with Honda, a plea she seems ready to entertain. The encounter marks a calm before a storm of doubt as their complicated lives interweave more tightly.

One night, Honda confesses that he had walked into a hostess bar—but he clarifies that he wasn’t aroused or stirred by it. Kana’s reaction is a bitter mix of skepticism and detachment, a small moment that hints at the deeper fissures within her world of affection and jealousy.

A while later, with Honda away on a business trip, Kana moves in with Hayashi. While sorting through his things, she discovers a prenatal ultrasound photo, an image that unsettles her. At a social gathering, Hayashi introduces her to Kanako, a woman he has not seen in years, and the evening’s pace quickens as he delays eating to work on a project. Frustrated, Kana storms out in a tantrum and later falls down a flight of stairs, suffering a serious injury. Hayashi nurses her back to health, and she slowly returns to work. En route home, Honda unexpectedly confronts her about what happened; she accepts a ride but then bolts, and Honda’s pursuit ends with him collapsing, an odd moment that Kana cannot quite interpret.

Back at home, Kana discovers Hayashi drafting a screenplay about a jobless man who raises an abandoned baby. When she asks if he is seeking atonement, he seems unsure, and she shows him the ultrasound photo to press the issue. Hayashi claims the details are fuzzy and that he forgot the specifics, particularly about the baby’s mother. Frustrated and hurt, Kana demands that he call the woman to apologize for traumatizing her; when he refuses, she erupts in anger, accusing him of harming the child. The confrontation ends with Hayashi escaping the apartment and a distant memory of a neighbor reciting English words as Kana leans against the wall.

As time passes, Kana reveals that she was fired for advising a customer to pursue medical treatment over cosmetic care and dislikes the world’s heavy reliance on digital literacy. She becomes determined to relinquish control and hints that Hayashi, as an artist, should create something meaningful, though she withholds specifics. Hayashi leaves, and Kana returns to an assertive but volatile stance, escalating to another assault.

Seeking clarity, Kana arranges a video consultation with a male physician who suspects bipolar disorder or borderline personality disorder and refers her to a cheaper clinic. At the clinic, a female physician listens as Kana explains that her father was a pedophile who abused her, yet she still believes in honoring him with forgiveness. The doctor encourages her to voice her true feelings when she is alone, acknowledging how difficult it is to reconcile private emotions with public beliefs. That night, Kana steps onto her balcony for air and shares a fleeting, wordless glance with a neighbor who is also learning English.

Returning home, Kana and Hayashi encounter the neighbor again in the building’s elevator, and Kana cryptically suggests that the neighbor knows all about them. Back inside, the two fight once more over unspoken grievances. Kana later watches footage of their quarrels on her phone while running in a warehouse-like space, a bleak reflection of her spiraling mood. She returns to the female physician for further counsel, confessing that she feels lost and adrift.

One night, while sheltering in a forested area, the neighbor finds Kana. Around a campfire, the two share drinks and exchange perspectives on the ultrasound photo, while the neighbor’s talk about misleadingly named animals offers a quirky, calming contrast to Kana’s turmoil. The pair move from conversation to playful, carefree dancing around the fire, a rare moment of lightness in a life otherwise mired in tension.

The days press on with more disagreements between Kana and Hayashi, but the pair eventually sit down to eat a meal with a video call in progress with Kana’s Chinese relatives. Kana’s limited Chinese comprehension and the absence of her mother at the table create an awkward moment, especially as she repeats a phrase to indicate she does not understand. When Hayashi asks her to translate the phrase into Japanese, she complies; then, without warning, he repeats the phrase himself. The moment dissolves into a shared, tender smile as Kana finally looks up toward him with a small, hopeful spark.

Throughout these weeks, the couple’s fragile bond is tested by memory, fear, and longing. Yet in quiet, intimate exchanges—the campfire’s glow, a soft laugh after a linguistic mishap, and a lingering, almost affectionate look between them—there remains a fragile glimmer of connection that hints at something worth holding onto, even as life continues to push them toward uncertainty.