This Japanese show hails from writer Okada Yoshikazu and director Kurosaki Hiroshi, and all 8 episodes are now streaming on Netflix.
Opening Shot: On a bus through a snowy town, a young man surprises his girlfriend by slipping that he’s going to propose at their destination. Before he can get on one knee, she says yes. But their bliss doesn’t last long—the bus they’re riding in suddenly crashes and it’s unclear if both of them survived.
The Gist: Shortly after an endearing proposal, a newly engaged couple are in a fatal car accident with only the woman Saeko surviving. Her deceased fiance Yusuke was an organ donor and his heart is transplanted to another man, though it’s not revealed to whom it goes. Beyond Goodbye flashes back to the origins of Yusuke and Saeko’s relationship, stemming from a mutual love of coffee. In the present day, Saeko comes across a man who mimics Yusuke’s mannerisms—he’s the heart recipient who has also received his memories during the transplant.
What Shows Will It Remind You Of? Heart transplants lending to a new outlook (literally) on life are not a new concept for J-dramas: Takahashi from the Bike Shop weaved a similar story. And who can think about the mixture of heart transplants and doomed romance without thinking of the 1993 Christian Slater classic Untamed Heart?
Our Take: At the core of Beyond Goodbye is what makes a person feel real to you? Is it their looks? Their personality? Just their general essence? If the person you fell in love with was essentially transplanted into another body, how easily could you fall in love with the new figure?
The fantastical elements of this series—in which the man who received Saeko’s dead fiance’s heart also received his memories and feelings—are the stuff of good fiction, and prompt interesting questions of its viewers. The execution doesn’t feel over the top or exaggerated; in fact, it’s presented much like the magical realism of a beloved film like 13 Going on 30 is.
The pilot spends most of its time building up the backstory between Saeko and Yusuke, who has passed away in the present, without spending time with Naruse, who has received the new heart and is the true love interest of the series. This is a miss, in my opinion, as pilots are crucial in setting up season-long arcs and introducing key relationships between characters. At times the first episode of Beyond Goodbye felt like a prologue to the actual story, and the flashbacks could have been supplemented in later episodes.
But there’s still enough of an interesting story and beautiful cinematography to warrant tuning in, especially for romance fans.
Sex and Skin: During the flashback, we see Yusuke and Saeko in bed together, but it’s all very PG.
Parting Shot: Saeko runs through an airport towards a man playing “I Want You Back” at an airport piano—it’s the man who’s received the heart transplant.
Sleeper Star: Ikuta Toma plays Yusuke as a truly bubbly and magnetic human, and it’s clear why Saeko falls in love with him.
Most Pilot-y Line: “Think of me as the man who’s decided to win over her heart,” Yusuke proclaims in a flashback. It’s the type of corny dialogue that aims to sell a “when you know, you know” type of relationship that very rarely exists in reality.
Our Call: STREAM IT. Even with some fantastical elements, the show is fun and beautiful to look at.
Radhika Menon (@menonrad) is a TV-obsessed writer based in Los Angeles. Her work has appeared on Vulture, Teen Vogue, ELLE.com, and more. At any given moment, she can ruminate at length over Friday Night Lights, the University of Michigan, and the perfect slice of pizza. You may call her Rad.
